54 Celebrates Mel Brooks, concerts featuring the work of Tony-winning composer Brooks, will return to 54 Below January 23 at 7 PM and 9:30 PM. The Producers' Michael Kostroff will host.
Performers are scheduled to include Jill Abramovitz (Beetlejuice), Ari Axelrod (Milk and Honey), Jim Borstelmann (The Producers), Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart (Hamilton, Aladdin), Michael Kostroff (The Producers), Michael Kushner (Moo With Me), Ryan Mac (Wicked), Stuart Marland (The Producers), Busy Philipps (Dawson’s Creek, Girls5eva), Alex Puette (Hadestown), Ben Rappaport (Fiddler on the Roof), T. Oliver Reid (Hadestown), Jelani Remy (Ain’t Too Proud), Kyle Scatliffe (Hamilton), Adam B. Shapiro (Fiddler on the Roof), Phil Sloves (Spongebob Squarepants), and Tony winner Karen Ziemba (Contact) plus Caroline Aimetti (Mourning the Living), Asia DeShields, Jenn Maurer (Elf), and Ben Schrager (Indecent).
Attendees can expect to hear songs from The Producers, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety, Men in Tights, and more.
Ben Caplan is the musical director. Jen Sandler and Michael Kushner produce.
Brooks won his first Oscar in 1964 for writing and narrating the animated short The Critic and his second for the screenplay of his first feature film, The Producers, in 1968. Many hit comedies followed, including Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, and Dracula: Dead and Loving It.
He received three 2001 Tony Awards for The Producers, which ran on Broadway from 2001 to 2006. The stage adaptation of his movie holds the record for the most Tonys ever won by a Broadway production. He followed that success with Young Frankenstein, which ran on Broadway from 2007 to 2009 and opened in London’s West End in fall 2017. In 2009, Brooks received a Kennedy Center Honor, and in 2013 he was the 41st recipient of the AFI’s Life Achievement Award. In 2016, President Obama presented him with The National Medal of Arts.
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