Last March, on the final day of work in the rehearsal studio, the cast and creative team of the City Center Encores! production of Love Life learned that theatres in New York—and ultimately around the world—were closing due to the ongoing pandemic. The Encores! Inside the Revival series takes a look at this production, which City Center still aims to present in a future season.
In the video above, watch stars Brian Stokes Mitchell and Kate Baldwin duet on the Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner classic "Here I'll Stay." John Edwards also delivers a stirring "Love Song," and Baldwin delights with "Mr. Right."
The third installment of the video series also features director Victoria Clark, Encores! Music Director Rob Berman, and previous Encores! Artistic Director Jack Viertel discuss their process of imagining the rarely seen 1948 musical and how the musical resonates today, as its values, social satire, and activism comment on the American dream.
Weill and Lerner's 1948 collaboration follows a couple against the backdrop of decades of American history—though they don't age, several monumental events impact the world surrounding them.
The cast was also scheduled to include Sara Jean Ford (The Phantom of the Opera) as Miss Ideal Man, Isabella Houston as Elizabeth Cooper, Owen Tabaka as Johnny Cooper, and Clarke Thorell (My Fair Lady) as Bill/Mr. Cynic with Adam Bashian, Sarah Bowden, Jonathan Christopher, Kerry Conte, Sara Esty, Daniel Everidge,Maria Failla, Shiloh Goodin, Mary Illes, Andrea Jones-Soloja, Cory Lingner, John-Michael Lyles, Renni Anthony Magee, Tiffany Mann, Kristin Piro, Heath Saunders, Dave Schoonover, Daniel Schwait, Allyson Tucker, Vishal Vaidya, Ryan Worsing, and Minami Yusui. JoAnn Hunter is the choreographer.
The Encores! Inside the Revival digital series, which launched in October 2020, is produced in partnership with filmmaker Juan L. Espinal. Each episode examines a specific aspect of an artist’s approach to bringing the Encores! production back to life and provides historical context for the original Broadway productions. For more information visit NYCityCenter.org.
