Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman's musical Harmony officially opened its long-awaited Broadway debut November 13 after beginning previews October 18 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Tony winner Warren Carlyle directs and choreographs.
Sean Bell, Danny Kornfeld, Zal Owen, Eric Peters, Blake Roman, and Steven Telsey lead the cast as Comedian Harmonists Bobby, Young Rabbi, Harry, Erich, Chopin, and Lesh, respectively, sharing the stage with Chip Zien as Rabbi, Sierra Boggess as Mary, Julie Benko as Ruth, Bronwyn Tarboton as Clara, Benjamin H. Moore as Titus, Lee Zarrett as Ezra, Allison Semmes as Josephine Baker, Bruce Landry as Border Guard, Zak Edwards as Obersturmführer, and Andrew O'Shanick as Standartenführer.
Watch co-stars Benko and Boggess sing "Where You Go" from the musical in the video above, and watch Zien, Bell, Kornfeld, Owen, Peters, Roman, and Telsey perform "Stars in the Night" below.
The ensemble also includes Rhonnirose Mantilla, Daniel Z. Miller, Benjamin H. Moore, Constantine Pappas, Kayleen Seidl, Kate Wesler, and Stuart Zagnit, with swings Dan Hoy, Matthew Mucha, and Kyla Stone rounding out the company.
Read the reviews for the Broadway production here.
The musical—featuring music by Manilow and lyrics and a book by Sussman—tells the true story of the Comedian Harmonists, an ensemble of six young men in 1920s Germany who took the world by storm with their blend of sophisticated close harmonies and uproarious stage antics, until their inclusion of Jewish singers put them on a collision course with history. The work is partially based on The Comedian Harmonist Archive, as curated by the late Dr. Peter Czada.
The musical has had a long road to Broadway. A world premiere staging played California's La Jolla Playhouse in 1997, then directed by David Warren. A pre-Broadway tryout was announced for Philadelphia's Forrest Theatre in 2003, only to be canceled due to financial woes. The musical reemerged in a 2013 co-production at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre and Los Angeles' Center Theatre Group, with Tony Speciale directing. The California run won the LA Drama Critics Circle Award. The Broadway bow is a transfer of the musical's 2022 Off-Broadway run at National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, which Carlyle also directed and choreographed. The Off-Broadway staging was critically acclaimed, earning nominations for Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel Awards. It won the Best New Musical Award from the Off-Broadway Alliance. A Broadway cast album was released in August.
Manilow also serves as music arranger, with orchestrations by Doug
Walter, vocal arrangements by Manilow and John O'Neill, music
coordination by Michael Aarons, and music direction by O'Neill. The
production also features scenic design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design
by Linda Cho and Ricky Lurie, lighting design by Jules Fisher + Peggy
Eisenhauer, sound design by Dan Moses Schreier, media design by batwin +
robin productions, hair and wig design by Tom Watson, casting by
Jamibeth Margolis, and production stage management by Scott Taylor
Rollison. Juniper Street Productions is production manager, and RCI
Theatricals' Beverly Edwards is general manager.
Harmony is produced in association with Wilfried Rimensberger of STILETTO Entertainment.
Visit HarmonyANewMusical.com.
Blake Roman, Steven Telsey, Zal Owen, Danny Kornfeld, Eric Peters, and Sean Bell in Harmony
Chip Zien in Harmony
Julie Benko and Sierra Boggess in Harmony
Allison Semmes and company of Harmony
Steven Telsey, Blake Roman, Danny Kornfeld, Chip Zien, Eric Peters, Sean Bell, and Zal Owen in Harmony
