As we reported back in May, Manhattan Parisienne, a new play by Alain Boublil, co-creator of Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, will have its world premiere in December 2014 at 59E59 Theaters.
New details just released include the dates for the limited Off-Broadway engagement--Thursday, December 18 through Sunday, January 4.
Graciela Daniele will direct and choreograph and Marie Zamora will star in the show, described in press notes as "a New York story, a story of differences and attraction, of two struggling artists and an unlikely meeting of minds. She is a French actress/singer. He is a Manhattan musician who has a history with Paris. Connected by music, they embark on a surreal journey through New York on a cold rainy evening. Manhattan Parisienne features excerpts of songs from the classic French and American songbooks by songwriters including Jacques Brel, George and Ira Gershwin, Michel Legrand, Cole Porter and Charles Aznavour."
Sounds somewhat realistic, actually. Isn't every day in New York City a "surreal journey"?
Graciela Daniele has netted ten Tony Award nominations and six Drama Desk nominations in her extensive career. An inductee into the American Theater Hall of Fame, she is an associate director of Lincoln Center Theater and has directed numerous Broadway shows including Pal Joey, Annie Get Your Gun, Marie Christine, Once on This Island, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Ragtime (Astaire, Ovation, AACP, Callaway Awards), The Goodbye Girl, Zorba, The Rink, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and The Pirates of Penzance.
Marie Zamora is no stranger to Boublil's work, having originated the role of Cosette in the Paris production of Les Misérables and been the Featured Artist in Do You Hear the People Sing, a symphonic concert of songs from the works of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg. And Zamora has another connection to the content of Manhattan Parisienne, having been the guest soloist for Michel Legrand Concert Tours in six countries.
The three male actors comprising the rest of the cast have yet to be announced.
