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This Sunday: Catch John Turturro in Zorba!

Admittedly, when it comes to Encores! productions at City Center, the window of opportunity is short -- annoyingly short, according to the large inner circle of fans who would gladly have these top-flight mini runs go on for weeks, even months, vs. the customary seven-performance schedule. A lovely thought, but impossible by a) the Encores! calendar; and b) all big name stars whose desire to wedge Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert into their schedules is irresistible but limited, nonetheless. Which brings us to Zorba! – the latest mini-revival to shine its way onto the New york stage with John Turturro in the title role.

Photo: Matthew Sussman

His co-stars are a seductive bunch as well: Tony nominees Marin Mazzie (Ragtime; Passion), Zoë Wanamaker (Piaf; Loot; Electra; Awake and Sing!), and Santino Fontana (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella), along with Adam Chanler-Berat (Peter and the Starcatcher); and Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll & Hyde; Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark).

And Zorba!’s creative force field is a jaw dropping collection of Broadway superstars from the book (Jules Stein); to score (John Kander & Fred Ebb); to its director, Walter Bobbie, music director Rob Berman; choreographer Josh Rhodes; and costume design by William Ivey Long. (The fact that these productions are billed as Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert is a misnomer: these babies are way less concerts than they are complete and fabulous productions tapping into “the full score of musicals that rarely are heard in New York City.”

The story – which was presented bon non Broadway and on screen with Anthony Quinn in the lead, is a musical take on Nikos Kazantzakis’s best-seller zeroing in on a passionate Greek who “lives every day as if it will be his last”, and the people who are part of his personal universe, including a friendship with the young American student, Nikos, (Fontana), and his romance with Madame Hortense (Wanamaker). 

Zorba! Runs through this Sunday (May 10th only): tonight at 8 pm, Saturday at 2 & 8 pm, and Sunday and 2 & 7 pm. Tickets start at $30 and can be purchased at the New York City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues), through CityTix® at 212-581-1212, or online at NYCityCenter.org.

About the Author

City Guide Theatre Editor Griffin Miller moved to New York to pursue an acting/writing career in the 1980s after graduating magna cum laude from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Since then, she has written for The New York Times, For the Bride, Hotels, and a number of other publications, mostly in the areas of travel and performance arts. An active member of The New York Travel Writers Association, she is also a playwright and award-winning collage artist. In addition, she sits on the board of The Lewis Carroll Society of North America. Griffin is married to Richard Sandomir, a reporter for The New York Times.

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