High Button Shoes

Encores! High Button Shoes Follow the misad­ventures of two charismatic conmen—Harrison Floy (Michael Urie) and Mr. Pontdue (Kevin Chamberlin)—as they proceed to bamboozle Sara Longstreet (Betsy Wolfe) and her family—inciting a chase from New Brunswick, down the Jersey Shore, to Atlantic City.The cast also features Aidan Alberto (Stevie), Jennifer Allen (Shirley Simpkins), Carla Duren (Fran), Chester Gregory (Papa Longstreet), Mylinda Hull (Nancy), Marc Koeck (Oggle), Matt Loehr (Uncle Willy),and Wayne Pretlow (Elmer Simpkins). High Button Shoes was Jule Styne’s first Broadway hit and won Jerome Robbins his first Tony Award for choreography years before West Side Story and Gypsy (another Styne-Robbins collaboration). City Center’s stage has seen other iconic musicals by Jule Styne including Bells Are Ringing, Do Re Mi, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and, yes, Gypsy. The rarely-seen High Button Shoes, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn, blazed a path for them all and you don’t want to miss the final Encores! production of City Center’s 75th Anniversary Season. Directed by John Rando with music direction by Encores! Music Director Rob Berman and choreography by Sarah O’Gleby, High Button Shoes features hits like “Papa, Won’t You Dance with Me” and “On a Sunday by the Sea.” Two numbers—the dazzlingly comedic 10-minute ensemble piece, “Bathing Beauty Ballet,” and “I Still Get Jealous”—will use Jerome Robbins’s original choreography staged by Sarah O’Gleby. The 27-piece Encores! Orchestra performs Jule Styne’s original 1947 score, conducted by Encores! Music Director Rob Berman.