Burt Bacharach Library of Congress - H 2012
Burt Bacharach fans will get to sample a new batch of songs from the legendary pop maestro when New York Animals has its world premiere next month in a small-scale production from adventurous off-Broadway company Bedlam.
The new play by Steven Sater, best known as the writer and lyricist of the 2007 Tony-winning musical Spring Awakening, will begin previews Nov. 14 at the New Ohio Theater in Greenwich Village, with the official opening set for Nov. 29. The limited engagement is scheduled through Dec. 20.
The production will feature a live soundtrack of new songs by Bacharach and Sater. It will be directed by Bedlam ensemble member Eric Tucker, who also appears in the cast.
Previously seen in a 2010 workshop staging at Los Angeles’ Rogue Machine, the show features four actors playing 21 characters, who explore love, sex, money and impossible relationships on a rainy day in New York City, from an East Village diner to a Park Avenue penthouse.
With his longtime lyricist partner Hal David, Bacharach composed the classic pop score for the 1968 Broadway musical Promises, Promises. His hits were given a fresh lo-fi spin off-Broadway in What’s It All About? Bacharach Reimagined, conceived and performed by Kyle Riabko, which had an extended run at New York Theater Workshop in 2013-14.
Bedlam has built a reputation in recent New York theater seasons for imaginative storytelling with contemporary work and resourceful reappraisals of classic texts, placing major importance on creating a sense of immediacy between the actors and the audience.
