Alexandra Socha and Douglas Sills to Lead Mack & Mabel for 2020 Encores!

New York City Center has announced casting for its upcoming 2020 Encores! season.

The season will open with Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart's love letter to the silent film era, Mack & Mabel (February 19-23, 2020), directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes. The production will star Tony nominee Douglas Sills (War Paint) as pioneering filmmaker Mack Sennett, and Alexandra Socha (Head Over Heels) as his first great discovery and muse, the comedian Mabel Normand. The pair were featured in selections from the show as part of Hey, Look Me Over! in the Encores! at 25 season.

Next will be Love Life (March 18-22, 2020), featuring music and lyrics by Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner. The musical is a journey across American history seen through the eyes of a family that never ages — accentuated with entertaining vaudevillian acts that comment on the evolution of the "American Dream." Directed by Tony winner Victoria Clark, with choreography by JoAnn Hunter, the production will star Tony nominee Kate Baldwin (Hello, Dolly!) and Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell (Shuffle Along) as Susan and Sam Cooper. Described by Lerner as "a cavalcade of American marriage," the 1948 work is considered by some to be the first "concept musical" and was an inspiration for generations of musical theater creators.

The third production of the season, as previously announced, will star Tony nominee Ashley Park (Mean Girls) in Dick Scanlan and Jeanine Tesori's Thoroughly Modern Millie (May 6-10, 2020). Tony-nominated choreographer Camille A. Brown joins the artistic team of Encores! resident director Lear deBessonet and creative consultant Lauren Yee, who will work with the show's authors to explore the musical with a fresh perspective.

All three Encores! productions will feature the Encores! Orchestra under the direction of Encores! music director Rob Berman.