Roundabout Theatre Company will present a special one-night event Ring Them Bells: A Birthday Celebration for John Kander on Monday, May 19, 2025 at 7:30pm at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.
Roundabout’s favorite emcee, Emmy & Tony Award winner Alan Cumming will lead the celebration for beloved songwriter John Kander’s 98th birthday.
A roster of Roundabout favorites will take the stage for a concert showcasing the life and career of the composer of such shows as Cabaret, Chicago, and Kiss of the Spider Woman including: Jim Borstelmann, Josh Breckenridge, Victoria Clark, Derrick Cobey, DeMarius R. Cope, E. Clayton Cornelious, Charlotte d’Amboise, Brandon Victor Dixon, Whoopi Goldberg, Jeremy Gumbs, Ramin Karimloo, Jennifer Lopez, John-Michael Lyles, Bianca Marroquin, Aaron James McKenzie, Debra Monk, Jinkx Monsoon, Jessie Mueller, Bebe Neuwirth, Kelli O’Hara, David Hyde Pierce, Antoine L. Smith, Anna Uzele, Lillias White, Tony Yazbeck, Karen Ziemba
Also performing are the original 1996 Merry Murderesses from the Broadway revival of Chicago: Caitlin Carter, Mindy Cooper, Mamie Duncan-Gibbs, Denise Faye and Mary Ann Lamb performing “Cell Block Tango” with choreography recreated by Dylis Croman. The evening’s ensemble of dancers includes Christine Cornish, Kristine Covillo, Ashley Blair Fitzgerald, Naomi Kakuk, Christine Sienicki, Sarah Sigman.
For nearly five decades, John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb wrote the scores for 15 Broadway musicals. This one-night concert will reunite Roundabout Interim Artistic Director Scott Ellis, director and choreographer Susan Stroman, and playwright David Thompson, the creative team behind Kander and Ebb’s And The World Goes ‘Round and Steel Pier, to create a song-and-dance birthday salute to one of the brightest lights Broadway has ever known.
A longtime friend of Roundabout Theatre Company, Alan Cumming made his Tony-Award winning Broadway debut in Roundabout’s 1998 revival of Kander & Ebb’s Cabaret and returned to play the role to great acclaim in the 2014 revival.
The special event features Music Direction by Sam Davis, Set Design by David Rockwell, Costume Design by Jeff Mahshie, Lighting Design by Donald Holder and Sound Design by Brian Ronan.
