Rachel Dratch & Jeff Hiller Join Encores! YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN

Happiness is Encores! news! NEW YORK CITY CENTER just announced that Encores! Let ’Em Eat Cake replaces the previously announced Hallelujah, Baby! from March 17 through 28, 2027. The  production will be directed by Zack Winokur (Artistic Director, AMOC), in association with Opera  Philadelphia, with Guest Music Director Rob Berman leading The Encores! Orchestra. Hallelujah, Baby! will be presented during a future Encores! season to allow more time for creative development. 

“When the team realized that bringing Hallelujah, Baby! back to the stage required a bit more time, I remembered a conversation with Anthony [Roth Costanzo, General Director and President of Opera  Philadelphia] and Zack about a little-known Gershwin musical they were working on at Opera  Philadelphia,” said Jenny Gersten, VP & Artistic Director, Musical Theater. “Featuring some of the  Gershwins’ most exciting music and a funny and absurdist book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie  Ryskind, it made the utmost sense, both artistically and logistically, to join Anthony and Zack in the  adventure of discovering this unknown gem and to share it with Encores! audiences.”

It was also announced today that Rachel Dratch as Patty and Jeff Hiller as Schroeder complete the cast for Encores! You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, which opens the 2027 Encores! series, February 3  through 14. Directed by Tony Award winner Sam Pinkleton with Guest Music Director Meghann  Zervoulis Bate and Choreographer Sunny Min-Sook Hitt, the previously announced cast also includes Danielle Brooks (Lucy), Ayo Edebiri (Snoopy), Jin Ha (Linus), and David Hyde Pierce (Charlie Brown). 

ENCORES! LET ’EM EAT CAKE 

When President Wintergreen loses his reelection and refuses to accept the results, what follows is an  absurdist romp featuring a fashion-fueled revolution, a Supreme-ly high-stakes baseball game, and  increasingly unhinged hijinks. This 1933 musical farce, with book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie  Ryskind, features one of George and Ira Gershwin’s most adventurous scores filled with rich and complex melodies including the popular love song “Mine.” The sequel to Of Thee I Sing, the first musical  to win the Pulitzer Prize, Let ’Em Eat Cake gives audiences a rare chance to experience a little-known Gershwin score—a perfect fit for the Encores! series. 

New York City Center’s 2026 – 2027 Season opens with the Fall for Dance Festival (Sep 22 – Oct 3),  followed by The Australian Ballet | Oscar© (Oct 8 – 11), and Annual Gala Presentation In the Heights (Oct  28 – Nov 15). The 2027 Encores! series kicks off with You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Feb 3 – 14),  followed by Let ’Em Eat Cake (Mar 17 – 28), and closes with Kiss of the Spider Woman (Apr 28 – May 9). For a full calendar, visit NYCityCenter.org. 

Part of City Center’s mission to make the arts accessible to everyone, the Encores! series includes post show Community Nights for You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Fri, Feb 12); Let ’Em Eat Cake (Fri, Mar  26); and Kiss of the Spider Woman (Fri, May 7); performances offering ASL Interpretation (You’re A Good  Man, Charlie Brown – Thu, Feb 11; Let ’Em Eat Cake – Thu, Mar 25; Kiss of the Spider Woman – Thu, May  6), and Lynne & Richard Pasculano Student Matinees for You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Wed, Feb  10) and Let ’Em Eat Cake (Wed, Mar 24).