An American In Paris

Inspired by the Academy-Award winning film,?An American In Paris?brings this classic tale to Broadway for the first time with music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, a book by Craig Lucas and direction and choreography by Christopher Wheeldon.?An American in Paris won four 2015 Tony Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, four Outer Critics Circle Awards including Best Musical, the Drama League Award for Best Musical, three Fred and Adele Astaire Awards and two Theatre World Awards. The musical has also been included on the Year’s Best lists of the Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Wall Street Journal. The Masterworks Broadway Original Broadway Cast recording of An American In Paris was nominated for the Best Musical Theater Album Grammy Award.  

An American In Paris is the romantic story of a young American soldier, a beautiful French girl and an indomitable European city, each yearning for a new beginning in the aftermath of war. 

The production opened on April 12, 2015 to widespread critical acclaim: 

“GORGEOUS, JUST PLAIN GORGEOUS! 

This rhapsodic production, directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, is a triumph that pays loving tribute the marriage of music and movement, and to cherished notions about romance that have been a defining element of the American musical theater practically since its inception. 

Just about everything in this happily dance-drunk show moves with a spring in its step, as if the newly liberated Paris after World War II were an enchanted place in which the laws of gravity no longer applied. ‘An American in Paris’ is very much a traditional Broadway musical, with a book by the playwright Craig Lucas that amplifies the story line to witty and vivifying effect. An almost equal collaborator with Mr. Wheeldon and Mr. Lucas is the great designer Bob Crowley, who provides both the sets and costumes, and whose work here outshines anything currently on Broadway in its blend of elegance, wit and sophistication. 

George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin’s songbook provides the whirring engine that drives all the exuberant motion in stage. Mr. Wheeldon’s buoyant dances and the heat-generating performances, infuse the evening with the headlong energy of youth. ‘An American in Paris’ weds music and movement, song and story with such exhilarating brio that you may find your heart alight with a longing to be swept up in the dance.” 

–The New York Times 

“AN OLD-FASHIONED, BIG-HEARTED SPARE-NO-EXPENSE BROADWAY ROMANCE. 

That it is also a masterpiece of theatrical dance is sweet icing on an already tasty cake. ‘An American in Paris’ instantly catapults Christopher Wheeldon into the ranks of top-tier director-choreographers, by which I mean Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse. It’s been years—decades, really—since I last saw production numbers that were infused with the kind of rich, sustained creativity that Wheeldon gives us throughout. Once you’ve seen it, you’ll know what you’ve been missing, and find it hard ever again to settle for less. 

“RAVISHING! It’s hard to breathe, not only because the love story is so romantic, but because we rarely see this kind of dancing on Broadway. AN ENCHANTING AND DEEPLY MOVING EXPERIENCE!” 

–Variety 

“THRILLING! In his theater-directing debut, Christopher Wheeldon has made something special. Just how extraordinary is unspooled all evening with exuberant, sweeping innovation, dark historical understanding and a big, smart heart.  

–Newsday 

The cast of An American In Paris includes Garen Scribner as Jerry Mulligan, Leanne Cope as Lise Dassin, Veanne Cox as Madame Baurel, Jill Paice as Milo Davenport, Brandon Uranowitz as Adam Hochberg, and Max von Essen as Henri Baurel.   

The cast also includes Caitlin Abraham, Will Burton, Attila Joey Csiki, Taeler Cyrus, Ashlee Dupré, Sara Esty, Laura Feig, Leslie Donna Flesner, Kurt Froman, Stephen Hanna, Dimitri Kleioris, Dustin Layton, Nathan Madden, Gia Mongell, Christy Morton, Charlotte O’Dowd, Candy Olsen, Rebecca Riker, Sam Rogers, Shannon Rugani, Bradley Schlagheck, Jeffrey C. Sousa, Sam Strasfeld, Sarrah Strimel, Charlie Sutton, Mindy Wallace, Allison Walsh, Scott Willis and Victor J. Wisehart. 

The creative team is comprised of Bob Crowley?(sets and costumes-Tony Award),?Natasha Katz?(lighting-Tony Award),?Jon Weston?(sound), 59 Productions (projections-Tony Award) with the musical score adapted, arranged and supervised by?Rob Fisher, orchestrations by Christopher Austin (Tony Award), dance arrangements by Sam Davis, musical supervision by Todd Ellison, and additional orchestrations by Don Sebesky (Tony Award) and Bill Elliott (Tony Award). The Associate Director is Jacquelin Barrett, Associate Director/Choreographer is Dontee Kiehn.? Casting is by?Telsey + Company/Rachel Hoffman, C.S.A.?? 

The score of An American In Paris includes the songs “I Got Rhythm,” “Liza,” “’S Wonderful,” “But Not For Me,” “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise,” and orchestral music including “Concerto in F,” “Second Prelude,” “Second Rhapsody/Cuban Overture” and “An American In Paris.” 

The producers are Stuart Oken, Van Kaplan, Roy Furman, Stephanie P. McClelland, Darren Bagert, Carole L. Haber, James Nederlander, Five Cent Productions, Michael Leavitt, Apples and Oranges Studios/Dominion Pictures, Roger Berlind/Arch Road, Simone Genatt Haft/Marc Routh, Triptyk Studios/Spencer Ross, Ed Walson/Peter May, Adam Zotovich/Celia Atkin, Eugene Beard/Julie Boardman/Kallish-Weinstein, Stuart Ditsky/Jim Herbert/Sandy Robertson, Suzanne Friedman/Independent Presenters Network/Wonderful Productions, The Leonore S. Gershwin 1987 Trust/Jenkins-Taylor/Proctors, Harriet Newman Leve/Jane Dubin/Sarahbeth Grossman, Caiola Productions/Jennifer Isaacson/Raise the Curtain, by special arrangement with Elephant Eye Theatrical, Pittsburgh CLO and Théâtre du Châtelet.   

Leanne Cope is appearing with the support of Actors’ Equity Association. The Producers gratefully acknowledge Actors' Equity Association for its assistance of this production.  

Dimitri Kleioris is appearing with the permission of Actors’ Equity Association pursuant to an exchange program between American Equity and the MEAA.