Music byStephen Flaherty
Lyrics byLynn Ahrens
Directed byRon Lagomarsino
Choreographed byThommie Walsh
MY FAVORITE YEAR was the first original American musical to play at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. It was also the first to use the brand-new orchestra pit. The musical takes place in 1954 during the golden age of live television. Set against a background of TV studios and glamorous New York hotspots, the show (like the popular film on which it is based) tells the story of a young man's coming of age. 1954 is the year Benjy Stone (played by Evan Pappas) becomes a writer, falls in love and comes to terms with his family. It's also the year he meets his childhood hero: the famous swashbuckling, but now over-the-hill movie star, Alan Swann (Tim Curry). MY FAVORITE YEAR creates a memory of an earlier time in New York and it's populated with characters you care about: comedy writers, show girls, Jewish mothers, prize fighters, nightclubbers, second bananas, love interests, and a gallant young man who learns a lesson in life from his gallant, older idol. What we loved about this show was that it reminded us of all the wonderful musicals we saw as a kid growing up in New York. It has a funny, smart book by Joseph Dougherty and a fresh melodic score by the talented team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Once on This Island).
