Directed by Bethany Christine Elkin (I Love a Piano) and music direction by Justin Fischer (Young Frankenstein),the four-member cast will feature Diana Buchwald (An American Tragedy), Ben Garrett (Rags), Krista Paolella (Edges: A Song Cycle) and Rafael Rodriguez (Evita).

Songs for a New World resonates now more than ever. As the generation of the New Millennium we were told we could be anything we wanted to be. We were encouraged to dream big, because the world was at our fingertips. However, faced with economic challenges we found ourselves just struggling to survive, let alone thrive. We have found ourselves navigating through a new and uncharted world. We cannot be afraid or let the fear of failure keep us from charging through life’s challenges. We must take responsibility for our own happiness. We must “hold on, hold fast” and allow the music of our souls to propel and transport us through life’s greatest moments. The moment is here…and the time is now

“I have a big love of this show and of the WPA Theatre, where it originated — produced by the extraordinary Kyle Renick,” stated Pat Hoag Simon. “To think that Jason Robert Brown was 20 years old when he wrote these songs and that he and his director, Daisy Prince, assembled such a cast!  She went on to say, “The original production with Billy Porter, Jessica Molansky, Andrea Burns and Brooks Ashmanskas ran for a little under a month at the WPA but the resulting cast recording became a phenomenon.   This will be a chance for people to experience the show with an exciting new cast! Too, this will highlight the fact that young writers are sometimes overlooked when they first debut.”

Songs for a New World will play the following performance schedule: Saturday, August 4 at 11:00 p.m., Sunday, August 5 at *2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m., Saturday, August 11 at 11:00 p.m., and Sunday, August 12 at *2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. (*Talkbacks will follow both matinee performances.)

Tickets are priced at $15 and available online at www.yorktheatre.org, by calling (212) 935-5820, or in person at the box office at the York Theatre at Saint Peter’s (Citicorp Building, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue), Monday through Friday (12:00 -6:00 p.m.).

Due to popular demand and critical acclaim, The York Theatre Company, in association with Edward Negley, Neil Berg and Adam Friedson, recently announced the extension for one of the best reviewed Off-Broadway shows of the year, Closer Than Ever with Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Music by David Shire.  Originally scheduled to end its limited engagement on July 14, 2012, and following a one-week hiatus, performances will resume Monday, July 23, 2012.  Tickets will be on sale through August 25, 2012.

With direction by Mr. Maltby, associate direction and choreography by Kurt Stamm and music direction by Andrew Gerle, the cast features Broadway veterans Jenn Colella (Urban Cowboy, High Fidelity), George Dvorsky (The Scarlet Pimpernel), Tony Award nominee Christiane Noll (Ragtime, Jekyll & Hyde) and Sal Viviano (The Full Monty).  Performances began June 5, 2012 with the official Opening Night on June 20, 2012.

Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire's musical treasure Closer Than Ever is back Off-Broadway at the York Theatre Company with an exciting new cast and fresh additions to the timeless score.  When it premiered in 1989, the show spoke to a generation of theater-goers and featured "one of the half-dozen finest American theater scores of the last decade" (New York Times).   An intimate musical about love, friendship, security, happiness – and holding onto those essentials in a world that pulls us in a hundred directions at once – Closer Than Ever at the York isn't merely a revival, it's the homecoming of an Off-Broadway classic.

Closer Than Ever plays the following performance schedule:  Mondays & Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m., Wednesdays through Fridays at 8:00 p.m. and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. & 8:00 p.m. 

Tickets are priced at $67.50 and are available online at www.yorktheatre.org, by calling (212) 935-5820, or in person at the box office at the York Theatre at Saint Peter’s (Citicorp Building, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue), Monday through Friday (12:00 -6:00 p.m.).

For additional information, please visit the website at www.yorktheatre.org.