FOLLOWING RAVE REVIEWS

AND STRONG BOX OFFICE

NEW YORK THEATRE WORKSHOP TO EXTEND

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

BACHARACH REIMAGINED

FOUR WEEKS

THROUGH SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2

“A STUNNING NEW MUSICAL”

–JESSE GREEN, NEW YORK MAGAZINE

ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST

–CHARLES ISHERWOOD, THE NEW YORK TIMES

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) Artistic Director James C. Nicola and Managing Director Jeremy Blocker have announced that following rave reviews and strong box office, What’s It All About? Bacharach Reimagined, music by Burt Bacharach; lyrics by Hal David and others; musical arrangements by Kyle Riabko; conceived by Kyle Riabko and David Lane Seltzer; directed by Steven Hoggett, will extend four weeks through Sunday, February 2, at NYTW, 79 East 4 Street, between Bowery and Second Avenue.  What’s It All About? had originally been scheduled to run through Sunday, January 5, 2014.

What’s It All About? opened Thursday, December 5, and the critics raved:

“A stunning new musical.  It’s a revelation and it’s fantastic.”

–Jesse Green, New York

One of the Year’s Best

New York Times Critics’ Pick

“This artfully staged show brings a fresh vibe…and reinvigorates the

staged-songbook genre.  Heartthrob-handsome Kyle Riabko searches out the emotional layers of the songs with impressive precision.  The performers are all terrific.”

–Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

“Director Steven Hoggett raises the bar.  Riabko is the wonderfully appealing star.  It’s completely swoon-worthy and super-groovy.”

–Melissa Rose Bernardo, Entertainment Weekly

“Touching.  The cast is terrific.  What Hoggett and Riabko have produced here is a piece, working in the American musical vernacular, about intimacy while feeling intimate.”

–Hilton Als, The New Yorker

“Hang on to your martini: Some of the most famously smooth, sophisticated

songs created by American musical icon Burt Bacharach have been youthfully

reinterpreted into something new and tasty.”

–Jennifer Farrar, Associated Press

“Kyle Riabko has serious musical chops.”

–David Cote, New York 1 News

The enduring music of Burt Bacharach is given new life as musician and actor Kyle Riabko (Spring Awakening, Hair) performs his unique, soulful arrangements of the Bacharach songbook with an eclectic group of young musicians and performers.  Steven Hoggett, whose choreography has been featured in such diverse works as Once, Peter and the Starcatcher, and Black Watch, returns to NYTW, this time as director.  What’s It All About? is a re-introduction to the timeless music of Bacharach through the eyes and ears of a new generation.

The cast of What’s It All About? is Daniel Bailen, Laura Dreyfuss, James Nathan Hopkins, Nathaly Lopez, Kyle Riabko, James Williams, and Daniel Woods.

Kyle Riabko’s credits include Spring Awakening (Broadway, National Tour) and Hair (Broadway).  At the age of 17, he released full-length album of original material on Columbia/Aware Records.  He has been an opening act for John Mayer, Maroon 5, Jason Mraz, BB King, Buddy Guy, and James Brown, among others.  He has appeared in numerous film and television roles.  Kyle grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Steven Hoggett’s Broadway credits include the current production of The Glass Menagerie, Once (Obie, Lortel, Callaway awards, Tony nomination; also NYTW, West End), American Idiot, Peter and the Starcatcher (Lortel Award; also at NYTW).  West End credits include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.  International credits include Rocky the Musical (Stage Entertainments, Hamburg), Rigoletto (Met Opera), The Full Monty (Sheffield), Let the Right One In, Black Watch (Olivier Award, Best Choreographer), The Bacchae (National Theatre of Scotland), The Light Princess (Royal National Theatre).  As director/choreographer, credits include Lovesong, Beautiful Burnout, Othello (TMA Award, Best Director).  He is a founding member of Frantic Assembly.

Burt Bacharach has been one of the most-honored and successful composers for six decades. His music is as diverse as his audiences, spanning generations and continents, as he is celebrated both as a pop culture icon and one of the world’s greatest contemporary composers. Bacharach’s song credits include “Alfie,”  “Arthur’s Theme,”  “Close To You,” “Do You Know The Way To San Jose,”  “I Say A Little Prayer,”  “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again,” “On My Own,” “That’s What Friends Are For,” “This Guy’s In Love With You,” “Walk On By,” “What The World Needs Now Is Love,” and “Wishin’ And Hopin’.”  He has written nine #1 songs, 48 Top 10 hits, and over 70 Top 40 hits.  Bacharach and Hal David were the recipients of the 2012 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.  Bacharach is also the recipient of three Academy Awards, and eight Grammys, including the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award and 1997 Trustees Award.  He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and is the recipient of other tributes received from top music industry institutions to governments, universities and charitable and philanthropic groups.  Bacharach’s memoir, Anyone Who Had a Heart, was published in May 2013.

New York Theatre Workshop, now celebrating its 31st season, is a leading voice in the world of Off-Broadway and within the theatre community in New York and around the world.  NYTW has emerged as a premiere incubator of important new theatre, honoring its mission to explore perspectives on our collective history and respond to the events and institutions that shape our lives. In addition, NYTW is known for its innovative adaptations of classic repertory. Each season, from its home in New York’s East Village neighborhood, NYTW presents three to five new productions, over 80 readings, and numerous workshop productions, for over 45,000 audience members.  Over the past 28 years, NYTW has developed and produced over 100 new, fully staged works, including Jonathan Larson’s Rent, Tony Kushner’s Slavs! and Homebody/Kabul, Doug Wright’s Quills, Claudia Shear’s Blown Sideways Through Life and Dirty Blonde, Paul Rudnick’s The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and Valhalla, Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest, Far Away, and A Number, Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s Aftermath, and Rick Elice’s Peter and the Starcatcher.  The 2002 remounting of Martha Clarke’s seminal work, Vienna: Lusthaus and subsequent American tour was one of the longest-running productions in NYTW’s history.  NYTW’s acclaimed production of Once is currently enjoying a Broadway run, and Peter and the Starcatcher, which made its New York Premiere at NYTW, has returned to  Off-Broadway following a successful Broadway run.  NYTW supports artists in all stages of their careers by maintaining a series of workshop programs including work-in-progress readings, summer residencies, and minority artist fellowships.  NYTW’s productions have received a Pulitzer Prize, seventeen Tony Awards and assorted Obie, Drama Desk, and Lucille Lortel Awards.

What’s It All About? plays at New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street, between Second Avenue and Bowery.  The regular performance schedule is Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:00pm; Thursday and Friday at 8:00pm; Saturday at 3pm and 8pm; Sunday at 2pm and 7pm.  There will be a special student matinee on Wednesday, December 18.  Tickets are $85 and may be purchased online at www.ticketcentral.com, 24 hours a day, seven days a week or by phoning Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200, noon – 8pm daily.  For exact dates and times of performance, visit www.nytw.org.

NYTW is pleased to introduce a $30 under 30 ticket price for What’s It All About? Audience members under the age of 30 will be eligible to purchase $30 tickets for day of performances online, over the phone, and at the box office for performances January 7 – February 2, 2014.  A valid ID will be required at the box office in order to claim tickets.

The NYTW Box office is open Tuesday through Saturday, 1:00pm to 6:00pm.