Christine Andreas, Peter Land, Patrick Lane, Bill Nolte, Nicholas Rodriguez Cast in Mufti Colette Collage

By Andrew Gans
April 17, 2012

Tony Award nominee Christine Andreas, most recently on Broadway in the acclaimed revival of La Cage aux Folles, will be part of the cast of the York Theatre Company's upcoming production of Colette Collage.

The staging, which runs at the Off-Broadway venue April 27-29, is part of the Musicals in Mufti: The Tom Jones Festival, which launched March 16 with The Show Goes On, a portfolio of theatre songs by Jones and Schmidt. Also planned is The Game of Love (May 11-13).

Directed by Michael Montel, the cast will feature Andreas in the title role with Jo Ann Cunningham as Sido, Peter Land as Jacques, Patrick Lane as De Jouvenal, Anne Markt as Colette De Jouvenal, Bill Nolte as Willy, Vanessa Reseland as Missy, Nicholas Rodriguez as Maurice, Carrington Vilmont as German Officer, Sasha Weiss as Pauline and Scott Willis as Captain Colette.

"The joys, fears and loves of the celebrated French writer Colette are at the center of the poignant and insightful Colette Collage," according to the York. "Sensual, witty and entirely unconventional, this intimate, highly theatrical musical captures the essence of one of the most liberated women of all time. The life of the legendary author unfolds over a period of sixty years in this classic bio-musical from Jones and Schmidt, which premiered Off-Broadway at the York in 1983."

Christine Andreas made her Broadway debut in the 1974 revue Words & Music. Her other Broadway appearances include roles in The Scarlet Pimpernel and the revivals of Angel Street, My Fair Lady, Oklahoma! and On Your Toes. Andreas received Tony nominations for her work in Oklahoma! and On Your Toes, and her solo recordings include "The Carlyle Set," "Love Is Good" (Fynsworth Alley) and "Here’s to the Ladies" (PS Classics).

Read more about Andreas' theatrical history in the Playbill Vault.

Read Playbill.com's recent scoop about the new musical being penned by 84-year-old lyricist-librettist Jones.

York's Musicals in Mufti series presents musical theatre gems in staged concert performances. Mufti means "in street clothes," without the trappings associated with the original productions.

Each show is presented Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2:30 PM and 8 PM and Sunday at 2:30 PM and 7:30 PM. Talkbacks follow all matinee performances.

Tickets are priced $39.50 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 (enter on 54th Street, just east of Lexington).

A special five-show package is available at $150 and includes an invitation to Story by Story: A Conversation with Tom Jones, which will be presented April 24 (normally $24.50).

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The Mufti series will conclude with The Game of Love; details follow:

The Game of Love
Book and Lyrics by Tom Jones
Music by Jacques Offenbach
With Arrangements and Additional Music by Nancy Ford
Based on The Anatol Plays by Arthur Schnitzler
Directed by West Hyler
Music Direction by Nancy Ford
May 11-13

With book and lyrics by Tom Jones, music by classical composer Jacques Offenbach, and arrangements and additional music by Nancy Ford (I’m Getting My Act Together…), The Game of Love is based The Anatol Plays by Arthur Schnitzler. This deliciously romantic musical about the frivolities and foibles of love takes place in 19th-century Vienna. At the center of the piece is Anatol, a playful Lothario, whose rendezvous with five unique women unfold over the course of this sensuous, melodic romp.