Debbie Gravitte and David Ogden Stiers will head the cast of Encores!’ concert presentation of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's Tenderloin (1960). Walter Bobbie directs the show, which runs at City Center in New York City, March 23-27.

Tenderloin, with a book by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott, is a look at prostitution and corruption in New York City in the 1890s, with the forces of morality represented by Dr. Brock, a monomaniacal preacher who infiltrates the red-light district, known as "the tenderloin." Cecil Beaton provided the stylized costumes for the original. It's generally thought the best songs of the score ("Reform," "Little Old New York," "Artificial Flowers" and "Shame") go to the drinkers, pimps and prostitutes, while the puritans sing such tunes as "Good Clean Fun" and "Dear Friends." It's scheduled for a March concert.

The Encores! season began with On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, starring Kristin Chenoweth. It will conclude with Wonderful Town. The popular Encores! series presents seldom-seen musicals in concert versions, often featuring well known stage stars. Among the actors featured last season were Nathan Lane, Peter Scolari, Mary Testa, Karen Ziemba, Ruthie Henshall and Brian Stokes Mitchell.

The current Broadway revival of Chicago began as an Encores! concert. The series also begat a number of concert cast recordings, including Out of This World, Pal Joey, St. Louis Woman and Call Me Madam.

--By Robert Simonson
and Kenneth Jones