The one thing we knew about the 2002 Encores! season is no longer true. Vanessa Williams and James Naughton were announced to star in a spring 2002 Encores! concert version of Richard Rodgers' No Strings, the unique 1962 musical with both music and lyrics by Rodgers. Then Williams was cast as the witch in Into the Woods, due on Broadway, and No Strings was cancelled.
Instead, Encores! has opted for three not terribly obscure musicals for its 2002 season. The series will begin with Carnival!, by Bob Merrill and Michael Stewart, in February. Kathleen Marshall may direct, reported The New York Times (which also mentioned a possible Broadway berth for Encores!' Wonderful Town). Then former Encores! artistic director Walter Bobbie will direct Strouse and Adams' "Golden Boy" in March, and John Rando will pilot Pajama Game in May.
—Robert Simonson
