Irma La Douce starred Bowles (Matilda The Musical, American Idiot) as Irma and McClure (Chaplin, Honeymoon in Vegas) as Nestor.
Directed by John Doyle, the cast also featured Tony Award nominee Malcolm Gets (Macbeth, The Moliere Comedies), Sam Bolen, Ben Crawford (Big Fish, Shrek the Musical), Stephen DeRosa (The Nance, Betrayal), Zachary James (The Addams Family, South Pacific), Ken Krugman (Assassins, Candide) and Chris Sullivan (Nice Work If You Can Get It, Lombardi).
Irma La Douce, according to press notes, is "the tale of a Parisian lady of the evening (Jen Bowles) and the law student (Rob McClure) who falls in love with her." It has music by Marguerite Monnot and English book and lyrics by Julian More, David Heneker and Monty Norman, with original book and lyrics by Alexandre Breffort.
After a three-year run in Paris, an English-language version of Irma La Douce, directed by Peter Brook, enjoyed success first in London and then on Broadway. It opened at the Plymouth Theatre Sept. 29, 1960, and ran for 524 performances. The score produced one standard, “Our Language of Love,” and also features “The Valse Millieu” and “Dis Donc.”
Irma La Douce featured choreography by Chase Brock and music direction by Rob Berman. Jack Viertel is Encores! artistic director.
