Mansfield Symphony: An American in Paris—Broadway In Concert

Mansfield Symphony presents a Broadway collaboration with Artistic Director Michael Thomas and a cast of Renaissance Theatre performing artists as they present An American in Paris.

The mission of the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra is to provide a quality symphonic experience that engages musicians, patrons, and youth alike. Under the creative direction of Octavio Más-Arocas, the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra features over 55 talented musicians from Mansfield, Ohio and the greater Ohio region.

Summary

Set in the French capital in the wake of World War II, An American in Paris tells the romantic story of a young American soldier, a beautiful French girl, and an indomitable European city—each yearning for a new beginning in the aftermath of international conflict. Inspired by the Academy-Award winning 1951 film, the new stage musical features a ravishing score by George and Ira Gershwin and a fresh, sophisticated book by Tony nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist Craig Lucas.

History

Inspired by the 1951 Academy Award-winning film, the stage musical An American in Paris opened at the Palace Theatre on Broadway in April 2015, after an engagement at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The Broadway production ran for 623 performances and led to a successful West End production and US national tour.

Conducted by Octavio Más-Arocas
Stage Direction by Michael Thomas

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Accolades

Winner! Four 2015 Tony Awards, including Best Orchestrations
Nominee: Eleven 2015 Tony Awards, including Best Musical
Winner! Four 2015 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Orchestrations
Nominee: Twelve 2015 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Musical
Winner! Four 2015 Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Outstanding New Broadway Musical
Winner! The 2015 Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical

Media

“Superb…a riot of colour and movement, with irresistible dance routines and a wealth of Gershwin classics” – Michael Billington, The Guardian

“A breathtakingly fresh musical in which love and rebirth after war are embodied in ecstatic, transporting movement.” – David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

“This gorgeously danced—and just plain gorgeous— production pays loving tribute to the 1951 movie, to the marriage of music and movement, and to cherished notions about romance that have been a defining element of the American musical theater practically since its inception. Just about everything in this happily dance-drunk show moves with a spring in its step, as if the newly liberated Paris after World War II were an enchanted place in which the laws of gravity no longer applied. Even the elegant buildings on the grand boulevards appear to take flight.” – Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

“What really makes the show feel fresh is the context in which Lucas has reconceived it…deepening and darkening the material so it now seems genuinely relevant for our own war-torn age.” – Marilyn Stasio, Variety

“An American in Paris weds music and movement, song and story with such exhilarating brio that you may find your own feet fidgeting under your seat before it’s over, and your heart alight with a longing to be swept up in the dance.” – Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

“Sublime…exuberant…elegant…conveys with grace and style the heartfelt romance and emotional colors that keep us enchanted until the last beautiful note has been sung.” – Jennifer Farrar, Associated Press

“It’s got starlight, it’s got sweet dreams and, yes, it’s got rhythm too. You almost feel you couldn’t ask for anything more, but this Gershwin musical also has that indefinable something called grace, a lightness that would out-soufflé even Julia Child, and a joie de vivre that lifts it, and us, all night long.” – Ann Treneman, The Times