Even if the City Center Encores! staging of APPLAUSE was its most useless production to date, the extremely successful nature of the series and its contribution to the city's cultural life cannot be denied overall. So much so that it has two lower-key imitation series - Musicals Tonight and the York's Musicals in Mufti. But in fairness, Musicals in Mufti is really starting to come into its own as a formidable competitor.
It was announced today in the New York Times that New York Theatre Workshop will now produce its own Encores!-like series dedicated to Off-Broadway musicals. This will supposedly include any musical that was Off-Broadway - even the ones that eventually went to Broadway. The article reported that the series will start next year with three musicals, two of which include PROMENADE and IPHIGENIA IN CONCERT.