"Back in 2019, The New York Times trumpeted that after taking off at the La Jolla Playhouse in 1997 and spending more than two decades circling the runway, Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman’s labor-of-love musical “Harmony” — about the German vocal sextet the Comedian Harmonists, which was immensely popular between the two world wars — was going to have its Off-Broadway premiere. In the spring of 2020. Now, the show is finally arriving, with the choreographer-director Warren Carlyle overseeing a cast led by Chip Zien and Sierra Boggess. If nothing else, this is another sign that after its Yiddish version of “Fiddler on the Roof” and its recent collaboration with New York City Opera on “The Garden of the Finzi-Continis,” the producing National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene has become a force on the New York musical landscape."

– Elisabeth Vincentelli

"... Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman's musical—based on the history of the Comedian Harmonists, a musical group that flourished in Weimar Germany but ran afoul of the Nazis—finally makes its NYC debut. Warren Carlyle (After Midnight) directs and choreographs the production for National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, the centenarian troupe behind the much-loved recent Yiddish-language version of Fiddler on the Roof. Chip Zien (Into the Woods) and Sierra Boggess (The Little Mermaid) lead the cast."

"Barry Manilow writes the songs, and now he’s written a musical with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. Co-written with Bruce Sussman, this new musical is based on the true story of the Comedian Harmonists, a musical group of six [ ] men who were world-famous until World War II split them up. You might think such a real-life tale would be a jukebox musical, but Manilow has written original songs for Harmony, which promises to be a passion project with catchy tunes. Take your Fanilows or anyone in your life who is a music history buff." 

Produced in association with Ken Davenport and Sandi Moran. Davenport most recently won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical for Once on This Island and a Tony Award for Best Musical for Kinky Boots, and received Tony Award nominations for Spring Awakening (Revival of a Musical), The Visit (Musical), and You’re Welcome America (Special Theatrical Event). Garry C. Kief is serving as producer. Additional producers are Amuse Inc., Susan DuBow, Mapleseed Productions, Michelle Kaplan, and Neil Gooding Productions. Miranda Gohh is serving as associate producer. This presentation is being produced in association with Wilfried Rimensberger of Stiletto Entertainment.

Harmony is based in part on The Comedian Harmonist Archive as curated by the late Dr. Peter Czada.

Barry Manilow is a registered trademark of Hastings, Clayton, & Tucker Inc.