The York Theatre recognizes The Round Barn Theatre

On October 28, 2006, the day Plain and Fancy closed its 20th anniversary season on The Joseph Stein Stage in The Round Barn Theatre at Amish Acres in Nappanee, Indiana, and the day before Fiddler on the Roof closed the 2006 Festival of Musicals that further included a staged reading of Rags and a second stage production of Enter Laughing, all of whose books were written by librettist Stein, producers Richard and Susan Pletcher were invited by Joseph and Elisa Stein to be their guests to see Plain and Fancy as the capstone of the Musicals in Mufti: The Fall 2006 Series at The York Theatre in St. Peter’s Theatre on Lexington Avenue in New York City.

The York is the only theatre in New York dedicated to developing and fully producing new musicals and preserving neglected, notable shows from the past. It received a special 2006 Drama Desk Award for its “Vital contributions to theatre by developing and producing New Musicals.” Sweeny Todd, Pacific Overtures and Jolson & Company moved from the York to extended runs on Broadway and Avenue Q and Harold & Maude were incubated at The York. Plain and Fancy marked the 60th Mufti production, more than any other staged theatre concert series in the world. It is coincidence that The York dedicated its 2006 Mufti season, its 20th season and the first to a single librettist, to three of Stein’s lesser known works. Take Me Along, Carmelina, and Plain and Fancy, all overshadowed by Stein’s Fiddler on the Roof, were presented in concert format in mufti (muff’tee), in street clothes without the usual trappings, in five performances each over three consecutive weekends. Follow this link for the whole story.