Encores, Off-Broadway Style

New York Theatre Workshop, the venerable downtown theater company that launched Broadway sensation Rent, has announced plans to create a new concert series that revives Off-Broadway musicals. Similar to the popular City Center series Encores!, which features lesser-known Broadway musicals of the past, the NYTW concerts would be minimally-staged productions that bring older Off-Broadway -- and probably Off-Off Broadway and regional -- shows to new audiences.