Book and Lyrics by María Irene Fornés
Music by Al Carmines
March 5-28, 2026
PROMENADE
"This ridiculously hilarious romp is gloriously wacky. . . This is magical chaos."
– Rob Levy, BroadwayWorld
“With its current staging of Promenade, New Line reclaims its place
among the boldest producers of musicals.”
– Gerry Kowarsky, Two on the Aisle
“A thought-provoking, entertaining and challenging production
that highlights the best of what New Line is about.”
– Michelle Kenyon, Snoop’s Theatre Thoughts
“New Line’s production of Promenade is lightning in a bottle. . .
an enthusiastic cast, a lush jazz combo, creative visuals, and great directing.”
– Jack Janssen, Jack Reviews Musicals
“The whole show comes along at exactly the right moment. . .
What a surprising relief, finally, to be able to laugh at it all.”
– Richard Green, TalkinBroadway
"What I didn’t expect was that Promenade would be so incredibly funny and completely entertaining. . .
a well-staged, wonderfully performed production, a delight that can be enjoyed more than once.”
– Cate Marquis, Marquee by Marquis
"A theatrical treat!" – Mark Bretz, Ladue News
The Seriously Hilarious 1969 Experimental Musical Comedy!
New Line Theatre continued its 34th season with the uproarious 1969 experimental musical comedy PROMENADE at the Marcelle Theater in the Grand Center Arts District.One of the biggest off Broadway hits of 1969, this show boasts a wild, absurdist story, a diverse cast, and features a script and lyrics by Latina playwright-director María Irene Fornés, the “mother of avant-garde theatre,” with music by gay minister Al Carmines. With a tiny budget, PROMENADE premiered at the Judson Poet's Theatre in New York City in April 1965, before trasnferring off-Broadway to the Promenade Theatre in June 1969, where it became the surprise smash hit of the season. María Irene Fornés earned a 1965 Obie Award for Distinguished New Play or Musical, for PROMENADE. There was an off Broadway revival in 1983, a one-night concert at New World Stages in 2010, and the show returned for the Encores Off-Center Series at City Center in 2019.
Beneath its dizzying comedy and catchy songs, PROMENADE explores the ways in which social class can imprison us, exploring some big issues along the way, like wealth inequality, law and order, war, corruption, body image, gender, sexuality, and more. PROMENADE follows the exploits of two escaped prisoners taking an unexpected tour of Capitalism and The Big City, where the poor and homeless mingle with the Idle Rich. With many of these same issues still deeply relevant today, this show has grown powerfully relevant again.
In a review in The New York Times for the 1983 New York revival, Stephen Holden wrote, "This work, which suggests a mixture of Candide and Samuel Beckett viewed through Lewis Carroll's looking glass, is a little too avant-garde and absurdist to appeal to mainstream tastes. But in its odd way it's an exquisite piece of musical theater." Village Voice critic Ross Wetzsteon writes, “María Irene Fornés’ work is like a cross between Brecht and Midsummer Night’s Dream, with Eric von Stroheim and Gertrude Stein standing in the wings.”
The New Line cast included Ronmal Mottley (as 105), Tawaine Noah (as 106), Ian McCreary (Jailer), Stephanie Merritt (Servant), Lauren Tenenbaum (Miss Cake), Bee Mecey (Mother), William Smith (Mayor), Kent Coffel (Mr. S), Robert Doyle (Mr. T), Kathleen Dwyer (Miss I), Benni Jillette (Miss O), Chelsie Johnston (Miss U), Chris Moore (Mr. R), Nathan Mecey (Waiter), and Michael Kramer (Dishwasher). New Line's production was directed by Scott Miller and Chris Moore, with music direction by Jason Eschhofen, choreography by Olivia Potthoff, costume design by Becca Rose Bessette, sound design by Ryan Day, scenic design by Dr. Rob Lippert, and lighting design by Eric Wennlund.
This show contains adult content. PROMENADE was produced by arrangement with Concord Theatricals, New York.
Want to explore more?
We recommend:
The original 1969 off Broadway Promenade cast album
The Promenade script, in the collection Promenade and Other Plays by María Irene Fornés
The original 1965 off off Broadway one-act script of Promenade
The documentary The Rest I Make Up, about María Irene Fornés; and her website The Fornés Institute.
The Bible of Absurdism, Martin Esslin's iconic 1961 book, The Theatre of the Absurd; and also The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre and Literature of the Absurd by Michael Y. Bennett -- and a trailer for the film version of Eugene Ioensco's absurdist masterpiece, Rhinoceros, starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder
An article from the July 1969 issue of After Dark magazine, about the Judson Poets' Theatre, where Promenade was born.
Some great books about off off Broadway and the Sixties:
● Playing Underground: A Critical History of the 1960s Off-Off-Broadway Movement by Stephen J. Bottoms
● Off-Off-Broadway Explosion: How Provocative Playwrights of the 1960's Ignited a New American Theater by David A. Crespy
● Modern American Drama: Playwriting in the 1960s: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations by Mark Sell
● The Theater Is in the Street: Politics and Public Performance in 1960s America by Bradford D. Martin
● Restaging the Sixties: Radical Theaters and Their Legacies edited by James M. Harding and Cindy Rosenthal
Some great books about bookwriter María Irene Fornés:
● María Irene Fornés: Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatists by Scott T. Cummings
● The Theater of María Irene Fornés, edited by Marc Robinson
● María Irene Fornés In Context edited by by Brian Eugenio Herrera and Anne García-Romero
● Fornes: Theater in the Present Tense by Diana Moroff
● Conducting A Life: Reflections on the Theatre of Maria Irene Fornes ediyted by by Caridad Svich and Maria Delgado
● The Fornés Frame: Contemporary Latina Playwrights and the Legacy of María Irene Fornés by Anne García-Romero
