Broadway and Beyond is a guide to New York’s vibrant theater scene, prepared by Pro Musica Tours. Although space limitations prevent us from listing every theater offering in the city, the staff at Pro Musica have compiled a comprehensive cross-section of the season’s offerings. We invite you to contact one of our Broadway and Beyond tour consultants by clicking here, or by calling (212) 541-5122 for further details on all of these performances. Your tour consultant has the most up to date information about upcoming performances, as well as access to tickets for our groups to the most in-demand performances – often before they are on sale to the general public.
Please Note: This guide is provided as a reference source to groups traveling with Pro Musica to New York City. All information is believed to be accurate as of the Issue Date, but as casting and performance schedules often change with little notice, we advise you to consult with your tour coordinator before making decisions for your group. In addition, not all shows are suitable for all groups. Pro Musica’s staff thoroughly evaluates every show, and we are pleased to make specific recommendations based on the age and nature of your group. The following listing was updated on January 5, 2012.
BROADWAY LISTINGS
ANYTHING GOES: 2011 Tony Awards: Best Musical Revival, Best Actress (Sutton Foster), Best Choreography.
All Aboard for this saucy and splendid new production of Cole Porter’s musical romp across the Atlantic! When the S.S. American heads out to sea, etiquette and convention head out the portholes as two unlikely pairs set off on the course to true love… proving that sometimes destiny needs a little help from a crew of singing sailors, an exotic disguise and some good old-fashioned blackmail. Peppering this hilariously bumpy ride are some of musical theater’s most memorable standards, including “You’re the Top,” “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,” “It’s De-Lovely,” “I Get A Kick Out of You,” and “Anything Goes”. The show is directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall, and currently stars Tony winner Sutton Foster.
THE BOOK OF MORMON: 2011 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Featured Actress (Nikki M. James), Best Direction, Best Orchestrations, Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting, Best Sound Design
Trey Parker and Matt Stone make their Broadway musical writing debut with The Book of Mormon. Parker and Stone have won four Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award for South Park, the team’s controversial, critically acclaimed series, which airs on Comedy Central. The Book of Mormon centers on two young Mormon missionaries sent off to spread the word in a dangerous part of Uganda. Their tale is told alongside the founder Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Latter-day Saints. The funniest, and perhaps most controversial new musicals on Broadway!
CHICAGO: 1997 Tony Awards: Best Revival of a Musical, Best Director of a Musical, Best Choreography and Best Lighting Design
“Murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery–all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts.” Chicago is the kiss-and-tell tale of Roxie Hart, a chorus girl who kills her lover as a career move; Billy Flynn, a sharp lawyer who turns Roxie into a celebrity; and Velma Kelly, a dancing jailbird with an ear for headlines and an eye for talent. Chicago is a loving look back at vaudeville, a timely satire of the justice system.
CHINGLISH
In David Henry Hwang’s new work, Daniel, a Midwestern American businessman who’s desperately looking to score a lucrative contact for his family’s sign-making firm, travels to the provincial capital of Guiyang, only to learn how much he doesn’t understand. His translators are unreliable, his Australian-born consultant, Peter, may be a fraud, and he is captivated by Xu Yan, the beautiful, seemingly supportive government official who talks the talk — but what is she saying, anyway? A hilarious comedy with stellar performances throughout!
THE COLUMNIST: Performances begin April 3, 2012; Closes June 3, 2012
Columnists are kings in mid-century America and Joseph Alsop wears the crown. Joe is beloved, feared and courted in equal measure by the Washington political world at whose center he sits. But as the 60s dawn and America undergoes dizzying change, the intense political drama Joe is embroiled in becomes deeply personal as well. David Auburn, whose Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Proof dazzled audiences and critics alike, returns to MTC with this fascinating new work.
DEATH OF A SALESMAN: Performances begin February 13, 2012; Closes July 5, 2012
Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman will star as traveling salesman Willy Loman and Spider-man and The Social Network star Andrew Garfield will play Loman’s son, Biff in this new production of the classic Death of a Salesman directed by Tony winner Mike Nichols. The 1949 play written by Arthur Miller won both the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for drama.
DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER: Performance begin March 30, 2012; Closes June 17, 2012:
Marc Camoletti’s Don’t Dress for Dinner is the wildly funny sequel to the Broadway hit Boeing-Boeing. Bernard’s plans for a romantic rendezvous with his mistress are complete with a gourmet caterer and an alibi courtesy of his friend, Robert. But when Bernard’s wife learns that Robert will be visiting for the weekend, she decides to stay in town for a surprise tryst of her own… setting the stage for a collision course of hidden identities and outrageous infidelities. The cook is Suzette, the lover is Suzanne, the friend is bewildered, the wife is suspicious, the husband is losing his mind and everyone is guaranteed a good time at this hilarious romp through the French countryside.
END OF THE RAINBOW: Performances begin March 19, 2012
Direct from London’s West End, this critically acclaimed smash hit helmed by Terry Johnson, director of Broadway’s La Cage Aux Folles, features a star-turn performance by Olivier Award-winning actress Tracie Bennett playing international superstar Judy Garland months before her untimely death. Set in London in 1968, the play combines humor and heartbreak, and features an onstage band to accompany a few of Garland’s most memorable songs including “The Man That Got Away,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “The Trolley Song,” and of course “Over the Rainbow.” Critics have hailed Bennett’s performance as the stage and screen legend as “dazzling,” “unforgettable,” and “one of the greatest musical performances ever witnessed.”
EVITA: Performances begin March 12, 2012
Elena Roger, Ricky Martin, Tony Award winner Michael Cerveris will star in the upcoming Broadway revival of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s masterpiece Evita! Evita tells the story of Argentina’s Eva Peron, who used her beauty and charisma to rise meteorically from the slums of Argentina to the presidential mansion as First Lady. She won international acclaim and adoration from her own people as a champion of the poor, while glamour, power and greed made her the world’s first major political celebrity.
THE GERSHWIN’S PORGY AND BESS
The American Repertory Theater reimagining of the George Gershwin-DuBose Heyward folk opera Porgy and Bess is led by Norm Lewis as Porgy, and four time Tony Award Winner Audra McDonald as Bess. Set in the fictional Catfish Row, SC, Porgy and Bess tells of the crippled beggar Porgy and his love for Bess. With music by George Gershwin, lyrics by his brother Ira and a book by DuBose Heyward, the work includes such beloved songs as “Bess, You Is My Woman Now,” “I Loves You, Porgy,” “My Man’s Gone Now,” “There’s a Boat That’s Leavin’ Soon for New York,” “Summertime,” “I Got Plenty o’ Nothin’” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So.”
GHOST THE MUSICAL: Performances begin March 15, 2012
Ghost, the high-tech London pop musical based on the Academy Award-winning 1990 film, will materialize on Broadway in this spring. Oscar-winning screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin adapted his script for the stage, where it is directed by Tony Award-winning director Matthew Warchus (God of Carnage, The Norman Conquests, Boeing-Boeing, La Bête). Ghost The Musical has music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner Dave Stewart (of the Eurythmics) and Glen Ballard. Ghost The Musical is a timeless fantasy about the power of love. Walking back to their apartment one night, Sam and Molly are mugged, leaving Sam murdered on a dark street. Sam is trapped as a ghost between this world and the next and unable to leave Molly who he learns is in grave danger. With the help of a phony storefront psychic, Oda Mae Brown, Sam tries to communicate with Molly in the hope of saving and protecting her. Original London cast members Caissie Levy (Hair, Wicked, Hairspray, and Rent) and Richard Fleeshman, will reprise their leading roles as Molly and Sam.
GODSPELL
Godspell features a score by Stephen Schwartz of Wicked fame, and a book by Tebelak. Based on “The Gospel According to St. Matthew,” the musical uses improvisation and contemporary themes to illustrate the parables, bringing these lessons to life through the grand tradition of musical theatre. Song titles include “Day By Day,” “Save The People,” “Learn Your Lessons Well,” “All Good Gifts,” “Turn Back, O Man” and “By My Side.”
HARVEY: Performances begin May 18, 2012
Jim Parsons stars as one of modern theatre’s most lovable characters, Elwood P. Dowd. Charming and kind, Elwood has only one character flaw: an unwavering friendship with a 6-foot-tall, invisible white rabbit named Harvey. In order to save the family’s social reputation, Elwood’s sister Veta (Jessica Hecht) takes Elwood to the local sanatorium. But when the doctors mistakenly commit his anxiety-ridden sister, Elwood — and Harvey–slip out of the hospital unbothered, setting off a hilarious whirlwind of confusion and chaos as everyone in town tries to catch a man and his invisible rabbit.
HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING: 2011 Tony Award: Best Featured Actor
Nick Jonas stars as J. Pierrepont Finch in a new production of the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, directed and choreographed by Tony and Emmy Award winner Rob Ashford. How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying follows the rise of J. Pierpont Finch, who uses his pocket sized handbook (not surprisingly titled “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying”) to climb the corporate ladder from lowly window washer to high-powered executive. On the way, he tackles such familiar but potent dangers as the aggressively compliant “company man,” the mailroom, the boss’ whiny, nepotistic nephew, the office party, back stabbing co-workers, a gigantic (and rigged) international television reality show, caffeine addiction (through that most sacred of office institutions, the coffee break) and, of course, true love. The score includes such Frank Loesser standards as “I Believe in You” and “Brotherhood of Man.”
JERSEY BOYS: 2006 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor
Jersey Boys is a musical biography of the Four Seasons—the rise, the tough times and personal clashes, and the ultimate triumph of a group of friends whose music became symbolic of a generation. Far from a mere tribute concert, Jersey Boys gets to the heart of the relationships at the center of the group—with a special focus on front man Frankie Valli, the small kid with the big falsetto. In addition to following the quartet’s coming of age as performers, the core of the show is how an allegiance to a code of honor learned in the streets of their native New Jersey got them through a multitude of challenges: gambling debts, Mafia threats and family disasters. Jersey Boys is a glimpse at the people behind a sound that has managed to endure for over four decades in the hearts of the public. Upbeat, slickly produced and fast-paced, Jersey Boys appeals to diehard fans of the Four Seasons and audience members less familiar with the group’s extensive catalogue of hits. Unlike most jukebox musicals, the show boasts heavy emphasis on storytelling, which adds to its universal appeal.
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR: Performances begin March 1, 2012
Setting this new production as an epic rock concert, the Des McAnuff-helmed revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s rock opera, which received rave reviews at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, will transfer to Broadway this spring. The zeal with which Christ’s followers are hailing him as the Son of God has become a source of dismay to his disciple Judas Iscariot. Fearing that this tide of religious fervor will provoke brutal repression by the occupying Romans. Judas must make his fateful choice between faith and betrayal.
THE LION KING: 1998 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Choreography, Best Director (Julie Taymor)
Giraffes strut, birds swoop, gazelles leap! The entire savanna comes to life and, as the music soars, Pride Rock slowly rises out of the stage. This is The Lion King. The winner of six 1998 Tony Awards, including Best New Musical, it is the story of a young lion cub named Simba who struggles to accept the responsibilities of adulthood and his destined role as king. To bring the classic 1994 film to life, Disney turned to the story’s roots, its rich mythology, powerful human drama and primal African rhythms to create a fantastic new musical unlike anything Broadway has ever seen.
MAGIC/BIRD: Performances begin February 27, 2012
A new play by Oscar winner, Steppenwolf Theater Company member, and Lombardi playwright Eric Simonson, MAGIC/BIRD chronicles the intertwined life stories of two of the most influential figures in sports and pop culture of the past 25 years, basketball Hall of Famers Larry Bird and Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson. The play will be produced in association with the National Basketball Association and Johnson and Bird themselves will participate in the creative process of this completely original play. At the heart of one of the fiercest rivalries in sports history, two of the greatest basketball players of all-time battled for three championships, bragging rights, and the future of their sport in the 1980s. Johnson and Bird electrified the nation on the court, reinvigorated the NBA, and turned their rivalry into one of the greatest and most famous friendships in professional sports.
MAMMA MIA!
A musical with a disco beat, Mamma Mia! features the music of Swedish singing group ABBA. The setting is a Greek island where 20 year old Sophie is due to be married. Her mom, Donna, is there, but her father is not - because she is not sure who he is. So, Sophie researches mom’s diary and chooses three former lovers as likely candidates and invites them to the wedding, thinking she will figure it out when she meets them.
MARY POPPINS: 2007 Tony Awards: Best Scenic Design
Based on P.L. Travers’ cherished stories and the classic 1964 Walt Disney film, Mary Poppins features the Sherman brothers’ original Academy Award-winning songs, and Oliver Award-winning director Richard Eyre leads a dream team of vision and stagecraft, bringing to life the story of the Banks family and their magical nanny. The result is a new musical so extraordinarily enchanting that you’ll have just one word for it: “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!”
MEMPHIS: 2010 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Orchestrations
Set in the turbulent south in the 1950s, Memphis is the story of Huey Calhoun, a white radio DJ whose love of good music transcends race lines and airwaves. Thanks in part to his passionate persistence, “race” music reaches the center of the radio dial, quickly exploding throughout mainstream America. But when Huey falls for a beautiful black singer he has set on the path to stardom, whether the world is really ready for this music, and their love, is put to the test. This rollicking new musical is like a non-stop ball of energy. From the first notes of its electrifying opening number “Underground” right up to a rousing finale called “Steal Your Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Memphis delivers one energetic song after the next, with some of the best singing and dancing found on Broadway. Although the story deals with serious subjects regarding race, it’s never heavy-handed in the telling. It’s hard to imagine leaving Memphis without being lifted by its high-octane entertainment.
NEWSIES: Performances begin March 15, 2012; Closes June 10, 2012
Set in New York City at the turn of the century, Newsies is the rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a ragged band of teenaged ‘newsies,’ who dreams only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. But when publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise distribution prices at the newsboys’ expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies newsies from across the city to strike for what’s right. Newsies is inspired by the real-life ‘Newsboy Strike of 1899,’ when newsboy Kid Blink led a band of orphan and runaway newsies on a two-week-long action against Pulitzer, Hearst and other powerful newspaper publishers.
NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT: Performances begin March 29, 2012
The producers of the new musical comedy Nice Work If You Can Get It, boasting a score by George and Ira Gershwin, book by Tony Award winner Joe DiPietro and direction and choreography by Tony winner Kathleen Marshall, have announced that Tony winner Matthew Broderick would headline the show for a Broadway premiere in spring 2012. Marshall is a three-time Tony winner for her choreography for Anything Goes, The Pajama Game and Wonderful Town. Broderick is a two-time Tony winner for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Brighton Beach Memoirs. The musical borrows elements from the classic 1926 Gershwin musical Oh, Kay!, which included such Gershwin gems as “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “Do, Do, Do,” “Maybe,” “Clap Yo’ Hands” and “Dear Little Girl”.
ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER
Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer presnts his revised revival of the musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever starring Harry Connick Jr. The Tony Award-nominated score by Burton Lane (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (lyrics) is enhanced by classics from their film 1970 score for the same property, and their score from the 1951 film “Royal Wedding.” Love blooms in unexpected places in the delightfully re-imagined world of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Still in love with his deceased wife, Dr. Mark Bruckner (Harry Connick, Jr.), a dashing psychiatrist and professor, unknowingly takes on the case of his life with David Gamble, a quirky young florists’ assistant. While putting David under hypnosis to help him quit smoking so he can move in with his perfect boyfriend Warren, Dr. Bruckner stumbles upon what he believes to be David’s former self — a dazzling and self-possessed 1940s jazz singer Melinda Wells. Instantly intrigued by Melinda, Dr. Bruckner finds himself swept up in the pursuit of an irresistible (and impossible) love affair with this woman from another time and place, who may or may not have ever existed.
ONCE: Performances begin February 28, 2012
On the streets of Dublin, an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant are drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, an unexpected friendship and collaboration quickly evolves into a powerful but complicated love story, underscored by the emotionally charged music that has made Once an international sensation.
ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS: Performances begin April 6, 2012
In One Man, Two Guvnors, James Corden stars as “Francis Henshall” (“One Man”). Always-famished and easily-confused, Henshall agrees to work for a local gangster as well as a criminal in hiding (“Two Guvnors”), both of whom are linked in a tangled web of schemes and romantic associations… none of which Francis can keep straight. So he has to do everything in his power to keep his two guvnors from meeting while trying to eat anything in sight along the way. Simple. Falling trousers, flying fish heads, star-crossed lovers, cross-dressing mobsters and a fabulous on-stage band are just some of what awaits at the most “deliriously funny” (The Daily Telegraph) new play to cross the pond in decades.
OTHER DESERT CITIES
In Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities Brooke Wyeth (played by Rachel Griffiths who is making her Broadway debut), a once promising novelist, returns home after a six year absence to celebrate Christmas in Palm Springs with her parents, former members of the Reagan inner-circle (Stockard Channing and Stacy Keach), her brother (Thomas Sadoski) and her aunt (Judith Light). When Brooke announces that she is about to publish a memoir focusing on an explosive chapter in the family’s history, the holiday reunion is thrown into turmoil and the Wyeths are both bound together and torn apart as they struggle to come to terms with their past.
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: 1988 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Actor, Best Featured Actress, Best Director, Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design, Best Lighting Design
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical tale is legendary becoming the longest running show in Broadway history! Unexplained accidents have been occurring at the Paris Opera, and the stuck-up diva, Carlotta, refuses to go on. Christine, a young singer, takes her place and is a triumph. Christine meets the Phantom who has taught her to sing so beautifully, as the romantic and haunting story drives forward to its dramatic climax.
PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT: 2011 Tony Awards: Best Costume Design
The spectacular new stage musical, adapted from the hilarious movie, is being directed by Simon Philips and written by Stephan Elliot and Alan Scott. Priscilla Queen of the Desert the Musical is a heart-warming, uplifting adventure of three friends who hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship in the middle of the Australian outback and end up finding more than they could ever have dreamed. With a dazzling array of outrageous costumes and featuring a score of dance-floor classics, Priscilla is a sensational journey to the heart of fabulous. Hair heart throb Will Swenson stars along with Tony Sheldon who opened to rave reviews in the Australian premiere of the show.
REBECCA: Performances begin April 22, 2012
The musical, based on the classic Daphne du Maurier novel, is the story of Maxim de Winter, his new wife and Mrs. Danvers, the controlling and manipulative housekeeper of Maxim’s West Country estate of Manderley — where the memory of his first wife, the glamorous and mysterious Rebecca, still casts a shadow. Having premiered in Vienna in 2006, Rebecca features original book and lyrics by Michael Kunze, music by Sylvester Levay, English book adaptation by two-time Tony Award winner Christopher Hampton (Sunset Boulevard) and English lyrics by Hampton and Kunze.
RELATIVELY SPEAKING
Caroline Aaron, Bill Army, Lisa Emery, Ari Graynor, Steve Guttenberg, Danny Hoch, Julie Kavner, Fred Melamed, Grant Shaud and Marlo Thomas star in the ensemble cast of the world premiere production of Relatively Speaking, three one-act comedies by the prolific writing trio of Ethan Coen, Elaine May, and Woody Allen, and directed by John Turturro. Relatively Speaking is comprised of three one-act comedies springing from a different branch of the family tree. In Talk Therapy, Ethan Coen uncovers the sort of insanity than can only come from family. In George is Dead, Elaine May explores the hilarity of death. And in Honeymoon Motel, Woody Allen invites you to the sort of wedding day you won’t forget.
THE ROAD TO MECCA
Set in the region of South Africa known as the Karoo, The Road to Mecca tells the story of an elderly woman who has spent the years since her husband’s death transforming her home into an intricate and dazzling work of art. The reclusive Miss Helen (Rosemary Harris) has become depressed and appears increasingly unable to care for herself. Pastor Marius Byleveld, who embodies the village’s conservative values, is determined to get Miss Helen into an old-age home. Her friend Elsa (Carla Gugino), a young teacher from Cape Town who is deeply suspicious of the patriarchal traditions Byleveld represents, is just as determined that Miss Helen remain free.
ROCK OF AGES
The rising nostalgia for the 1980s, its timeless music, and the classic “hair bands” whose sonic power filled the airwaves and the clubs on L.A.’s Sunset Strip have led to the creation of Rock of Ages, a rock musical set in Hollywood in 1986, when it was all about big chords, big dreams, and… big hair! The new musical explores the pursuit of dreams—some come true, some are cut short and some change along the way. No matter what, the persistence of the human heart is what matters, so “Don’t Stop Believing”! Rock of Ages tells its story through hits from iconic groups such as Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Foreigner, Poison, Night Ranger, Twisted Sister, Asia, Whitesnake and rockers like Pat Benatar and Joan Jett.
SEMINAR
The Broadway world premiere of Theresa Rebeck’s new play, Seminar, will star Alan Rickman as a world-famous writer with power over young scribes in his class. Directed by acclaimed Obie Award winner Sam Gold (Circle Mirror Transformation, The Aliens, Tigers Be Still, Kin, The Coward), in his Broadway debut, the production marks the commercial Broadway debut of the prolific Rebeck, whose Mauritius was staged on Broadway by the not-for-profit Manhattan Theatre Club. Billed as a “biting comedy” Seminar is about four young writers who are thrilled to be participating in a private seminar taught by the brilliant but unpredictable Leonard (Rickman), an international literary legend. But as Leonard deems some students more promising than others, tensions arise. Sex is used as a weapon, alliances are made and broken, and it’s not just the wordplay that turns vicious.
SISTER ACT
When disco diva Deloris Van Cartier witnesses a murder, she is put in protective custody in the one place the cops are sure she won’t be found – a convent! Disguised as a nun, she quickly finds fans amongst her fellow ‘sisters’ but makes the wrong impression on the convent’s strict Mother Superior. When she turns her attention to the convent’s off-key choir, helping the nuns to find their true voices and breathing new life into the rundown neighborhood, her cover could be blown for good. With the gang giving chase, is time running out for Deloris? Or have they underestimated the power of her new found Sisterhood? Sister Act features a score by Alan Menken, eight-time Oscar winner and the genius behind many of the world famous songs from Disney’s movies, including The Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin and Enchanted, with lyrics from his long time collaborator, Glenn Slater. The book is by the award-winning team, Cheri and Bill Steinkellner, whose writing credits include the classic television comedy Cheers. The production will be directed by four time Tony Winner Jerry Zaks, and produced by Oscar Winner Whoopi Goldberg who played Deloris in the movie version of Sister Act.
SPIDER-MAN, TURN OFF THE DARK
America’s favorite superhero swings onto the Broadway stage! Drawing from over forty years of Marvel comic books for inspiration, Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark spins a new take on the mythic tale of a young man propelled from a modest rowhouse in Queens to the sky-scraping spire of the Chrysler Building, the bustling offices of the Daily Bugle, through the dizzying canyons of Manhattan, to new vistas never before seen. The musical follows the story of teenager Peter Parker (slated to be played by newcomer Reeve Carney), whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down—literally—when he’s bitten by a genetically altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to his bedroom ceiling. Originally directed by Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with 22-time Grammy Award-winning Bono and The Edge creating new music and lyrics, Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark opened in June 2011 after an extensive reworking of the original material.
STICK FLY
Grammy Award-winner Alicia Keys with Reuben Cannon & Nelle Nugent produce the Broadway premiere of Stick Fly, the critically-acclaimed American play by Lydia R. Diamond and directed by Kenny Leon. The play follows the LeVays, an affluent African American family who come together to spend a summer weekend at their Martha’s Vineyard home. The adult sons, aspiring novelist Kent and golden boy plastic surgeon Flip, have each brought their respective ladies (one Black and one White) to meet the parents. Food, drink and Trivial Pursuit tangle with class, race and identity politics in this contemporary comedy of manners.
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE: Performances begin Spring 2012
Blair Underwood will make his Broadway debut as Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, to be staged by Emily Mann next season. Stephen C. Byrd of Front Row Productions will produce the forthcoming Broadway revival, which he has stated will be a multi-racial production. Front Row Productions also presented the all-African-American revival of Cat On a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway in 2008. Mann (Me, Myself & I) will direct the New Orleans-set drama.
VENUS IN FUR: Performances resume February 7, 2012
In David Ives’ play, Nina Arianda plays Vanda, a gifted young actress eager to win a role in a new play based on the classic erotic novel, “Venus in Fur.” Her emotionally charged audition for author Thomas becomes an electrifying game of cat and mouse blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, seduction and power, love and sex.
WAR HORSE: 2011 Tony Awards: Best Play, Best Direction of a Play, Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Sound Design of a Play
War Horse is a thrilling and spectacular production based on the celebrated novel by Michael Morpurgo. Actors, working with astonishing life-sized puppets, take audiences on an unforgettable journey through history. At the outbreak of World War One, Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. He’s soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary odyssey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man’s land. But Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a mission to find him and bring him home.
WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?: Performances begin September 2012
On the campus of a small New England college, George and Martha invite a new professor and his wife home for a nightcap. As the cocktails flow, the young couple finds themselves caught in the crossfire of a savage marital war where the combatants attack the self-deceptions they forged for their own survival. Steppenwolf ensemble members Tracy Letts and Amy Morton face off as one of theatre’s most notoriously dysfunctional couples in Edward Albee’s hilarious and harrowing masterpiece.
WICKED: 2004 Tony Awards: Best Actress in a Musical, Best Costume Design and Best Scenic Design
Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the Land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two unlikely friends end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch makes for the most spellbinding musical in years.
WIT: Performances begin January 5, 2012
Margaret Edson’s Wit follows brilliant and exacting poetry professor Vivian Bearing (played by Tony and Emmy Award winner Cynthia Nixon) as she undergoes experimental treatment for cancer. A scholar who devoted her life to academia, she must now face the irony and injustice of becoming the subject of research.
OFF BROADWAY PRODUCTIONS
New York City is home to some of the most vibrant and innovative theater in the world. Renowned Off-Broadway producers include The Public, New York Theatre Workshop, The Vineyard Theatre, Atlantic Theater Company, Primary Stages, MCC Theater, and many more! These theater companies often do not announce their full seasons far in advance, but if you are interested in exploring the riches of Off Broadway, please check with your Pro Musica tour representative for the most up to date listing of shows available.
4000 MILES (Lincoln Center Theater): Performances begin Spring 2012
After losing his best friend while they were on a cross-country bike trip, 21 year-old Leo seeks solace from his feisty 91 year-old grandmother Vera in her West Village apartment. 4000 MILES looks at how these two outsiders find their way in today’s world. Playwright Amy Herzog also wrote After The Revolution, which ran at Playwrights Horizons in fall 2010. Charles Isherwood of the New York Times proclaimed that this play is “…a funny, moving, altogether wonderful drama. Every aspect of the director Daniel Aukin’s production enhances the delicacy and honesty of Amy Herzog’s writing.”
ASSISTANCE (Playwrights Horizons): Performances begin February 3, 2012; Closes March 11, 2012
For these young assistants, life is an endless series of humiliations at the hands of their hellacious boss, a powerful uber-magnate. In rare moments of calm when the phone calls stop rolling, Nick and Nora and their traumatized co-workers question whether all their work will lead to success — or just more work. Leslye Headland’s Assistance is a biting, high-octane satire about our attraction to power and what we’re willing to sacrifice to stay in its orbit.
AVENUE Q
Tony-winning musical Avenue Q, the hilarious and heartfelt story of a bright-eyed college grad who comes to New York with big dreams and little money, is now delighting off-Broadway audiences! Brian can only afford to live on Avenue Q but—good news!—his neighbors turn out to be a remarkably funny bunch of characters. Picture a grown-up episode of Sesame Street, with satirical songs (“It Sucks To Be Me”) and jokes replacing preschool-style banter. The actors remain visible at all times and mimic the action of their puppets, adding yet another level of humor.
THE AWESOME 80’S PROM
All your favorite characters from your favorite 80’s movies are at the prom, from the Captain of the football team to the Asian exchange student, from the Geek to the hottie head Cheerleader, and they’re all competing for Prom King and Queen. And just like on “American Idol,” the audience decides who wins, all while moonwalking to retro hits like “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” and “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go!”
THE BIG MEAL (Playwrights Horizons): Performances begin March 1, 2012; Closes April 8, 2012
Somewhere in America, in a typical suburban restaurant on a typical night, Sam and Nicole meet. And sparks fly, setting in motion an expansive tale that traverses five generations of a modern family, from first kiss to final goodbye. A stunning, big-hearted play by Dan LeFranc that spans nearly eighty years in a single sitting, The Big Meal tells the extraordinary story of an ordinary family.
BLUE MAN GROUP
Blue Man Group feature three enigmatic bald and blue characters who take the audience through a multi-sensory experience that combines theatre, percussive music, art, science and vaudeville into a form of entertainment that is like nothing else.
CARRIE (MCC Theater): Performances begin January 31, 2012
Carrie White is a misfit. At school, she’s an outcast who’s bullied by the popular crowd, and virtually invisible to everyone else. At home, she’s at the mercy of her loving but cruelly over-protective mother. But Carrie’s just discovered she’s got a special power, and if pushed too far, she’s not afraid to use it… Based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel, the musical of Carrie hasn’t been seen since its legendary 1988 Broadway production. Now, the show’s original authors have joined with director Stafford Arima (Altar Boyz) and MCC Theater for a newly reworked and fully re-imagined vision of this gripping tale. Set today, in the small town of Chamberlain, Maine, Carrie features a book by Lawrence D. Cohen (screenwriter of the classic film), music by Academy Award winning composer Michael Gore (Fame, Terms of Endearment), and lyrics by Academy Award winning lyricist Dean Pitchford (Fame, Footloose). The cast will be led by Tony Award nominee Marin Mazzie (Next to Normal, Kiss Me Kate) as Carrie’s evangelical mother, Margaret White, and Molly Ranson (Jerusalem, August: Osage County) as the lonely, vengeful, yet fragile girl at the center of it all.
THE FANTASTICKS
This classic romantic fable is the world’s longest-running musical: the story of a young boy and girl who fall madly in love at the hands of their meddling fathers, but soon grow restless and stray from one another. Will their separation provide a deeper appreciation for the love they once shared—or create a permanent gulf between them?
FEBRUARY HOUSE (The Public Theater): Performances begin May 2012
Visionary and flamboyant editor George Davis transforms a dilapidated Brooklyn boardinghouse into a bohemian commune for the leading lights of 1940s New York. Residents include novelist Carson McCullers, composer Benjamin Britten, poet W.H. Auden, and the infamous Gypsy Rose Lee. The luminaries of 7 Middagh Street form a tumultuous and remarkable makeshift family, and search for love, inspiration, and refuge from the looming war in Europe. Inspired by true events, this powerful and funny new musical marks the first commission of The Public’s Musical Theater Initiative.
FOOD AND FADWA (New York Theatre Workshop): Performances begin Spring 2012
Meet Fadwa Faranesh, an unmarried, 30-something Palestinian woman living in Bethlehem in the politically volatile West Bank. Known for her delectable cooking and deep-seated sense of duty to her family and aging father, our kitchen maven insists on continuing the preparations for the wedding of her younger sister, despite constraints of daily life under occupation. Politics blend with family tensions to create a sometimes humorous and sometimes heartbreaking meal. Story by Lameece Issaq and Jacob Kader, this new play melds the fight a Palestinian family wages to hold onto its traditional culture with its need to celebrate love, joy and hope. NYTW teams up with company-in-residence Noor Theatre to present Food and Fadwa.
FRECKLEFACE STRAWBERRY
Based on Julianne Moore’s children’s book of the same name, Freckleface Strawberry chronicles the life of seven-year-old Strawberry, who is teased by her schoolmates for having bright red hair and freckles. She feels different from everyone else and does anything to get rid of them, from scrubbing them with soap and even wearing a ski mask to school. Strawberry goes on a journey and realizes that all people are different, ultimately learning to accept herself, freckles and all.
FREUD’S LAST SESSION
This fictional encounter between two historical figures centers on legendary psychoanalyst Dr. Sigmund Freud, who invites a young, little-known professor, C.S. Lewis, to his home in London. Lewis, expecting to be called on the carpet for satirizing Freud in a recent book, soon realizes Freud has a much more significant agenda. On the day England enters World War II, Freud and Lewis clash about the existence of God, love, sex, and the meaning of life – only two weeks before Freud chooses to take his own. Mark St. Germain’s celebrated new play was suggested by The Question of God by Harvard’s Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jr.
FUERZABRUTA: LOOK UP
Fuerzabruta is a dazzling and un-missable new theatrical experience from the creators of the international sensation De La Guarda. This heart-pounding, 70-minute event – which has already taken Europe and South America by storm – comes to NYC’s Daryl Roth Theatre, where De La Guarda thrilled audiences for 7 mesmerizing years! Fuerzabruta (literally, “brute force”) floods the senses with a nonstop collision of dynamic music, visceral emotion, and kinetic aerial imagery. And best of all, you are at the center of the action: the magic of Fuerzabruta happens so close, you can actually touch it. This exhilarating, one-of-a-kind spectacle promises to be one of the most exciting events of the fall season. So grab your tickets, wear something comfortable, and prepare for total amazement…at Fuerzabruta!
GATZ (The Public Theater): Performances Begin March 14th; Closes May 6th, 2012
Elevator Repair Service’s critically acclaimed production of GATZ returns to New York for a very limited run. One morning in the low-rent office of a mysterious small business, an employee finds a copy of The Great Gatsby in the clutter of his desk. He starts to read it out loud, and doesn’t stop. At first his coworkers hardly notice. But after a series of strange coincidences, it’s no longer clear whether he’s reading the book or the book is transforming him.
GAZILLION BUBBLE SHOW
Bubble Artist Fan Yang brings his magnificent show to New York! Over the past two decades, Fan Yang has explored the fragile and mysterious world of soap bubbles and emerged with a completely new medium, blending art and science to dazzle audiences around the globe. Hailed by David Letterman of The Late Show, as “The Greatest Bubble Artist in the World”, Fan Yang’s gorgeous and unique creations defy gravity and logic as we know it. Gazillion Bubble Show is the first and only interactive stage production of its kind, complete with fantastic light effects, lasers, and jaw-dropping masterpieces of bubble artistry. Children and adults of all ages are sure to be amazed, mystified and enchanted!
AN ILIAD (New York Theatre Workshop): Performances begin Spring 2012
Visionary creators Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare have crafted a sprawling yarn based on Homer’s epic poem. An Iliad spins the familiar tale of gods and goddesses, undying love and endless battles told through an original and immediate voice. Making its New York premier, Tony Award-winning actors Denis O’Hare (Assassins, Take Me Out) and Stephen Spinella (Angels in America) will alternate as performers in this sweeping account of humanity’s unshakeable attraction to violence, destruction and chaos. Has anything really changed since the Trojan War?
IMAGINOCEAN
Tank, Bubbles and Dorsel are three best friends who just happen to be fish, and they’re about to set out on a remarkable journey of discovery. And it all starts with a treasure map. As they swim off in search of clues, they sing, they dance, and they make new friends—including everyone in the audience. Ultimately, they discover the greatest treasure of all—friendship. A new theatrical adventure created by Avenue Q’s John Tartaglia is sure to delight audiences of all ages.
LOOK BACK IN ANGER (Roundabout Theatre Company): Performances begin January 13, 2012
Often considered a pivotal theatrical work of the last century, Look Back in Anger is John Osborne’s uncompromising and vibrant drama about four people struggling to live together and love each other in 1950s England.
LOVE LOSS AND WHAT I WORE
Nora Ephron’s Love, Loss and What I Wore follows fragmented stories about the nostalgic power of women’s clothing. A starry cast of five women enrobed in chic black sit on stools and tell funny, wistful and universal memories about their families and loved ones through the prism of their closets. The through line is narrated by Gingy, a wise older woman who reminisces about what she wore at milestones in her life—complete with sketches of the styles. Like a long heart-to-heart with your best friend over coffee, the conversation meanders from a bittersweet story of a stepmother wearing the same style bathrobe as her husband’s late wife (to the dismay of the children) to a couple’s musings of what they wore on their wedding day to a rant about loathing the need to carry a purse. With odes to black clothing, cowboy boots and outfits that makes mothers cringe, Love, Loss and What I Wore is unabashedly girly—in a good way.
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET
Million Dollar Quartet, inspired by the famed 1956 recording session that brought together four of the most legendary figures in the history of rock ‘n’ roll — Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley — has transfered to off-Broadway after its Tony Award winning Broadway run! On December 4, 1956, an auspicious twist of fate brought Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley together. The place was Sun Records’ storefront studio in Memphis. The man who made it happen was Sam Phillips, the “Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” who discovered them all. The four legends-to-be united for the only time in their careers for an impromptu recording that has come to be known as one of the greatest rock jam sessions of all time. Million Dollar Quartet features a treasure trove of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll, gospel, R&B and country hits from these music legends, including such iconic songs as “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Fever,” “Sixteen Tons,” “Who Do You Love?,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Riders in the Sky,” “I Walk the Line,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” and “Whole Lotta’ Shakin’ Goin’ On.”
THE MORINI STRAD (Primary Stages): Performances begin March 20, 2012; Closes April 28, 2012
Inspired by the true New York story of concert violinist Erica Morini and her legendary Stradivari violin, this world premiere by Willy Holtzman is a delicate duet between Erica, a difficult and former child prodigy, and Brian, a stubbornly independent violin maker she hires to restore and then sell her beloved Strad.
RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN (Playwrights Horizons): Performances begin May 11, 2012; Closes June 24, 2012
After grad school, Catherine and Gwen chose polar opposite paths. Catherine built a career as a rockstar academic, while Gwen built a home with her husband and children. Decades later, unfulfilled in polar opposite ways, each woman covets the other’s life, commencing a dangerous game of musical chairs — the prize being Gwen’s husband. With searing insight and trademark wit, this comedy by Pulitzer Prize finalist Gina Gionfriddo is an unflinching look at gender politics in the wake of 20th century feminist ideals.
RENT
Jonathan Larson’s ground-breaking Tony and Pulitzer Prize Award winner reinvented musicals when it debuted in 1996, and now it returns to off-Broadway where it all began. An inspiring story about friends and artists struggling in New York City’s East Village, Rent tackles addiction, poverty, AIDS , and most of all, love.
RICHARD III:
Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey owns the stage as Shakespeare’s outrageous villain Richard III. At the climax of the Wars of the Roses, Richard watches his brother ascend the throne of England and confides in us–with all the profound bitterness of an outcast born with a hunchback and malformed leg–his intention to seize the crown. Navigating an imposing assemblage of some of Shakespeare’s greatest female characters, Richard–played brilliantly by the mercurial and mordantly funny Spacey–lusts for power, assuring his own bloody rise and fall. Academy Award winner Sam Mendes directs the transatlantic cast in the final production of The Bridge Project, a three-year partnership uniting BAM, The Old Vic, and Neal Street.
Rx (Primary Stages): Performances begin January 24, 2012; Closes March 3, 2012
Kate Fodor’s quirky comedy directed by Ethan McSweeny about romance in the age of prescription drugs asks what we really need to heal. Meena Pierotti’s job is making her unhappy. Luckily, there’s a pill for that. Well, not yet. But Meena has joined the clinical trial for a new drug targeting workplace depression. The trial gets messy, however, when she falls in love with her doctor, who himself is trying to enroll into a drug trial targeting heartbreak.
STOMP
Stomp is a high-energy, percussive symphony, coupled with dance, played entirely on non-traditional instruments, such as garbage can lids, buckets, brooms and sticks. An audience favorite, Stomp won two Emmy Awards for the HBO special Stomp Out Loud.
VOCA PEOPLE
The intergalactic musical theater event that bridges languages, cultures and planets is making its U.S. debut! An out-of-this-world experience that combines vocal sounds, a capella singing, comedy and the art of beat box, Voca people is performed by eight snow-white, ruby-lipped aliens with perfect harmony. There are no instruments: This purely vocal performance will send you into orbit. Filled with songs you’ll recognize, performed in a completely original way, Voca People is a tuneful, funny, exotic and, most of all, hilarious musical theatre phenomenon that you won’t want to miss!