Fri 10/3
In a glitzy presentation at the Palace Theatre, PlayhouseSquare unveiled its 2014-2015 KeyBank Broadway series. Senior vice president of theater operations Gina Vernaci announced the show’s names from the stage accompanied with clips from the show on a giant screen.
A live troupe of singers performed seemingly an entire act of the series opener Motown: The Musical, giving the audience a taste of the multitude of hits this show will contain, including “My Girl” and “Dancing in the Streets.” That show will run from 10/9-19.
It will be followed by Disney’s Newsies, a new musical based on a 1992 Disney film. It runs 11/4-16.
Irvin Berlin’s White Christmas will be in residence at PlayhouseSquare from 12/2-14, to get people in the holiday mood. It’s also based on a film, the slight but engaging Bing Crosby/Danny Kaye 1954 film White Christmas, which was based on the slight but engaging Bing Crosby/Fred Astaire 1942 film Holiday Inn.
The long-running Broadway musical Pippin — NOT based on a movie — opens 2015 from 2/3-15. Set in Charlemagne’s Middle Ages, it first hit Broadway in the early ’70s.
Back to film poaching, Dirty Dancing, playing from 3/3-22, draws from the blockbuster 1987 movie of the same name about a summer of young lust in the Catskills, expressed through dance.
Kinky Boots, also based on a film, made its Broadway debut in 2012, so it should be new to most Clevelanders. It features music written by Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein about a factory that produces footwear for drag queens. It will be on stage from 4/7-19.
The season winds up with another chestnut, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, a classic from the ’50s that was original a made-for-TV production starring Julie Andrews That will run from 7/21-8/2.
Go here for more information, including ticket information.
Cleveland, OH 44115