Broadway in the Hood plans ambitious season
Second season at Smith Center includes ‘The Wiz,’ ‘The Mountaintop’
You’ve seen “The Wiz Live!” on TV. Next September, you can see “The Wiz” live — onstage at The Smith Center.
The Tony-winning musical will lead off Broadway in the Hood’s 2016-17 Smith Center season, its second at the downtown performing arts complex.
Other season highlights include the Las Vegas premiere of the award-winning “The Mountaintop,” set on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination; the Tony-winning musical “Ain’t Misbehavin’ “; the popular “Steel Magnolias”; and a new works festival.
Broadway in the Hood’s current Smith Center season continues with the Pulitzer Prize-winning”Driving Miss Daisy” (Jan. 15-17) and a pair of Tony-winners: “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” (Feb. 12-14) and “Dreamgirls” (May 28).
Broadway in the Hood’scomplete 2016-17 Smith Center schedule:
“The Wiz” (Sept. 2-3, Reynolds Hall) — Ease on down the road with Dorothy and her friends in this Tony-winning adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz,” powered by a rock-, gospel- and soul-flavored musicalscore.
“Steel Magnolias” (Nov. 11-13, Troesh Studio Theater) — A small Louisiana beauty parlor provides the backdrop for playwright Robert Harling’scomedy-dramaabout sixstrong Southern women.
“The Mountaintop” (Jan. 8-10, Troesh) — Returning from a prophetic speech,an exhausted Martin Luther King Jr. returns to his room at Memphis’ Lorraine Motel, where he’s visited by a mysterious maidin playwright Katori Hall’s award-winning account of King’s final hours.
“Ain’t Misbehavin’ “(Feb. 5-7, Cabaret Jazz) — The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and ‘30s comes alive in this Tony-winning musical salute to Thomas “Fats” Waller, featuring timeless tunes from “Honeysuckle Rose” to “This Joint Is Jumping.”
Writers Block New Works Festival (March 24-26, Troesh) — Four original plays or musicals, chosen from submissions by up-and-coming or accomplished playwrights.
For tickets and more information on the currentand upcoming Broadway in the Hood productions, call 702749-2000 or visit www. thesmithcenter.com. —For more stories from Carol Cling go to reviewjournal. com. Contact her at ccling@ reviewjournal.com and follow @CarolSCling on Twitter.