OKC Broadway's new season offers something for everyone
Following its sold-out run of the pop-culture sensation “Hamilton,” OKC Broadway is looking to its 2019-2020 season, which will spotlight classic musicals, family-friendly favorites and a special encore.
“We just try to bring as much of a variety as possible,” OKC Broadway General Manager Elizabeth W. Gray said.
Classic Broadway
The six-show subscription season from OKC Broadway — a presentation of The Nederlander Organization and Civic Center Foundation — will make its bow at the Civic Center from Oct. 15-20 with “Hello, Dolly!,” the classic show that won three 2017 Tony Awards, including best revival of a musical.
“The revamping of the
costumes and the sets and the scenery and just the direction and production itself is something new and refreshing,” Gray said.
OKC Broadway will ring in 2020 with theater impresario Cameron Mackintosh's new production of “Miss Saigon”
from Jan. 14-19. Adapted from Giacomo Puccini's opera “Madame Butterfly” by “Les Miserables” masterminds Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, the sweeping spectacle follows a Vietnamese barmaid and an American G.I. who fall in love during the Vietnam War.
“With `Miss Saigon,' that show I did 30 years ago, and now it's still having an extraordinary life. And this new production is just as spectacular, and I'm using a lot more modern, new technology ... to give people a theatrical thrill, the kind of thing that they just can't see anywhere else,” Mackintosh told The Oklahoman.
Suitable for children
OKC Broadway will take a family-friendly, Tonywinning trip to Bikini Bottom with the Nov. 12-17 run of “The SpongeBob Musical.” Based on the cartoon characters created by Oklahoma native Stephen Hillenburg, the hit musical features sonic selections by OKC-based The Flaming Lips, David Bowie,
Cyndi Lauper and more.
“It was a huge hit with the adult audience on Broadway, so we wanted people to experience it here. Just don't underestimate it,” Gray said.
Adapted from the 1997 animated film, “Anastasia” is based on the lore about the youngest child of Czar Nicholas II, whom legend has it survived when the rest of the Russian royal family was executed during the Russian Revolution in 1918. The Tonywinning “Ragtime” team of Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty created the stage version, playing OKC March 3-8.
“You also get the culture, you also get the history, you get the romance, the dance, the music,” Gray said.
The May 12-17 season closer, Roald Dahl's “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” may be the golden ticket for fans of the 1971 film “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” since the musical features some of the movie's most beloved songs, along with a new score.
“It's definitely appropriate for kids. And they'll pick up on the candy and the Oompa Loompa parts. ... But it's got to the darker undertones from the original Gene Wilder version,” Gray said.
Surprise hit
The Tony-winning new sleeper hit “Come From Away” brings its remarkable true story to OKC from Feb. 4-9. Based on real events on Sept. 11, 2001, it centers on 7,000 airline passengers who suddenly found themselves stranded in a small town in Newfoundland, Canada.
“It is such a captivating story, and I honestly think it's a story that the majority of the population has no idea about,” Gray said.
Add-on shows
Featuring beloved show tunes like “Sunrise, Sunset,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and “Tradition,” a new production of the legendary musical “Fiddler on the Roof” will play the Civic Center from Sept. 24-29 as a special addon production to OKC Broadway's season.
Another OKC Broadway add-on, holiday favorite Mannheim Steamroller will bring its 35th annual Christmas tour back to the Civic Center for a one-night-only performance Nov 26.
Encore selections
OKC Broadway is introducing in 2019-2020 the Encore Series, a package of three theatrical shows at Rose State College's Hudiburg Chevrolet Center in Midwest City.
“When we took over management here at the music hall (from the city of Oklahoma City), it just made sense to take over the management at Hudiburg Center, too. So, we've been tremendously honored to now work with President (Jeanie) Webb and the board of regents over there to really amp up the programming,” Gray said.
The limited series will include “The Simon & Garfunkel Story,” a concert-style show about the folk-rock duo, Oct. 25-26; “Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live,” featuring the beloved TV series' creator and original star Joel Hodgson on his final tour, Feb. 20; and “The Office! A Musical Parody,” the unauthorized spoof of the hit TV show, March 18.