FERGUSON
sale in the fall.
“Cats” — based on a collection of poems by T.S. Eliot — created a sensation on London’s West End in 1981 and on Broadway a year later, setting box office records and becoming a cultural touchstone.
Bronstein said he expects to announce the rest of the Ferguson Center’s 2019-20 performance schedule in a few weeks.
“Beautiful,” built around the hit songs written by Carole King in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, opened on Broadway in 2014 and is still playing at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. King composed such songs as “Up on the Roof” for the Drifters, “The Loco-Motion” for Little Eva and “Pleasant Valley Sunday” for the Monkees. Her 1971 solo album “Tapestry” sold
25 million copies and featured “You’ve Got a Friend” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.”
“I love the idea of seeing a show where the audience already knows every song and can sing along with every number,” Bronstein said. “A lot of people have no idea of all the music she has created. It’s a great story and it holds your interest, but the truth is you could enjoy that show just for the pure concert
— the music is incredible.”
The musical version of “An American in Paris,” which debuted on Broadway in 2015, is an adaptation of the classic 1951 film starring Gene Kelly, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Among the featured songs by George Gershwin are “I Got Rhythm” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.”
Likewise, “The Color Purple” was adapted from Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book and its Oscar-nominated 1985 film adaptation. The story follows the lives of African-American women in the Deep South during the 1930s.
“It’s always a challenge to adapt something for the stage when the original source is so definitive,” Bronstein said. “Gene Kelly is an icon, and when you bring ‘An American in Paris’ to live performance, that’s what you’re being measured against. ‘The Color Purple’ is the same way — so many people know the book, and they know the movie with Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, and it’s a great challenge to live up to that.
“But I think that’s part of the variety we have in this season — there really is something for everyone. There’s romance and drama and dance and familiar songs. It really draws people in, and that’s always been my goal at the Ferguson Center. It’s not just a place you attend — it’s a place you belong. We hope people feel like a part of something here.” Mike Holtzclaw, 757-928-6479, mholtzclaw@dailypress.com, @mikeholtzclaw.