Shubert, Waterbury Palace announce 2021-22 seasons
New Haven’s Shubert theater and the Palace Theater in Waterbury have both announced their “Broadway” seasons for 2021-22. Several tours are playing both theaters due to shared booking strategies the theaters arranged prior to the COVID shutdown.
Shows playing both theaters include
“Anastasia,” at the Palace Oct. 19-21 and the Shubert Oct. 22-24: This stage version of the animated film, based on the myth of a surviving member of the Russian royal family, had its world premiere at Hartford Stage in 2016, then ran on Broadway for two years. This is the second time “Anastasia has come to Connecticut post-Broadway, having played The Bushnell in January of 2020.
“Beautiful — The Carole King Musical,” at the Palace Nov.
19-21 and the Shubert Jan. 21-23: Considered one of the best-written “jukebox musicals” of recent years (the book is by Douglas McGrath, whose adaptation of “The Age of Innocence” was at Hartford
Stage in 2018), “Beautiful” ran on Broadway for over five years and has toured successfully since 2015.
“Waitress,” at the Palace March 4—6 and the Shubert April 22-23: Based on the 2007 film, with a tasty-as-pie pop score by Sara Bareilles, “Waitress” last came to Connecticut in June of 2019.
An American in Paris, at the Palace Jan. 28-29 and the Shubert May 19—21: It’s dance-driven and Gershwin-infused as the 1951 Gene
Kelly film classic, but this stage musical takes a different, more realistic look at post-war Europe.
The Shubert is also offering a new national tour of “Hairspray” June 24—26, 2022.
The Waterbury Palace’s Broadway season also has “Chazz Palminteri’s A Bronx Tale” on Oct. 1 and 2, “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical” on Feb. 11 and 12 and “The Band’s Visit” from May 17-19.
During the 2019-20 season, the Shubert and the Palace joined together for “split-week” bookings of shows. A tour could visit Connecticut and play both theaters. The theaters could cross-promote the bookings and reduce their advertising costs. A split-week engagement of the British comedy “The Play That Goes Wrong” was a success, says Shubert Marketing Director Anthony Lupinacci.
The two theaters also worked out booking certain tours a year apart. Those plans were upset by the COVID shutdown. Bookings for 2020 were postponed a year, while bookings of the same show for 2021 are still in effect.
Since the Shubert and Palace have already proven that a tour can conceivably play two Connecticut theaters within 25 miles of each other successfully, the real winner is the theatergoer, who can choose whether they want to see a popular recent Broadway musical at a historic 107-year-old New Haven playhouse or at a historic 99-yearold renovated moviehouse in Waterbury — or both.
Beyond the Broadway tours, both theaters also offer music concerts, comedy shows, benefits for community organizations and many other events.
Shubert season subscription information is at shubert.com.
Information on the Palace Theater Webster Bank Broadway Season is at palacetheaterct.org.