Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The room where it happens
Walton Arts Center not throwing away shot at stellar season.
Even as theater offerings cautiously creep off computer screens and back onto real-life, in-person stages, much remains uncertain — especially when it comes to the industry’s pinnacle: Broadway.
When will the Great White Way reopen? Will touring productions also resume? If and when they do, will the tours look the same? Will they run smaller, more localized schedules? Will the Walton Arts Center host any of the shows it was supposed to present in 2020?
The questions abound, and it will be impossible to answer them all while the pandemic and vaccine rollout continue. With the announcement of the 202122 Broadway Season at the WAC last week, though, Scott Galbraith and Jennifer Ross did try to settle some of the conjecture.
“We’re really grateful to our partners, the producers we work with and the booking agents that we work with. Because really, everybody was like-minded in essentially trying to un-press pause where we were,” says Galbraith, vice president of programming and executive producer.
Which is to say, he goes on, when it comes to all of those 2020-21 schedules announced last year that had to be canceled, the entire industry was doing everything possible to get audiences the shows they were expecting. Consequently, the WAC’s new season comprises shows that had all already been promised in Northwest Arkansas at one point or another prior to the pandemic.
Opening the welcome-back Broadway season on Oct. 26, “Come From Away” is, fittingly, about a group of people coming through the other side of a tragic experience, Galbraith explains.
Galbraith and Ross are thrilled to reopen the Broadway series with “a piece that is so poignant, so relevant, and so joyous — because it’s not about the tragedy, it’s about the overcoming,” Galbraith says. “It’s about the coming together. It’s about the shared humanity pulling together in times of challenge, and finding a way to be civil with each other and to support each other, despite just a ridiculous number of differences. And that’s such a great message for right now.”
Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the United States closed the airspace, and flights could
no longer enter the country. “Come From Away” depicts the true story of what happened when Gander, Newfoundland, suddenly found itself host to 38 landed planes and 7,000 stranded passengers — doubling the tiny town’s population.
“The whole story is about our humanity and how we can take care of each other when the world [falls apart] around you,” Ross, director of programming, said in early 2020 when the show was first announced for last season.
Now, she reflects, the show is bound to pack an even greater emotional punch. “I think we might laugh a little harder and cry a little harder than we would have a year ago.”
From Newfoundland, the WAC extends a golden ticket back to the States for the Arkansas debut of Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (Nov. 30-Dec. 5).
The brand new musical blends favorite songs from the classic film, beloved characters from both cinematic iterations and the familiar storyline from the original novel into a confectionery stage show of “pure imagination” that is the perfect introduction to Broadway for kids.
“I love this story. It’s one of my favorite movies, and now it’s one of my favorite stage shows,” Ross enthuses. “It’s just fantastic. And the Oompa-Loompas are hilarious — but that’s all I can tell you!”
The next two shows in the season also happen to be brand new, and rooted in film and literature as well. “Mean Girls” closes out the year Dec. 14-19, and “An Officer and a Gentleman” kicks off the new year Jan. 4-9.
“I have to say, I have always known the film to appeal more to women than to men — and I take that from the survey group of one, being my daughter,” Galbraith quips of “Mean Girls.”
“But I will tell you that as a guy in the theater, I had as much fun I think, as anybody else. So while this is often thought of as sort of a girls’ night out, I’m telling you, it’s also a guys’ night out. Everybody will have fun with this.”
The new musical brings to the stage the razor sharp satire and ubiquitous humor of Tina Fey’s cult classic comedy, based on the book “Queen Bees and Wannabees” by Rosalind Wiseman. And its style, with a script by Fey, Ross notes, hearkens back to other contemporary pieces like “Hairspray” and “Legally Blonde.”
“Trying to fit in to society — and whatever that is, whether school, work — we all try and do that,”
Galbraith adds. “We’re always trying to figure out how do I fit in? Do I have friends in this group? That’s what it is, ultimately. Yes, the central characters are women, are young girls, but their plight is human.”
The first show of 2022 is actually touring on its way to Broadway when it stops in Fayetteville. As with “Mean Girls” — the brand new musical “An Officer and a Gentleman” (Jan. 4-9) sees the original book writer of the film, Douglas Day Stewart, return to the project to adapt it to the theater. “Gentleman” was staged in London before receiving some tweaks to go on the road here in the States on a pre-Broadway track, Galbraith explained of the show’s announcement last year.
Though the 1982 Academy Awardwinning film, starring Richard Gere and Debra Winger, is remembered for its romantic love story, the stage adaptation keeps the romance while building out the Naval Academy recruits’ world.
“And yet, at the same time, this show has the potential to be like a ‘Mamma Mia’ vibe and have people up and dancing by the end of the show because we know the music so well,” Galbraith posits.
Coming in March of 2022, for a special two-week run, Northwest Arkansas will host the worldwide sensation “Hamilton.”
“‘Hamilton,’ of course, is the story of the ‘$10 Founding Father.’ I really love that line,” Ross shares. “But it’s also a story of love and loss and friendship, and un-friendship — if that’s a word — and all the things that go with it. And making your mark in history, whether it’s a small one or a big one. We’re just thrilled to be part of the phenomenon.”
Writer, creator and original star Lin-Manuel Miranda used a hiphop framework (among plenty of other styles) to tell the story of the nation’s first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton. Scenes of 18th century political and social intrigue, the American Revolution and Hamilton’s infamous duel with Aaron Burr illuminate pieces of the founding father’s life that helped build our nation.
In a pandemic-induced shift, a “live” filmed recording of the 10-time Tony Award-winning musical was added to the streaming platform Disney Plus last summer, some 15 months prior to its originally scheduled theatrical release date.
“The film coming out I think really will increase people’s excitement for seeing it,” Galbraith predicts. “But even more, for those who may have been unaware of it, or even for those who have seen it, the opportunity to see the show and hear the show in that environment I think gives people the opportunity to really dig into and understand the depth and the brilliance of Lin Manuel Miranda and his lyrics. He is sort of a new generation of Stephen Sondheim in terms of the brilliance of his work. He is just an amazing person. And to have his work on our stage is such an honor.”
Closing the 2021-22 season is a show that was rescheduled some four times as the programming team held out hope for the pandemic’s abatement and the chance to present this show. That persistence paid off as the new revival of “Fiddler on the Roof” will take the stage in Fayetteville May 10, 2022.
“Finally!” Ross exclaims with a mixture of elation and relief.
The only returning show in next year’s season, director Bartlett Sher’s reimagining of “Fiddler on the Roof” imbues the classic story with freshness and renewed authenticity. Northwest Arkansas audiences previously saw Sher’s work with his stunning revival of “The King and I” several seasons ago. Patrons can translate that technique to “Fiddler” to get of sense of how the theater staple has been reinvigorated, Ross says.
“This is one of those shows, and it’s one of the few, that can actually boast (up until the pandemic) that somewhere on Earth, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ is performed every single day, and has been since it opened. It has never really stopped running,” Galbraith shares. “It is one of the time-honored classics of all timehonored classics.”
“I think this version of ‘Fiddler’ is going to introduce a new generation to the celebration that raises its cup to joy and to life,” Ross adds.
It will also, she notes, be a beautiful way to close a season sure to overwhelm with emotion through its moving stories, but also with the experience of being able to gather once again.
“The arts has always had the opportunity to entertain and enrich and lift the spirit,” Galbraith agrees. “And I think it’s time. We’re all ready.”