Changes made to Broadway season
“To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Cher Show” have been pulled.
In a blow to Orlando’s 2020-21 touring Broadway season, “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Cher Show” have been pulled from the lineup. The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, which hosts and copresents the tours, announced the news on Monday afternoon.
Although two shows have been removed, only one replacement was announced: The latest revival of “Jesus Christ Superstar” will visit the downtown arts center.
The critically acclaimed “To Kill a Mockingbird” was one of the hottest tickets on Broadway before New York’s theaters closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The center’s announcement said the show will be part of the 2021-22 season.
“The Cher Show,” another recent Broadway production, won a Tony award for its costumes, which help trace the career of the famous one-named singer. It closed on Broadway in August after a ninemonth run.
A week in Orlando’s arts scene: What’s happening without shows? Plenty
The announcement did not specify why the tours have been delayed, but New York has been hard hit by COVID-19, making rehearsals for new tours impossible. Broadway theaters, which shut down in March, will be closed at least until June. The “Mockingbird” tour was scheduled to launch in August, “The Cher Show” in October.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” would have opened Orlando’s 2020-21 touring season, co-presented by Florida Theatrical Association and Broadway Across America, in October. Now the season will likely open with “Tootsie,” a musical based on the 1980s Dustin Hoffman movie, scheduled to arrive in Orlando on Nov. 24.
In recent days, “Tootsie” has been the subject of social-media debate in the theatrical community after producer Troika Entertainment scrapped plans to use Actors’ Equity Association performers and issued a casting call for non-Equity actors.
Actors’ Equity is the labor union representing theater actors and stage managers. Typically, non-Equity touring shows offer less pay and as a result often feature lessexperienced performers.
The 50th-anniversary production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” is a highly stylized look at days leading to the Crucifixion. Developed by the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in London, it features intense dancing, striking lighting and full-throttle energy in an intermission-free 90 minutes.
The addition of “Superstar” means Central Floridians will get a double dose of Andrew Lloyd Webber works: The composer’s “Cats” is already scheduled. Other shows in the season include hits “Hadestown” and “The Band’s Visit,” both recent best-musical Tony winners, and “The Prom,” a chipper musical comedy. Juggernauts “Wicked” and “Hamilton” also will return to Orlando during the 2020-21 season.
Subscribers who have paid for their season tickets can receive a refund for the value of one show, donate the amount to the center or receive a credit on their account for future purchases, a spokeswoman said. An email will detail how to indicate their choice. Those on a payment plan will automatically have the value of a show deducted from future payments.
This season’s touring-Broadway audiences saw only about half the planned shows, as the final four productions in the series were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.