Although we are still officially in the offseason regarding any season announcements, November had plenty of news to help fill our appetites. Here are a few updates that occurred…
Bat Out Of Hell
Originally slated to start touring in the current season, the producers decided to postpone the tour of Bat Out Of Hell. However, following the announcement came the decision that it would still play in a few of the cities it had originally scheduled in 2019 including the Ordway in St Paul, MN (12-23 June), the AT&T PAC in Dallas, TX (27 June-7 July) and the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. (10-27 July). It will then play at the New York City Center from 30 July-22 September. It is anticipated to continue touring after this engagement, but no word on where or when those engagements will happen.
Dear Evan Hansen
Announced just before Thanksgiving, the Kansas City Musical Hall will be presenting the Tony-award winning production as part of their 2019-2020 season. Given that the show is also being presented in Dallas next season, I anticipate it will play around the same time.
The producers also announced a return engagement to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles for the 2020-2021 season. This was largely due in part to the record-breaking success the show had during its run. The announcement means that the show will continue to play following its 2-year, 50+ city commitment that it had initially announced in 2017.
New Shows
November also proved to be a bittersweet month for a few shows currently on Broadway. Head Over Heels, Summer: the Donna Summer Musical, and Once On This Island each announced that they will close around the new year. Once On This Island had already committed itself to continuing the show on the road in the 2019-2020 season, with the only announced stop being at the Ahmanson Theatre. Summer also announced that it will tour starting in the 2019-2020 season, with stops scheduled for Los Angeles, Nashville, Rochester, Washington, D.C. and West Palm Beach. Head Over Heels, the Go-Go’s musical, is still weighing the option for touring.
Etc.
A few other notes from the month include:
- The Durham PAC announced that the Disney musical Aladdin will be stopping there in the 2019-2020 season. It is my guess that it will play there following the show’s final stop of the 2018-2019 season, which is in Charlotte.
- Speaking of Charlotte, the Blumenthal Performing Arts announced that Les Misérables will play there from 29 October-3 November 2019.
- Both Mean Girls and the revival of My Fair Lady, new productions hitting the road next season, performed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
Looking Ahead
With about a month to go before the new season announcements taking place, I don’t anticipate any major announcements occurring, although one or two individual-show announcements could be made to whet our appetites prior to the official start of announcement season. The past couple of seasons has had Seattle’s Paramount Theatre starting things off by releasing their season in the first week of January, and I anticipate the trend to continue. Stay tuned to this site by signing up for notifications, as well as checking out my Twitter and Instagram feeds for more updates!
Postscript
I wanted to give a quick shoutout to the website Broadway Now and Next (http://www.broadwaynowandnext.com/). If you need a one-stop listing of all of the shows currently and scheduled to play in New York, be sure to check out this amazing site!