As we approach season announcement season, more venues have asked for patrons’ opinions regarding which shows to bring to their respective venues.

As previously recorded, venues from time to time will send out surveys to their patrons to gauge their interest for shows that are under consideration for the upcoming season. Typically, they include shows that are currently on tour as well as potential new shows. New shows can be defined as productions currently on Broadway that have yet to tour, or productions that have been on tour before, but have taken a brief hiatus.

Many factors play a role when putting together a touring season for venues including venue availability, vicinity to nearby venues, etc. However, the surveys produced by the venues do carry a certain amount of weight as the interest of its patrons plays a key factor when determining the makeup of the season.

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ALBUQUERQUE, NM

Although associated with Broadway Across America, the Popejoy Hall survey was not a traditional survey produced by the organization. While typically the survey would be broken into several sections (e.g. new shows, returning favorites, revivals), this particular survey only had one section that included the following shows:

• Aladdin
• Beetlejuice
• Cats
• Dear Evan Hansen
• Fiddler on the Roof
• Groundhog Day
• Hairspray
• Jagged Little Pill
• My Fair Lady
• Oklahoma!
• On Your Feet
• The Lion King
• To Kill A Mockingbird
• Tootsie

The options available in this survey provide some interesting insight as its the first one to include Groundhog Day. Originally announced following its closing in 2017, Groundhog Day may be finally ready to embark on the national tour it had planned. Another interesting observation is the potential return of On Your Feet, which closed following the 2018/2019 season. As of publication, none of the traditional booking groups have publicly made known the addition of either of these shows.

Popejoy Hall typically presents anywhere from 4-6 shows per season, which is lower than the typical BAA venue. And, although they occasionally present new touring shows, the venue typically has shows that are in their second or third year of touring–a trend that I suspect to continue into the 22/23 season.

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KANSAS CITY, MO

Kansas City’s Starlight Theatre also recently issued a survey to its patrons. Like the survey from Popejoy Hall, the section related to specific shows wasn’t categorized. As a matter of fact, while the former survey specified that it was gauging patrons’ interest for the 2022/2023 season, the Starlight Theatre’s simply asks surveyors to pick five shows for a “future” season.

After viewing their list of options, you probably are correct in saying that they are looking both to next season as well as far ahead into the future as many of the shows they offer are not even on Broadway, but are either overseas or are in development.

A caveat with regards to this specific venue is that the theatre produces its own productions as well as hosts touring shows. So while the list mentioned in the survey may include new and currently-touring shows, the option is there to produce one on their own. Additionally, the venue only presents shows during the summer, which does provide some limitations. With all that in mind, here is the list of shows:

• 1776
• 42nd Street
• A Beautiful Noise
• Aida
• Aladdin
• Almost Famous
• Back to the Future
• Beetlejuice
• Broadway Vacation the Musical
• Caroline, or Change
• Chicago
• Come From Away
• Dear Evan Hansen
• Diana: The Musical
• Dreamgirls
• Funny Girl
• Girl from the North County
• Groundhog Day
• Hadestown
• Jagged Little Pill
• Joy: A New Musical
• Legally Blonde
• Les Misérables
• Little Shop of Horrors
• MJ
• Moulin Rouge!
• Mrs. Doubtfire – The Musical
• The Music Man
• Once Upon a One More Time
• Sing Street
• Six
• The Book of Mormon
• The Lion King
• The Music Man
• Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
• West Side Story
• Wicked

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Combining the new data with that from the previous article produces the following table highlighting the potential makeup of shows for the 22/23 season. As mentioned above, because the Starlight Theatre has included shows that are not in a position to tour for the upcoming season, only shows that are currently on tour or are highly likely to tour have been included.

	Albuquerque, NM	Columbia, SC	East Lansing, MI	Kansas City, MO
9 to 5 The Musical		X	X
1776			X	X
A Soldier's Play			X
Aida *				X
Aladdin	X	X	X	X
An Officer and a Gentleman			X
Annie			X
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical			X
Beetlejuice the Musical	X		X	X
Caroline, or Change				X
Cats	X
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory		X	X
Chicago			X	X
Come From Away			X	X
Dear Evan Hansen	X	X	X	X
Frozen		X	X
Groundhog Day	X			X
Hadestown				X
Hamilton		X	X
Hairspray	X		X
Jagged Little Pill	X		X	X
Jesus Christ Superstar		X	X
Legally Blonde		X		X
Les Misérables		X	X	X
Little Shop of Horrors				X
Mean Girls		X
Moulin Rouge! The Musical			X	X
My Fair Lady	X
Oklahoma!	X	X	X
On Your Feet	X
Pretty Woman: The Musical			X
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical			X
Six: The Musical			X	X
The Band's Visit			X
The Book of Mormon			X	X
The Lion King	X		X	X
The Prom			X
The Phantom of the Opera		X
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical			X	X
To Kill A Mockingbird	X
Tootsie	X		X
West Side Story			X	X
Wicked			X

Bold = new to the 2022/2023 season

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Key takeaways:

• Disney’s Aladdin, Chicago, Les Misérables, and The Book of Mormon all look to be back on the road starting in fall 2022 after their closures in 2020.
• Revivals of 9 to 5, Annie, Legally Blonde, and West Side Story are also highly likely to being touring next season.
• New productions currently on Broadway, such as Beetlejuice, Jagged Little Pill, and Tina are all on the shortlist of musicals to being touring. Beetlejuice, in addition to returning to Broadway, has already announced a national tour, and announcements for the other two shows should be forthcoming. We typically see new shows announce tours shortly after the Tony Awards in June. However, given the unusual circumstances, it’s possible that they may make those announcements soon or at the beginning of next year when season announcement season begins.

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Be sure to stay tuned as more surveys may show up prior to the beginning of next year’s announcement season. Dates may vary as we’re still navigating through the return of normalcy, but venues typically begin announcing new seasons in mid-January.