The Walton Arts Center's main hall on Dickson Street will be shuttered at times this summer as long-discussed renovations begin. But the performing arts organization's Broadway series? That will be in full swing starting in November, officials at the center promised during a board meeting on Tuesday afternoon.
The venue's five-production Broadway series will begin with "Pippin" Nov. 10-15 and conclude in April of the following year. The six months of venue availability decreases the time between shows.
FYI
Walton Arts Center
Broadway Season
Nov. 10-15 — “Pippin”
Jan. 19-24 — “Kinky Boots”
Feb. 9-14 — “Mamma Mia”
March 1-6 — Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella”
April 19-24 — “The Bridges of Madison County”
Bonus show: Nov. 24-29 — “Annie”
INFO — 443-5600 or waltonartscenter.org
"We're going to have to use all of the dates," says Jenni Taylor Swain, the center's vice president of programming.
Although the timing of the season changes without a summer musical, the 2015-16 season features the same number of shows as the previous series.
The season opener, "Pippin," directed by Tony winner Diane Paulus, is a revival of a musical from 1972. But unlike the original, the newl version -- which won a Tony Award for Best Revival in 2013 -- incorporates elements of modern circus for what Swain calls "a fresh and contemporary feel." That fits Paulus' standard mode of operation, Swain says.
"She has a history of taking old shows and making them new," she says.
Next on the docket is "Kinky Boots," which won six Tony Awards upon its 2013 Broadway debut. It comes to the Walton Arts Center Jan. 19-24. The musical is based on a real-life story of a struggling shoe manufacturer that forges an unlikely alliance with a drag queen, in turn making custom boots for the local drag queen community. The songs in the musical were created by 1980s pop diva Cyndi Lauper.
Demand for the show was high, Swain says.
"People want to see the best musicals that are out there, the ones that win Tonys," she says.
The season moves into more familiar territory with the next show, "Mamma Mia," on stage Feb. 9-14. It's the third time that the show has appeared at the Walton Arts Center, having previously appeared in 2007 and 2011. Both times, it tallied among the WAC's highest-grossing shows, Swain says. "Mamma Mia" tells the story of a Greek resort owner and her daughter's plot to find her father on the eve of her wedding. The narrative weaves between songs created by the Swedish pop act ABBA, such as the title track, "Money, Money, Money" and "Dancing Queen."
The center also seeks balance, Swain says, booking shows that challenge while also making sure to have a family favorite among them.
"We want something big and luscious, something grandma wants to take her grandchildren to," Swain says.
The forthcoming season's entry in to that market is Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," which runs March 1-6. The show tells the classic fairy tale involving a beautiful maiden looking for her break and a prince who seeks a princess unlike any other. The story contains the magic everyone comes to expect -- the glass slipper and the time-sensitive carriage.
So does the musical version, Swain says.
"There's a lot of magic in it," Swain says. "Costumes appear out of nowhere."
The final show on the books runs April 19-24, 2016. The Walton Arts Center will be a stop on the first national tour of "The Bridges of Madison County," first a novel by Robert James Waller, then a successful movie starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood. The musical version centers on a woman in rural Iowa who has an affair with a National Geographic photographer in town to capture the local bridges.
Season subscriptions begin March 11. The center's create-your-own season package, which will include the choice of several yet-to-be-announced shows, will be offered in April. Single-show tickets go on sale this summer.
NAN What's Up on 03/06/2015