If you are one of the masses that didn't make it the Winspear Opera House the last time Book of Mormon came to town (that makes two of us), this little blog post is about to make your day. The hit show coming back to Dallas, as part of the 2014-15 season of the AT&T Performing Arts Center's Broadway Series.
But Matt Stone and Trey Parker's dancing elders aren't enough to make a season, so the Performing Arts Center booked a red-headed orphan, ragtag newsboys, and a disfigured opera house inhabitant.
When President and CEO of the Center Doug Curtis took the stage at the press announcement Monday, he breezed past this season, instead pointing to the 2015/16 season grab of the first Matilda tour as a big win for Dallas. "Let me give you some inside baseball on this," Curtis said, in fitting sports talk for the large crowd of Dallas men (primarily white) with their wives and children. "At the original Royal Shakespeare Company announcement of the tour, we were one of only five cities announced."
The others? First tier tour stops, like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.
In the past five years, the existence of the ATTPAC Broadway Series introduced a certain programming prowess to the city that surpassed the city's previous musical monopoly, Dallas Summer Musicals. Now, the two institutions bring in nearly every Broadway tour, equity and non, even the tours that previously would've booked Dallas on the second leg. And though this season may contain shows you've seen before, they are the latest revival or re-imagining. Enough of my blabbing. Here's the 2014/15 season:
The Phantom of the Opera - August 6 - August 24, 2014 In a huge, new version of this classic musical, the set has been completely redesigned, which, we are told, means the chandelier does new tricks.
ONCE - December 17 - December 28, 2014 It might be difficult to imagine this Dublin love story could be any more intimate than the film, but this is exactly the feat it pulled off on Broadway. Of course, it did it in a small theater, where the audience was invited onstage for a drink before the show. It might be difficult to capture that spirit of camaraderie in the mammoth Winspear. Regardless, the music will be beautiful.
Newsies - April 29 - May 10, 2015 They sing, they dance, they deliver newspapers.
Annie - June 23 - July 5, 2015 You know, if Annie didn't star so many bratty children, it would be easier to love it. The music is downright beautiful. I will puke if I ever have to sit through another children's theater production of it, but this musical tour is supposed to be good.
Motown The Musical - July 21 - August 9, 2015 Oh, come on, everybody loves a good Motown song. And this musical has 66 of 'em. Yep, you heard me. I'll be the girl dancing in the aisles.
The Book of Mormon - February 10 - February 22, 2015 This time, a subscription to the Broadway series won't get you a ticket to the Book. So you'll just have to log in to your computer at 8 a.m. the day they go on sale and refresh your screen a million times looking for the cheapest seats. Just like everybody else.
