Broadway in Cincinnati - 2018/2019 Program

2018/2019 Series Magazine

Hamilton heads to the Queen City

Pure Imagination

Let’s Conga!

Waving Through a Window

The Heat is on in Saigon

Visit Wonka’s wondrous factory at Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

On Your Feet! tells the irresistible story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan

Dear Evan Hansen is a game-changing musical for the 21st century

Extraordinary Miss Saigon makes a triumphant return

Roberta and Don Hawley, residents since 2017

Great Design. Quality. Value.

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WELCOME What an incredible year we have ahead here at Broadway in Cincinnati.

We are so excited to host the Cincinnati premiere engagement of Hamilton this season, which gives us the opportunity to welcome thousands of new subscribers and ticket buyers to the Aronoff Center. Hamilton, billed as “the story of America then, as told by America now,” is truly fantastic, and we can’t wait to share it with the Queen City.

Our season shows have garnered hundreds of awards, including five Best Musical Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, 10 Olivier Awards and two Pulitzer Prizes. Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will delight kids of all ages; popular favorites Cats, RENT, Fiddler on the Roof, and Miss Saigon return to inspire new generations; On Your Feet! will have you doing just that to the songs of Gloria and Emilio Estefan; and The Play That Goes Wrong will leave you in stitches. Top it off with the premiere of the phenomenal musical Dear Evan Hansen, and we’ve got an impressive lineup sure to please anyone who loves musical theater.

The lights have never been brighter at Broadway in Cincinnati. Last season, we welcomed nearly 300,000 guests to Broadway shows at the Aronoff Center. According to our industry trade organization, The Broadway League, our series helped drive more than $66 million in economic impact to the greater Cincinnati region last year—much of that from ticket buyers like you filling hotels and parking garages, and eating and shopping locally.

Single tickets will be available for all shows on the season. The best way to get exclusive access and first notice for on-sales is by joining our free eCLUB email list at BroadwayInCincinnati.com.

Enjoy learning more about our upcoming shows inside, and we look forward to seeing you at the theater!

12 CONTENTS 04 A Word From Our Sponsors 08 Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 10 The Play That Goes Wrong 12

RENT

14 Fiddler on the Roof 16

Hamilton

18

On Your Feet!

20 Miss Saigon 22 Dear Evan Hansen 24 Cats

Genevieve Miller Holt General Manager, Broadway In Cincinnati

ABOUT BROADWAY IN CINCINNATI Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Cincinnati presented by TriHealth is committed to bringing the very best of Broadway to the Queen City.

Over the past 30 years, Cincinnatians have attended more than 3,250 Broadway in Cincinnati performances, including blockbusters like Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, and The Lion King.

We’ve proudly presented classics such as West Side Story, Evita, and My Fair Lady, as well as today’s most popular new shows, including The Book of Mormon, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and now, Hamilton.

KEEP IN TOUCH /BroadwayInCincinnati @BroadwayCincy @broadwaycincy

For more information, please visit us online at BroadwayInCincinnati.com.

BroadwayInCincinnati.com FAMILY GUIDE Bringing kids to the theater can be an inspiring and unforgettable experience! If you are considering bringing youngsters, we encourage you to check out our online Family Guide for information about show content, language advisories, and age recommendations for each show. Please visit BroadwayInCincinnati.com/FamilyGuide.

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Cover Image: Company – Hamilton National Tour– © Joan Marcus. Photographs: (TOP LEFT) Photograph courtesy of Broadway in Cincinnati / (TOP RIGHT) Deri’Andra Tucker, RENT 20 th Anniversary Tour, Credit Carol Rosegg 2018.

CHALLENGE YOURSELF. BE YOURSELF.

We are Country Day. We are dedicated to inspiring students to bring out the very best in themselves and each other. From 18 months to 18 years of age, we are uniquely designed to help cultivate a passion for learning and independent thinking that prepares students to become exemplary citizens, conďŹ dent leaders and the best versions of themselves. Success made easy! #WEARECOUNTRYDAY

6905 Given Road | Cincinnati OH 45243 513-979-0220 | CountryDay.net

A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS Dear Greater Cincinnati Patrons of the Arts:

Dear Fellow Art Lovers:

Fifth Third Bank is proud to have been the title sponsor of Broadway productions in Cincinnati since the first curtain call.

Supporting Cincinnati’s vibrant arts community is key to the revitalization of our urban core. This is economic development in action, attracting visitors and tourism dollars; as well as enriching our lives and the reputation of our city as an attractive home for families and businesses.

At Fifth Third Bank, we are dedicated to continually improving the lives of our customers and the well-being of the communities we serve. Our commitment to the Broadway series is an important investment in building a stronger Cincinnati.

We would be delighted to have you join us in this celebration of the arts. We hope you enjoy the Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Cincinnati season.

It’s part of how we help make our Queen City a Fifth Third Better! See you at the show!

TriHealth is excited to once again present the Broadway series in Cincinnati. At TriHealth, we believe the health of individuals and the vibrancy of a community are affected by many factors. And a well-balanced life—rich in the arts with stimulating and uplifting entertainment—is one of those factors.

At TriHealth, we partner with nonprofit organizations and businesses throughout the region to get health care right for Greater Cincinnati by tirelessly working to provide better care, better health, and better value. Our more than 12,000 physicians, nurses, team members, and volunteers are committed to providing you and your loved ones the best possible care at our six hospitals and more than 130 ambulatory centers and physician offices.

We hope you enjoy the 2018–2019 season of Broadway in Cincinnati—with an expansive lineup of shows, ranging from the classic Fiddler on the Roof to the contemporary smash hit Hamilton, designed to appeal to the full range of tastes. It’s our sincere hope and belief that our support of Broadway in Cincinnati is another demonstration of how TriHealth invests in the overall health of our community.

Tim Elsbrock Regional President Greater Cincinnati Fifth Third Bank

Mark Clement President & Chief Executive Officer, TriHealth

TriHealth Primary Locations: Bethesda North Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, TriHealth Evendale Hospital, Bethesda Butler Hospital, McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital, Bethesda Arrow Springs, Good Samaritan Western Ridge, Good Samaritan Glenway, TriHealth Anderson, TriHealth Kenwood, TriHealth Fitness & Health Pavilion, TriHealth Physician Partners, TriHealth Priority Care

Broadway in Cincinnati Staff GENERAL MANAGER, MIDWEST, BROADWAY ACROSS AMERICA

SENIOR GROUP SALES MANAGER, BROADWAY IN CINCINNATI

Genevieve Miller Holt

Peggy Hughes

DIRECTOR OF REGIONAL MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS, BROADWAY IN CINCINNATI

MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS ASSISTANT, BROADWAY IN CINCINNATI

Elizabeth Truitt

Kelly Holtgrefe

This program was published in cooperation with Broadway in Cincinnati by Cincinnati Magazine.

All contents © 2018. All rights reserved.

“Broadway in Cincinnati” is a registered trademark of The John Gore Organization. All rights reserved.

Cincinnati Magazine Staff PUBLISHER Ivy Bayer

BUSINESS COORDINATOR Erica Birkle

DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL OPERATIONS Amanda Boyd Walters

ADVERTISING DESIGNER Stephanie Youngquist

ART DIRECTOR Jen Kawanari

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Maggie Wint Goecke

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR & IT SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR Vu Luong

SENIOR ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE Ashley Hinzman

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Missy Beiting

ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVES McKensi Madden, Sloane Scheuer, Bethany Vondran, Lisa White

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SENIOR OUTSIDE ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE Laura Bowling

441 Vine St., Suite 200 Cincinnati, OH 45202 513.421.4300 • 513.562.2788 fax cincinnatimagazine.com

THE 18/19 BROADWAY SEASON

OCT 23 - NOV 4, 2018 ON SALE NOW

FEB 19 - MAR 10, 2019

ON SALE TBA

DEC 11 - 23, 2018 ON SALE NOW

JAN 15 - 27, 2019 ON SALE NOV 2

APR 9 - 21, 2019 ON SALE NOV 2

APR 30 - MAY 12, 2019 ON SALE OCT 26

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MAR 19 - 24, 2019 ON SALE NOV 2

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Join our eCLUB to get first notice and exclusive access for pre-sales and on-sales! BroadwayInCincinnati.com

Aronoff Center Ticket Office • CincinnatiArts.org • 513.621.ARTS

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMY KRAMER

Brad Bernstein’s filet Oscar with king crab from Postmark

FIVE NIGHTS | TEN CHEFS | ONE DELICIOUS EXPERIENCE PRESENTED BY:

Pinecroft at Crosley Estate • October 15 – 19, 2018

Monday, October 15 Paul Sturkey ( K ITC H EN 18 8 3) & Justin Uchtman (SARTRE)

Tuesday, October 16 Frances Kroner (ASTER SOCIAL SIPPERY & SLEEPY BEE CAFÉ) & Jackson Rouse (BAUER FARM KITCHEN)

Wednesday, October 17 Brad Bernstein ( P O S T M A R K , R E D F E AT H E R ) & Dan Wright (ABIGAIL STREET, PONTIAC BBQ , & SENATE)

Thursday, October 18 Jean-Robert de Cavel (JR GROUP) & Renee Schuler (EAT WELL CELEBRATIONS & FEASTS)

Friday, October 19 Max Kien ( O R C H I D S AT PA L M C O U R T ) & Travis Maier (JEFF RUBY CULINARY ENTERTAINMENT)

Cocktail hour menu prepared by Chef Larry Monaco, Funky’s Director of Culinary Operations

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ROALD DAHL’S CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

A WORLD OF PURE IMAGINATION FOR A NEW GENERATION

By Genevieve Miller Holt For generations, readers and movie audiences have been fascinated with the peculiar and delightful characters Roald Dahl created in his book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the subsequent iterations on film in the 1971 and 2005 adaptations. A few years ago, the classic story about a boy whose fates change when he wins the chance to meet the famed Willy Wonka got a new life when it was adapted as a major stage musical, to the delight of London and New York audiences. That new Broadway production is now headed out for a national tour.

“This show is an amazing

ABOUT THE SHOW Roald Dahl’s amazing tale is the perfect recipe for a delectable treat: songs from the original film, including “Pure Imagination,” “The Candy Man,” and “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket,” alongside a toe-tapping and ear-tickling new score from the songwriters of Hairspray. Willy Wonka is opening his marvelous and mysterious chocolate factory...to a lucky few. That includes Charlie Bucket, whose bland life is about to burst with color and confection beyond his wildest dreams. He and four other golden ticket winners will embark on a mesmerizing joyride through a world of pure imagination. Now’s your chance to experience the wonders of Wonka like never before—get ready for Oompa-Loompas, incredible inventions, the great glass elevator, and more, more, more at this everlasting showstopper. Tickets for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are on sale now at CincinnatiArts.org!

combination of all the different Charlie and the Chocolate Fac-

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tory incarnations,” says original Broadway cast member Steph-

PHOTOGRAPH: JOHN RUBINSTEIN, BEN CRAWFORD, EMMA PFAEFFLE, JAKE RYAN FLYNN, CHRISTIAN BORLE, ETC. ROALD DAHL'S CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS.

OCTOBER 23–NOVEMBER 4, 2018

PHOTOGRAPHS: (CLOCKWISE) BEN CRAWFORD, EMMA PFAEFFLE, KATHY FITZGERALD, F. MICHAEL HAYNIE, ALAN H. GREEN, CHRISTIAN BORLE, TRISTA DOLLISON, JOHN RUBINSTEIN, RYAN FOUST, JACKIE HOFFMAN, MICHAEL WARTELLA. PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS, 2017. / JAKE RYAN FLYNN, CHRISTIAN BORLEIN ROALD DAHL'S CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, PHOTOS BY JOAN MARCUS 2017./ KRISTY CATES, MADELEINE DOHERTY, PAUL SLADE SMITH, EMILY PADGETT, JOHN RUBENS-ROALD DAHL'S CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS, 2017. / RYAN SELL IN ROALD DAHL'S CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, PHOTOS BY JOAN MARCUS 2017

anie Gibson, “so whether you’re a fan of the book or one of the films, you will find so much to love.” Gibson, a 2007 graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), originated the role of Cherry Sundae in the Broadway production. Cherry is the kooky on-the-scene television reporter who follows the kids in the story as they discover their golden tickets, and Gibson—whose musical comedy credits also include the Broadway productions of Spamalot and The Addams Family—got to use her comic chops in the outlandish role.

During her run in the show, Gibson loved feeling the reactions from the audience. “The way the show is written appeals to many generations, so it’s al-

ways fun to witness during each performance what jokes people really tune in to, which changes night to night.” And there are some unforgettable elements in the show that Gibson says the audience cheers nightly. “There are moments in the show you are expecting, but there are also lots of moments in this show that the audience is definitely not expecting. One of those is when we meet the Oompa Loompas. I promise you, you’ve never seen anything quite like this before.”

But she also knows that what makes this show so special is its perfect sweet-and-sour blend of heart and comedy. “It’s a story of hope, family, and love, but it’s also super silly. In that way, it really is perfect for all ages, all walks of life. Of course it appeals to chil-

dren, but it’s also for the adults— it’s so smartly written and the music is incredible. I hear it over and over from adults who brought their children to the show: ‘I didn’t expect to laugh like that!’ ” There is something universal in Charlie’s story, and Wonka’s too, and that’s what really works, says Gibson. “Everyone can relate to the struggle of wanting something so badly, and the search for happiness. We see that clearly in Charlie’s path, but we also learn that Wonka himself, although he’s the hero, is also on a search for happiness and what he wants in the world. Charlie teaches Wonka, just as Wonka teaches Charlie.

It’s a beautiful and heartfelt story, and I guarantee you’ll be having a bit of an emotional moment at the end of the show.”

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THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG NOVEMBER 27–DECEMBER 2, 2018

THE JOY IN WATCHING THINGS GO ‘WRONG’ Imagine you’ve sat down in the audience of an amateur British theater company’s murder mystery production, “The Murder at Haversham Manor.” The show starts off well enough but then things start to go, well, wrong.

The set may not be entirely secure. There may not be any trained understudies. The actors may not be fully prepared for

their cues. While most normal folks would probably just stop the show when a certain amount of chaos ensues, this amateur theater troupe refuses to acknowledge the pandemonium and will stop at nothing to perform their show, no matter what gets destroyed along the way.

This is The Play That Goes Wrong, a physical comedy romp

ABOUT THE SHOW What would happen if Sherlock Holmes and Monty Python had an illegitimate Broadway baby? You’d get The Play That Goes Wrong, Broadway & London’s award-winning smash comedy! Called “a gut-busting hit” (The New York Times) and “the funniest play Broadway has ever seen” (HuffPost), this classic murder mystery is chock-full of mishaps and madcap mania delivering “a riotous explosion of comedy” (Daily Beast). Welcome to opening night of “The Murder at Haversham Manor” where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. With an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines), it’s “tons of fun for all ages” (HuffPost) and “comic gold” (Variety)—sure to bring down the house. Tickets for The Play That Goes Wrong are on sale now at CincinnatiArts.org!

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and two hours of laugh-out loud fun, says producer Kevin McCollum. And McCollum, who is a 1984 graduate of UC’s College-Conservatory of Music and currently a distinguished professor there, knows his comedy. He was also the lead producer on the hilarious Shakespearean musical comedy Something Rotten! and the delightfully goofy The Drowsy Chaperone. “It has a lot of Monty Python, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and ‘The Carol Burnett Show,’ in terms of its humor,” he says.

The Play That Goes Wrong was created by the London-based troupe Mischief Theatre, formed in 2008 by a group of graduates and students of the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art. In 2012, three friends—Play writers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields—decided that instead of the long-form improv comedy they had been doing, they’d quickly draft something a bit different one night. They

PHOTOGRAPH: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG BROADWAY COMPANY. FROM LEFT: CLIFTON DUNCAN, JONATHAN FIELDING AND HARRISON UNGER. PHOTO BY JEREMY DANIEL.

By Genevieve Miller Holt

producer J.J. Abrams. McCollum and Abrams opted to bring the show to Broadway as an open-ended run—a rare choice for a play without established title recognition in the U.S.—and it became a smash hit, ending up as the longest running play on Broadway.

“I was in London shooting The Force Awakens,” Abrams told Playbill.com in 2017. “I had a free night, and I looked to see what was playing. I thought, ‘That sounds funny.’ I went to the theatre, and I had never laughed that hard. I hadn’t seen an audience laugh that hard. I

remember asking the producers afterward, ‘What are your plans?’

They looked at me like I was crazy. Their plan was just that the show not fail.”

Not only has it not failed, it’s become a phenomenon, having played more than a dozen countries worldwide. Word-of-mouth is the fuel for the engine—audience members can’t help but tell everyone they meet about what a fun show it is. “It truly is two hours of sheer hilarity, it’s man against the elements, and it’s unapologetically funny,” says McCollum.

“It’s never been so fun to watch something go so wrong.” z

PHOTOGRAPHS: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG BROADWAY COMPANY. PHOTOS BY JEREMY DANIEL.

wanted to do a send-up of a wellknown genre, because it’s a lot easier to see what’s going wrong when the audience knows what’s supposed to happen. So an Agatha Christie–style murder mystery seemed just the thing. The result was The Play That Goes Wrong, a show that started off playing a tiny room in the upstairs of a pub, went on to play the prestigious Edinburgh Festival, and eventually became a massive West End hit, winning the coveted Olivier Award for best comedy.

Enter McCollum and his U.S. producing partner on the show, renowned TV and film director/

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RENT 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR DECEMBER 11–23, 2018

RENT CONTINUES TO INSPIRE ABOUT THE SHOW

In 1996, an original rock musical by a little-known composer opened on Broadway…and forever changed the landscape of American theatre. Two decades later, Jonathan Larson’s RENT continues to speak loudly and defiantly to audiences across generations and all over the world. And now, this Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award®-winning masterpiece returns to the stage in a vibrant 20th anniversary touring production. A re-imagining of Puccini’s La Bohème, RENT follows an unforgettable year in the lives of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams without selling out. With its inspiring message of joy and hope in the face of fear, this timeless celebration of friendship and creativity reminds us to measure our lives with the only thing that truly matters—love. Tickets for RENT are on sale now at CincinnatiArts.org!

On April 29, 1996, a musical opened on Broadway that looked and sounded unlike anything that had come before it. It told a powerful, moving, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting story of young, impoverished New York

artists who were seeking to make their way in the world, longing to connect, and trying to survive the looming specter of AIDS. The actors were black, white, and brown; the characters were straight, gay, bisexual, and trans-

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gender. Although the show was famously inspired by Puccini’s opera La Bohème, it was also a reflection of the life of its creator, Jonathan Larson, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics. His score brilliantly melded Broadway savvy with contemporary rock, and the show captured the zeitgeist of a particular place at a particular moment in time.

The show, of course, was RENT, and it became a phenomenon. A few weeks before the musical’s Broadway premiere, Larson, who died of an aortic aneurysm the night before RENT was scheduled to open Off-Broadway, was posthumously awarded the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The show would go on to win the Tony Award for Best Musical, and run for over 12

PHOTOGRAPH: THE COMPANY OF THE RENT 20 TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR, CREDIT CAROL ROSEGG 2018.

Twenty years later, RENT still celebrates the power of youth, diversity, and love

PHOTOGRAPHS: RENT 20 TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR, CREDIT CAROL ROSEGG, 2018.

years. It also attracted legions of fiercely devoted young theatergoers affectionately known as RENTheads, who returned to the show again and again because it spoke to them so personally.

RENT was a life-changing experience for them and everyone connected with the show, and a game-changer for Broadway.

To celebrate the musical’s 20th anniversary, key members of the original creative team have reunited for a national tour of RENT, enabling a new generation to discover why the show is so special—and why it continues to have a profound effect on audiences.

“It has enormously valid things to say about the ways in which we all seek out community and form families, and how we take care of one another in very difficult times,” says Michael Greif, who directed the original Off-Broadway and Broadway productions. “The message of the musical is to truly appreciate the time that we have and to truly appreciate each other, because

you don’t know when someone will be gone from your life.”

Melissa Anelli, a co-founder of BroadwayCon, is a proud RENThead who saw the show for the first time when she was 16. “I had never seen so much youth and vibrancy onstage before, and the music just blew my mind,” says Anelli, who has seen RENT more than 50 times. “The show reflected the way I felt about civility in the face of sickness, and civility regardless of sexual preference.

RENT is about living and loving and caring and treating people with respect. The show teaches you so much about humanity and dignity and friendship, and that will always be relevant.”

Anelli is one of countless thirtysomethings who can trace their involvement in theater directly to RENT. Lin-Manuel Miranda is another. “I was taken to see the show for my 17th birthday, and it was seminal for me,” says the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of Hamilton. “I’d never seen a musical that took place in present

day, and in the Village. I knew I was going to be in the arts, and it meant so much to see these kids struggling with how to survive and make a living, and not sell out their principles. It hit me like a ton of bricks.”

Greif adds, “In the past five years, so many young composers and theater talents have told me that RENT enabled them to begin to see themselves as part of the American theater. It’s been very gratifying and moving to me and everyone associated with RENT to know the impact that the show has had on this next generation.”

Two decades after RENT premiered, the show’s legacy is boundless. It continues to inspire a generation of creative artists that is expanding the scope of musical theatre and, in turn, reaching young audiences. All these years later, RENT retains its immediacy, imparting ideas that resonate with our humanity and reminding us to measure our lives with the only thing that truly matters—love. z

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FIDDLER ON THE ROOF JANUARY 15–27, 2019

UNIVERSAL STRUGGLES AND HEARTFELT REFRAINS How did your upbringing influence your writing?

Sheldon Harnick: The starting point for Fiddler on the Roof was several stories from Sholem Aleichem’s major work, Tevye’s Daughters. That was the basis for the show. Once we started to work on it, I was reminded of the way I grew up in Chicago.

Although it was a non-Jewish neighborhood, a small group of devout Jewish men raised the money to rent a hall to use as a synagogue. I remember the fervor with which these men prayed. Many, if not most of them, had come from the old country. Later, I remembered that many of them looked like the photographs I had seen of holocaust survivors: they were kind of thin and they looked like they had lived very difficult lives. All of those images were in my mind.

What is at the heart of Fiddler of the Roof?

SH: At the heart of Fiddler, I think, are two different stories.

One has to do with our protagonist, Tevye. Three of his five daughters are at marriageable age and they are breaking away from the traditions that Tevye himself believes in. It is very hard for him to accept that they are rejecting his values. Eventually, he is able to accept it because of his great love for his daughters but it’s a struggle. This is something that audiences identify with because any parents who have children hope they will grow up observing their values. When they don’t it can be very difficult.

The other is the aspect of a minority culture, trying to cope with the majority culture in which in it lives. Joe Stein [composer], Jerry Bock [book writer], and I felt that what we were writing

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was not just about a Jewish family but that the themes were universal. The Jewish group in the village of Anatevka is subject to abuse and persecution. This, I think, is something that reminds people of what is happening to other minorities around the world, in places where persecution persists.

After the show opened, we had our first Actors’ Fund benefit and the audience was filled with actors. At intermission, Florence Henderson came running up the aisle and said, “Sheldon, this show is about my Irish grandmother!” And I thought, “We have succeeded!”

Do you have a favorite memory of writing the show?

SH: Jerry Bock wrote the music to a Russian waltz. When I listened to it, it suggested lyrics that turned out to be “Sunrise, Sunset.”

PHOTOGRAPHS: FIDDLER TOUR. PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS

A conversation with Fiddler on the Roof lyricist Sheldon Harnick

and she has tears in her eyes. I thought, “My goodness, this song must be something very special!” which it has turned out to be.

ABOUT THE SHOW Tony®-winning director Bartlett Sher and the team behind South Pacific and The King and I bring a fresh and authentic vision to this beloved theatrical masterpiece. The original production won 10 Tony Awards, including a special Tony for becoming the longest-running Broadway musical of all time. You’ll be there when the sun rises on this new production, with stunning movement and dance from acclaimed Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter, based on the original staging by Jerome Robbins. A wonderful cast and a lavish orchestra tell this heartwarming story of fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and the timeless traditions that define faith and family. Featuring the Broadway classics “Tradition,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and “To Life,” Fiddler on the Roof will introduce a new generation to this uplifting celebration that raises its cup to joy! To love! To life! Tickets for Fiddler on the Roof go on sale November 2 at CincinnatiArts.org or by calling 513.621.ARTS.

to the side. I don’t look in their eyes. So at the end of the song, I finally looked at Patti and, to my astonishment, she was crying.

A few weeks later, I was visiting my sister. Although I’m not a pianist, the piano accompaniment to “Sunrise, Sunset” is simple enough so that I could master it and I played the song for my sister. When I finished singing the song I looked at my sister

PHOTOGRAPHS: FIDDLER TOUR. PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS

I went to Jerry’s studio, which was in his basement. We sang through the song a couple of times. Once I heard how it sang, I changed a word or two. When we had it the way we wanted it, Jerry called his wife from upstairs because we wanted to get a reaction. Patti came downstairs and we sang the song. When I audition a song for someone, I look at the wall above them or

What excites you most about this new revival?

SH: Some years ago, when I saw The Light in the Piazza, I made a mental note of the name of the director because the show had been directed so beautifully.

Years later when I saw the exciting revival of South Pacific, I noted that it had been directed by that same person. More recently, his exquisite production of The King and I won the Tony for Best Revival. I am speaking, of course, of Bart Sher.

It’s always gratifying to have a show produced on Broadway. But all of us connected with Fiddler have been looking forward to seeing it with particular anticipation. We were sure that Bart would bring to this Fiddler the skill, the freshness, the imagination, the beauty, and the theatrical flair he brought to those aforementioned shows. z

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HAMILTON FEBRUARY 19–MARCH 10, 2019

AN INTERVIEW WITH ALEX LACAMOIRE

ABOUT THE SHOW With book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, and musical supervision and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton is based on Ron Chernow’s biography of America’s founding father, Alexander Hamilton. An immigrant from the West Indies, Hamilton became George Washington’s right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and was the new nation’s first Treasury Secretary. Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B, and Broadway, Hamilton is the story of America then, as told

by America now. On-sale information for Hamilton will be announced at a later date. To get notification of the on-sale date, be sure to sign up for our free eCLUB at BroadwayInCincinnati.com.

Alex Lacamoire is the music supervisor for the Broadway, Chicago, and touring productions of Hamilton, as well as the co-arranger—along with Lin-Manuel Miranda—of the show’s score. In 2016, Lacamoire won the Tony Award for Best Orches-

trations for Hamilton. He’s been involved in the show’s conception and success from the very beginning.

Broadway.com: What goes into making sure the touring production of Hamilton is just

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as powerful as the Broadway production?

Lacamoire: We have a great lead producer in Jeffrey Seller, who’s committed to making the show the best experience it can be, so we’re well staffed and well supported. Our director Tommy Kail, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, and I are all very hands-on.

We’re rehearsing right now with the touring company, and we’re around to make sure that the quality of the show is maintained and preserved and that it’s as strong a show as it is on Broadway.

B: How often are you in touch with creator Lin-Manuel Miranda? What are his concerns about the tour?

L: Lin’s away in England right now filming Mary Poppins Returns, so we don’t see as much of

PHOTOGRAPH: JULIA K. HARRIMAN, SABRINA SLOAN, ISA BRIONES AND COMPANY–HAMILTON NATIONAL TOUR–© JOAN MARCUS.

By Ryan Lee Gilbert, national editor of Broadway.com

PHOTOGRAPHS: (LEFT) COMPANY—HAMILTON NATIONAL TOUR–©JOAN MARCUS. (RIGHT) PETER MATTHEW SMITH—HAMILTON NATION TOUR–©JOAN MARCUS.

him as we used to back when we were making the show. But Lin is able to trust us. We’ll go to him if there’s something that needs his eye or approval, but he doesn’t stress about details in that sense.

He leaves that job to us. He’s feeling really good about it.

B: What do you look for when you’re casting actors in this show?

L: It’s a variety of things. We’re not looking for a particular kind of person or ethnicity to play any kind of role. When we do casting, people come in singing specific songs from the show that we’ve prescribed because I’ve found that there are no other songs out there that really let me know people are right for Hamilton other than music from Hamilton.

I need to actually hear them on the material to see how the fit works. It’s not, “Oh, we’re looking for someone who can rap really well,” or “We’re looking for someone who can hit a high B.” We’re looking for someone who has the qualities that pertain to the character that we’re trying to fill.

B: Having seen the show so many times, what still moves you?

L: I still see new things that I had not seen before. The end of the show always gets me. If I let myself sit back and enjoy the show, I

still cry in the final moments. And this is me having seen the show…a lot. It still hits me. Hamilton is one of those shows where there’s so much happening that you can get lost in it and you can see it multiple times and still find something new to appreciate and admire.

May that never be lost on me.

B: How surprised were you to see Hamilton become a cultural phenomenon? To what do you attribute its gigantic success?

L: Before we had our first performance off-Broadway, I said to Tommy, “Listen, I know this show is amazing, and I know Lin’s writing is the best I’ve ever heard and I’m so proud of everything I’ve done on it, but are people really going to come see a show about American history with a lot of rap in it? Are people going to be into it? Are they going to get it?” And he was like, “Yes, Alex, they’re going to get it.” He always knew, but you still have your doubts because the show is so different, and the lyrics go by so quickly, and the style of music is so different than what is expected in the theater.

You can’t go in setting out to make a hit, you just have to make art and be proud of what it is that you do. The rest will take care of itself. You don’t have control over what the audience reaction will be; all you can do is focus on your

work and make the art the highest quality that you can.

B: In times of political unrest in America, what do you hope Hamilton brings to the cities it’s traveling to?

L: I think good theater opens up your eyes and makes you look at things in a way you hadn’t before.

Hamilton celebrates inclusion, diversity, harmony, and what it takes to build something, for us to pull together, for us to have passion, and push for what we believe to be right. I hope that that unites people and brings all of us closer together.

B: If you could choose one thing for people to be thinking about when they walk out of seeing Hamilton, what would it be?

L: I’d like for them to appreciate what it took to mount the show from a craftsmanship standpoint.

My hope is that people will see it and be like, “Wow! That’s really difficult to do and it’s wonderful to see that people were able to come together and create something like that as a unit.” It’d be great for people to be excited about musical theater and see how Lin-Manuel Miranda is elevating the game in terms of the quality, appeal, and scope of the art form.

I hope people get an appreciation for what theater can do. z

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ON YOUR FEET! MARCH 19–24, 2019

LOVE AND FAMILY IN ON YOUR FEET!: THE EMILIO AND GLORIA ESTEFAN MUSICAL In one of the seminal scenes in On Your Feet!, Gloria Fajardo and Emilio Estefan are trying to persuade a record label executive to help them cross over to the English-speaking market. The executive’s response is dismissive, insisting that there’s no audience for the Latin rhythms of Miami Sound Machine in the U.S., and

intimating that the couple are not real Americans. But a furious Emilio gets the last word: “Look very closely at my face . . . this is what an American looks like.”

It’s a show-stopping moment, and it speaks to the power and universality of the exhilarating, moving love story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan. Of course, the dy-

ABOUT THE SHOW From their humble beginnings in Cuba, Emilio and Gloria Estefan came to America and broke through all barriers to become a crossover sensation at the very top of the pop music world. But just when they thought they had it all, they almost lost everything.

On Your Feet! takes you behind the music and inside the real story of this record-making and groundbreaking couple who, in the face of adversity, found a way to end up on their feet. Directed by twotime Tony Award® winner Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots), On Your Feet! features some of the most iconic songs of the past quarter-century—and one of the most inspiring stories in music history.

Tickets for On Your Feet! go on sale November 2 at CincinnatiArts. org or by calling 513.621.ARTS.

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namic musical numbers drive the show; yes, rhythm is gonna get you on your feet! But the story of these two determined Cuban Americans, their challenges, and their extraordinary success is transcendent: the musical is a celebration of family and the American Dream.

That was a deliberate choice on the part of the creative team: director Jerry Mitchell, choreographer Sergio Trujillo, and book writer Alexander Dinelaris.

“It’s why I’m so proud of this show, and so excited to share the national tour with the rest of America,” says Trujillo. “We’re all immigrants and we’re all part of this wonderful country, which is made up of people of all colors and races. That is On Your Feet!”

It’s often said that the more culturally specific a musical is, the more it speaks to all people.

You don’t have to be Jewish to

PHOTOGRAPH: ON YOUR FEET! © MATTHEW MURPHY.

By Sheryl Flatow

PHOTOGRAPHS: ON YOUR FEET! © MATTHEW MURPHY.

understand and identify with the Jews of Anatevka in Fiddler on the Roof, you don’t have to be a Dominican immigrant living in New York to empathize with the characters in In the Heights, and you don’t have to be a supremely talented Cuban immigrant dreaming of success in Miami to relate to the journey of the Estefans.

If the world onstage rings true, it’s easy for the audience to step inside. The key is “authenticity,” a word used repeatedly by the creative team. And On Your Feet! is as authentic as a Broadway musical can be. The cast is Latino. They speak Spanish as well as English. Original members of Miami Sound Machine are part of the orchestra. The choreography features real Cuban dances, not just the salsa and the conga, but the chancleta and the pañuelo.

Most of all, the show captures the essence of Gloria and Emilio, who shared the details of their lives with Dinelaris. All the major conflicts and incidents in the show reflect actual events. “They were amazingly generous,” says Dinelaris. “We had lots of meetings and talked for hours. I eventually spent time with Gloria’s mother, who recently passed. She was an amazing woman, tough as nails and charismatic, and she became a major character in the show. When I had all this information, I had to figure out which part of their story I would tell to make it the most effective.”

Once he had the structure, Dinelaris listened to the entire Estefan catalogue to determine what music would work best. “I was smart enough to know that we’d use ‘Conga’ and ‘Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,’” he says. “But there are also some songs in the show that only hard-core Estefan fans will know, like ‘Famous.’ It’s a challenging puzzle when you’re doing a musical based on an existing catalogue, because you need to find songs that will move the story forward without changing the lyrics.”

In telling the story of two musicians who went on to worldwide fame, the songs and the choreography propel a great deal of the narrative. Even the numbers that are done in concert often move the story along.

Act I ends with “Conga,” and the number is given new depth when it incorporates the true backstory—that “Conga” (their first huge commercial hit) was originally written in the Netherlands as an encore piece, and when they came back to the States, they performed it at weddings, at bar mitzvahs, anywhere that they could get a gig. The number now tells the journey of that song from bar mitzvah favorite to massive radio hit.

The concept was Mitchell’s; the execution was by Trujillo, who received a Tony Award nomination for his choreography. “Having worked on Jersey Boys, I learned a great deal about what to do

with the progression of a pop star, and what to do within that kind of story and vernacular,” says Trujillo. “In order to be truthful, I had to create a vocabulary that was unique to our show.” He began by immersing himself in all kinds of Cuban dance, in order to capture the essence of the movement. For instance, he has danced the salsa since he was a boy in Colombia, but the style he learned was different than the Cuban style. “Colombians use really quick feet movement, while the Cuban style is a lot more languid, more sensual,” he says.

“With the Cubans, it feels like they’re playing congas with their feet. It’s in their rib cages, it’s in the soul of who they are.”

But the heart of the story is all about family. “This story about immigrants, about perseverance, about family, is about all of us,” he says. “On Broadway, I heard audiences say all the time, ‘That Cuban grandmother is my Jewish grandmother’ or ‘my Irish grandmother.’ It’s a universal story.

The comment I heard more than anything else was, ‘It wasn’t what I expected. I expected the Gloria Estefan revue. I didn’t expect to be moved and to cry and to see my family in it. I didn’t expect the goosebumps and the tears. I just expected to have a good time.’

And I think that has to do with how we identify with family and with culture. And I hope people leave the theater, go home, and call their mother.” z

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MISS SAIGON APRIL 9–21, 2019

POINT OF INSPIRATION

The composer of Miss Saigon, Claude-Michel Schönberg, traces his inspiration for the development of the musical to a 1975 photograph he found of a Vietnamese mother seeing her 11-year-old daughter off at Tan Son Nhut Air Base—the Repub-

lic of Vietnam Air Force facility that was located near the city of Saigon in southern Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. In the photo, the daughter, who is both Vietnamese and American, is being sent to live with her ex-GI father. This is, for the mother, an ultimate sacrifice: to send her child away to America in order to give the child a better life.

This picture also motivated lyricist Alain Boublil to further investigate the last days and aftermath of the Vietnam War, an investigation that informed him of the war’s cruelty, contradictions, sacrifice, and betrayal.

“The pain of being torn apart

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and the fracture of the maternal bond must always be a presence in the depths of this woman’s heart. What we felt for this girl and her mother has always moved us deeply, both as fathers and as the children we once were. This Vietnamese woman, her face frozen in pain, knew that finding the child’s father marked the end of her life with her daughter, and that this moment at the departure gate was the end. This silent scream is the most potent condemnation of the horror of that war—of all wars. This photo could have been taken today in Syria, Sudan, and probably in the Ukraine. We hope that such a pic-

MISS SAIGON. SOOHA KIM ‘KIM’. PHOTO JOHAN PERSSON.

The creators of Miss Saigon describe the photo that inspired a Broadway classic: “This photograph was, for Alain and I, the start of everything…” —Claude-Michel Schönberg

About the Show Experience the acclaimed new production of the legendary musical Miss Saigon, from the creators of Les Misérables. This is the epic story of a young Vietnamese woman named Kim who is orphaned by war and forced to work in a bar run by a notorious character known as the Engineer. There she meets and falls in love with an American G.I., an encounter that will change their lives forever. Featuring stunning spectacle and a sensational cast of 42 performing the soaring score, including Broadway hits like “The Heat Is On in Saigon,” “The Movie in My Mind,” “Last Night of the World,” and “American Dream,” this is a theatrical event you will never forget. Tickets for Miss Saigon go on sale November 2 at CincinnatiArts.org or by calling 513.621.ARTS.

America and especially that her mother’s sacrifice was not in vain. Or...maybe they met again,

PHOTOGRAPHS: (TOP) MISS SAIGON. RED CONCEPCIÓN ‘THE ENGINEER’ AND COMPANY. PHOTO BY JOHAN PERSSON. (LEFT BOTTOM) MISS SAIGON COMPANY. PHOTO MATTHEW MURPHY AND JOHAN PERSSON./ (BOTTOM RIGHT) MISS SAIGON. ASHLEY GILMOUR ‘CHRIS’ AND SOOHA KIM ‘KIM’. PHOTO JOHAN PERSSON.

ture will never be taken here.

“Where is she? We hope she found happiness somewhere in

against all odds, maybe the father had not met an Ellen, maybe he went to look for her and found her, maybe—like the new song in this new version of Miss Saigon.

Maybe she kept faith in her story like Cameron Mackintosh, our producer, kept faith in ours when he asked us two years ago if we would write a new song for Ellen, 25 years after the creation of the show. We did enthusiastically. Such was the start of this reinvention of Miss Saigon under his creative helm. We only hope that the little girl had a chance to reinvent her life.” —Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, London, May 2014 z

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DEAR EVAN HANSEN APRIL 30–MAY 12, 2019

Dear Evan Hansen is a heartscorching musical about a teen boy so bound up by anxiety and loneliness that he makes mistakes he can’t fix and gets stuck in the quicksand of social-media adulation. But eventually, he finds a way to leave self-loathing behind.

It’s also about parents reaching for their kids as they disappear into their phones and laptops, and the struggle to connect in an era when it seems as if we’re all awash in emotional hyperbole, online and off.

Sounds like a fun time, right?

In fact, the play, which has become a huge hit on Broadway since it opened there in December 2017, is cathartic and real and often so funny it’s hard to believe that the catalytic event is the suicide of a kid we barely meet.

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the duo who won an Oscar for their work on La La Land, wrote the songs. The music reaches a generation that can seem jaded or desensitized having come of age with access to the entire world’s pain and tribulations in the palm of their hand.

Ask one of the many teenagers in the audience if the play seems authentic, and they can barely get the words out. They say things like, “I’m in shock, it’s so good.” And often, right behind them, is a parent who’s also feel-

ing undone. I lost it in the first act when the two stellar actors who play mothers of teens sing about feeling totally unqualified for the job of being a parent. “Does anybody have a map?” they cry.

“Anybody maybe happen to know how the hell to do this?”

That struggle feels like a hallmark of this particular moment in history. How do you learn to raise the first generation for which the virtual world is just as important as their physical lives? There’s no precedent. How do you navigate it as a kid? No one knows how it’ll all work out. But one thing is clear, this complicates the traditional parent-teen disconnect.

We parents will never understand what it’s like to grow up with two selves, one that must be constantly tended online and another that might be very different.

Take Teresa Hall, who brought her daughter, Avery, from the Dallas area to New York City for her sweet-16th birthday. “I have two teenagers. You ask them every day, ‘Are you okay?’ They always say, ‘I’m good, I’m good, I’m good.’ But you never know.

You don’t want to push them; you want them to open up on their own terms. But they don’t usually come to you.”

In a show about feeling isolated, moments when characters are able to bridge that gulf hit

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hard. At one point, Evan Hansen and his mother, Heidi Hansen, are at last able to embrace each other. We see a mother trying to comfort a son who’s now too big to fit in her arms, and a son who finally allows her to get close.

“That part with Evan and his mom when she was saying she’ll always be there,” says Avery.

“That’s when I got teary.” Seeing the parents’ pain seemed to resonate with teens as much as with parents. And Evan’s mom is able to unleash the kind of deep frustration and fear and vulnerability that most parents can’t post about on Facebook, or talk about with their friends.

Avery’s mother gets emotional hearing her daughter talk about the scene. “I’m surprised that [Avery] says that was the most touching part for her,” says Teresa. “It means that she knows that I’m always here for her.”

As everyone crushes out of the theater past them, she wipes her eyes and jokes about starting to cry all over again.

Dear Evan Hansen has an outsize following online. Fans post about how it changed the way they see anxiety and depression in themselves and others. They draw portraits of the cast, make art with the lyrics, and share photos holding cards with the song title “You Will Be Found.” At least

Article reprinted with permission. Time Magazine © 2017.

PHOTOGRAPH: FANS LINE UP OUTSIDE THE MUSIC BOX THEATRE IN NEW YORK CITY FOR DEAR EVAN HANSEN FAN DAY ON BROADWAY. PHOTO COURTESY OF DEAR EVAN HANSEN.

“DEAR EVAN HANSEN, THANKS FOR FINDING US. WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR A MUSICAL LIKE YOU.”

one person tattooed that phrase on their arm and shared it.

While that digital community is a beautiful thing, the intensity of Evan Hansen is in an oldschool, interactive experience in which you show up in person and

sit very close to whomever you came with. If you’re there with your child, you can sense the way he or she is reacting to what’s happening on stage. Your kid will know when you hold your breath, or let a sob slip out. It’s a visceral

exchange, one that feels primal and rare. And like everything with kids, it’s fleeting. Soon enough everyone’s outside, turning on their phones, and looking for their ear buds. —Susanna Schrobsdorff z

MEET BENJ PASEK AND JUSTIN PAUL Five facts about the composer and lyricist of Dear Evan Hansen:

1

Benj and Justin first met in their freshman year at University of Michigan, where they bonded over their love for Stephen Sondheim’s musical, Merrily We Roll Along.

2

In 2007, Benj and Justin won the prestigious Jonathan Larson Award, a grant awarded to musical theatre composers, lyricists, and book writers.

4 5

The duo were the first composers to put their work out on YouTube.

Benj and Justin won Tony Awards and the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for their work on Dear Evan Hansen, an Academy Award for their work on La La Land and a Golden Globe for their work on The Greatest Showman.

3

PHOTOGRAPH: BENJ PASEK AND JUSTIN PAUL. PHOTO BY DIRTY SUGAR PHOTOGRAPHY

Benj and Justin have had their work featured in the popular television shows “Smash” and “The Flash”.

About the Show Winner of six 2017 Tony Awards and the 2018 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, Dear Evan Hansen is the deeply personal and profoundly contemporary musical about life and the way we live it.

A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he’s always wanted: a chance to finally fit in.

Dear Evan Hansen features a book by Tony Award winner Steven Levenson; a score by Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Tony Award winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land, The Greatest Showman), and direction by four-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif (Rent, Next to Normal). Tickets for Dear Evan Hansen go on sale October 26 at CincinnatiArts.org or by calling 513.621.ARTS.

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CATS JUNE 11–16, 2019

HAMILTON CHOREOGRAPHER (AND CINCINNATI NATIVE) GIVES CATS A NEW SPRING IN ITS STEP

Andy Blankenbuehler

“So many millions of people have a love affair with this show; I feel it is important to give them what they remember,” says Andy Blankenbuehler, who choreographed the first Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, the musical phenomenon that has captivated audiences since the 1980s. Blankenbuehler, one of the preeminent Broadway choreographers working today, grew up in Cincinnati’s Pleasant Ridge neighborhood and cut his

teeth doing musical theater at St. Xavier High School before moving to New York.

Blankenbuehler is best known for creating the dazzling kinetic moves in this decade’s musical phenomenon Hamilton, and also holds Tony Awards for his choreography on In The Heights and Bandstand. For this revival of Cats, he based his work on the original choreography by Gillian Lynne. The new production of Cats also retains director Trevor Nunn, and set and costume designer John Napier—both of whom won 1983 Tony Awards for the original production. “I don’t want to break the DNA of the show, but I want to move it a little more quickly, deepen the storytelling, and strengthen the characterizations, so that when audiences see the show, it will be something they remember, but which happens in a way that is not familiar.”

Letting the memory live again, to quote from the musi-

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cal’s popular hit song, could have been a challenge. “I think the millions of people who saw Cats took away from it very different things,” notes Blankenbuehler. “As an audience member, you have romantic memories that moved you, but decades later you only remember the impact of the show.” He reports that he recently talked to a young woman who recalled seeing the show when she was a preteen. “She remembered how she was sitting on the aisle, and the white cat [physically] touched her. That image of theatrical beauty stayed with her through her entire childhood. She now works in the entertainment business and she swears it was that moment that changed her creative life.”

Blankehnbuehler himself was just 12, a Cincinnati preteen himself bitten by the theater bug, when Cats first opened on Broadway. As an aspiring dancer in 1990 at age 20, he says, he was inspired by the extraordinary

PHOTOGRAPH: COMPANY OF CATS ON BROADWAY. PHOTO BY MATTHEW MURPHY.

By Gerard Raymond

About the Show

PHOTOGRAPHS: (LEFT) THE COMPANY OF CATS ON BROADWAY–PHOTO BY MATTHEW MURPHY. (RIGHT) TYLER HANES AS RUM TUM TUGGER IN CATS ON BROADWAY. PHOTO BY MATTHEW MURPHY.

Cats, the record-breaking musical spectacular by Andrew Lloyd Webber that has captivated audiences in over 30 countries and 15 languages, is one of the world’s most beloved musicals, with breathtaking music including one of the most treasured songs in musical theater—“Memory.” Winner of seven Tony Awards® including Best Musical, Cats tells the story of one magical night when an extraordinary tribe of cats gathers for its annual ball to rejoice and decide which cat will be reborn. This production is a new Cats for a new generation. Tickets for Cats go on sale November 2 at CincinnatiArts.org or by calling 513.621.ARTS.

success of the dance-focused mega-musical when he moved to New York City to pursue his dream. “I literally had a photo of the Winter Garden [Theater] Cats billboard over my bed,” he recalls.

“More than anything else, the impact the show made on me was that a historic thing could happen because of dancers—that dance could touch the lives of so many people every night and make a difference. It made the sacrifices of making no money and living in a five-flight walk-up in New York worth it. The irony was that I never got to dance in Cats,” he adds.

In the mid-1990s, the young dancer went on tour with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Music of the Night, but he got to know the composer personally only after he took on the job of directing and choreographing the recent national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

By this time, Blankenbuehler had received his Tony for In the Heights and two subsequent Tony nominations for 9 to 5 and Bring It On. And then, not long after

Hamilton began its charmed life at the Public Theater at the beginning of 2015, Lloyd Webber asked Blankenbuehler if he would like to choreograph the Broadway revival of Cats. A new, slightly tweaked production had just opened in London the previous fall, but the creators were looking for a fresh take for Broadway.

When preparing for the Broadway revival, Blankenbuehler met regularly with director Nunn and other members of the original creative team. “It’s an amazing collaboration,” he reports, talking about the creators of Cats. “It is a similar feeling that I have when I am around my Hamilton friends.

One person feeds off the other and things that you don’t anticipate happen,” he explains. “I think that’s how Cats was made, that they got into this room and it was this mad, crazy science experiment. So it is a huge flattering gesture to me to just be in the room with these guys.”

Blankenbuehler particularly treasures his conversations with Lynne, the original choreographer,

who passed away earlier this year at the age of 92. “There are lyrics in the show, but there is a lot of music without words—a lot of ballet gestures,” he explains. “Gillian, with Trevor, did a great amount of work creating the storytelling. In many ways she wrote the book, as the choreographer of a dancedthrough piece does. So it was important for me to hear what she had to say and to understand why, for instance, she chose to make one section in unison and another with one person. Ultimately, the difference between Gillian and me is that she was balletically and lyrically based, so the pictures are long and sweeping,” Blankenbuehler continues. “I’m rhythmically based, and so my pictures are always about syncopation and shapes that crunch down, as opposed to shapes that expand up. I wanted to take her bible and meet it with my bible. For me as a choreographer, it’s a great opportunity to further deepen the individual cats within the tribe.”

The design elements of the Cats revival are very similar to the original and, apart from a few cuts and some reshuffling of scenes, the show remains structurally the same. But the production has a new lighting designer in Natasha Katz. “The lighting is the doorway that the audience walks through, so with her changes and my staging changes, I think the show will unfold in a different way,” says Blankenbuehler. “The big gamble is to take something that feels familiar and make it unfold in a deeper and more colorful way.”z

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SINGLE TICKETS Single ticket on sale dates vary by show. For more information and to purchase tickets when they are available visit www.CincinnatiArts.org, call 513.621.ARTS (2787) or visit the Aronoff Center Box Office downtown at 650 Walnut Street, M-F 9am - 5:30pm.

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BroadwayInCincinnati.com Photos from left to right: Christian Borle, Photo by Joan Marcus, 2017; Aaron Alcaraz, RENT 20th Anniversary Tour, Credit Carol Rosegg, 2017; Sooha Kim ‘Kim’. Photo by Johan Persson; Joseph Morales - HAMILTON National Tour - © Joan Marcus 2018; Harrison Unger in the Broadway production of The Play That Goes Wrong, Photo: Jeremy Daniel; Christie Prades as Gloria Estefan, ON YOUR FEET! © Matthew Murphy; Tyler Hanes as Rum Tum Tugger in CATS on Broadway, Photo by Matthew Murphy

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Nestled on the banks of the Ohio River with the Cincinnati skyline as its backdrop, The Annie W. and Elizabeth Anderson Pavilion in Smale Riverfront Park, a gift of the Anderson Foundation, is located at street level underneath Carol Ann’s Carousel.

With spectacular views, contemporary elegant décor and ambiance, state-of-the-art technology and an award-winning in-house culinary group, Anderson Pavilion offers a 350+ seat facility, ideal for hosting an event in the following spaces: • • •

Gardner Family Grove & Rose Garden Carol Ann’s Carousel & Balcony Suspension Bridge Tunnel Scape

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Riverview Veranda Pichler Fountains

Photos by Kirk Rhein Photography

Anderson Pavilion 8 East Mehring Way Cincinnati, OH 45202

(513) 978-1821 info@andersonpavilion.com www.andersonpavilion.com

ANDERSON PAVILION