Broadway in Cincinnati - 2017/2018 Program

2017/2018 Series Magazine

PRESENTED BY

Your wish is granted!

Disney’s Aladdin is coming to the Queen City

How Peter Became Pan

Sugar, Butter, Flour

A Fist-Pumping Good Time

Getting to Know You

The inspiration behind the story in heart-warming Finding Neverland

Waitress serves up irresistible music and an uplifting story

Andrew Lloyd Webber is back with the high-octane School of Rock

An exquisite production of The King and I heads to the Aronoff

“Where Residents Are In The Spotlight!�

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18 CONTENTS

WELCOME This September, we will mark 30 years since the opening night of Singin’ in the Rain at the Taft Theatre, the very first presentation of Broadway in Cincinnati (or the “Broadway Series” as we were known then). We have loved being a part of the Cincinnati community for three decades, and are proud to have brought the very best of Broadway here to entertain the Queen City.

As we mark this anniversary, we are delighted to be bringing a powerhouse lineup of Broadway shows to our audiences this year as part of the Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Cincinnati 2017/2018 Season presented by TriHealth!

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A Word From Our Sponsors

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Finding Neverland

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A Christmas Story

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Waitress

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School of Rock

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Chicago

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The King and I

I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber to enjoy six guaranteed nights out at the beautiful Aronoff Center and the chance to see shows that will delight you, inspire you, and entertain you.

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See you at the theater!

22 Wicked

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 3,100 Broadway in Cincinnati performances, including more than 550 performances of blockbusters like Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, and The Lion King. We’ve proudly presented classics such as West Side Story and Evita, as well as today’s most popular new shows, including Jersey Boys and The Book of Mormon.

We’re extremely proud to be a part of this city’s incredible arts community, and as a resident company of the Aronoff Center for the Arts, we are a significant part of the thriving downtown landscape. Broadway in Cincinnati shows contribute an average of $30 million to the local economy each season, with an average attendance of more than 225,000 people per year.

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

24 The Book of Mormon 26 Subscriber Benefits 28 Seating Chart

KEEP IN TOUCH /BroadwayInCincinnati @BroadwayCincy @broadwaycincy

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 Broadway InCincinnati.com/FamilyGuide.

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Cover Image: James Monroe Iglehart.

Disney’s Aladdin Original Broadway Company. ©Disney. Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann Photographs: (TOP LEFT) Photograph courtesy of Broadway in Cincinnati / (TOP RIGHT) Jose Llana and Laura Michelle Kelly in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

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

Dear Fellow Art Lovers:

Fifth Third Bank is thrilled to celebrate 30 years with the Broadway productions in Cincinnati. From the beginning with Singin’ in the Rain in 1987, Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Cincinnati has enhanced the arts culture in the Queen City, and it continues to be an important part of our community today. We are proud to have been the title sponsor 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 30th Anniversary season. See you at the show!

TriHealth is excited to join our partners at Fifth Third Bank in presenting the 2017–2018 Broadway season in Cincinnati. We support the great tradition of the arts in Greater Cincinnati because dynamic art choices are essential to the growth of our community.

We are feeling a sense of renewal as we shape a dynamic future for TriHealth and our patients that’s marked by exceptional care, improved community health, and outstanding value. We are pursuing this future from a position of great strength and stability as our health system has grown from two hospitals to five, with 140 sites of care, 640 employed partner physicians, and more than 12,000 employees—all enthusiastically dedicated to improving the health of those we serve with great skill, genuine compassion, and respect for all.

We hope you enjoy this season of Broadway in Cincinnati. It’s our sincere conviction that our support of Broadway is another way TriHealth invests in the health of our community. That connection is vital, because together we triumph.

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

Tim Elsbrock Regional President Greater Cincinnati Fifth Third Bank

Broadway in Cincinnati Staff PRESIDENT, MIDWEST, BROADWAY ACROSS AMERICA

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS, BROADWAY IN CINCINNATI

Leslie Broecker

Elizabeth Truitt

GENERAL MANAGER, BROADWAY IN CINCINNATI

SENIOR GROUP SALES MANAGER, BROADWAY IN CINCINNATI

Genevieve Miller Holt

Peggy Hughes

Cincinnati Magazine Staff PUBLISHER Ivy Bayer

ADVERTISING DESIGNER Emily Nevius

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Tammy Vilaboy

SENIOR ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE Matt Reis

DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL OPERATIONS Amanda Boyd Walters

ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVES Ashley Hinzman, Chris Smith

CREATIVE SERVICES EDITOR Sue Goldberg

SENIOR OUTSIDE ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE Laura Bowling

CREATIVE SERVICES ART DIRECTOR Jen Kawanari ART & PRODUCTION MANAGER Julie Whitaker

CUSTOM PUBLISHING ACCOUNT MANAGER Maggie Wint Goecke

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This program was published in cooperation with Broadway in Cincinnati by Cincinnati Magazine. All contents © 2017. All rights reserved.

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FINDING NEVERLAND

FINDING YOUR NERVE IN FINDING NEVERLAND

by John Moore

ABOUT THE SHOW This breathtaking smash “captures the kid-at-heart,” says TIME Magazine. Directed by visionary Tony® winner Diane Paulus and based on the critically-acclaimed Academy Award®–winning film, Finding Neverland tells the incredible story behind one of the world’s most beloved characters: Peter Pan. Playwright J.M. Barrie struggles to find inspiration until he meets four young brothers and their beautiful widowed mother. Spellbound by the boys’ enchanting make-believe adventures, he sets out to write a play that will astound London theatergoers. With a little bit of pixie dust and a lot of faith, Barrie takes this monumental leap, leaving his old world behind for Neverland, where nothing is impossible and the wonder of childhood lasts forever.

Acclaimed director Diane Paulus was hooked on Finding Neverland by a line the nefarious Captain Hook says to J.M. Barrie

himself: “You can go back to being what everyone expects you to be,” the iron-wristed pirate says. “Or you can find the cour-

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age to write your own story.”

This innovative Broadway musical, based on the 2004 Oscar-winning film of the same name, follows Barrie as he summons the courage to become the writer—and the man—he yearns to be. Barrie finds the spark he’s been missing when he meets a widow and her four young sons, who lead him to conjure the magical world of Neverland.

“Meeting this extraordinary family, as Barrie did in real life, turned him into this brilliant, silly kid again,” says Finding Neverland book writer James Graham.

“And then he took on London society and created this play that inspired them all.”

What Barrie was doing 100 years ago just wasn’t done in London. He not only put children on the stage, he made them the focus. And that gave them the

PHOTOGRAPH: THE CAST OF FINDING NEVERLAND. PHOTO BY JEREMY DANIEL.

NOVEMBER 7–19, 2017

PHOTOGRAPHS: (TOP LEFT) THE CAST OF FINDING NEVERLAND. / (TOP RIGHT) CHRISTINE DWYER AS SYLVIA LLEWELYN DAVIES AND BILLY HARRIGAN TIGHE AS JM BARRIE IN FINDING NEVERLAND. / (BOTTOM LEFT) BILLY HARRIGAN TIGHE AS JM BARRIE AND TOM HEWITT AS CAPTAIN HOOK IN FINDING NEVERLAND. / (BOTTOM RIGHT) THE CAST OF FINDING NEVERLAND. ALL PHOTOS BY JEREMY DANIEL.

power of the storytelling.

“The idea that J.M. Barrie would give children voice, rather than the grownups, was a complete reversal of the the status quo,” Graham says. This was, he further explains, a very rigid, post-Victorian society. “And if you look at Downton Abbey, which began about 10 years later, it’s is all about social structures and hierarchy and knowing your place,” notes Graham.

Finding Neverland recounts many amazing backstage stories we probably can’t believe now, Graham says. “They wouldn’t even hand out the whole script of Peter Pan to the actors at first because they thought they would rebel. They had to have security on the doors in the rehearsal room because they thought that if it ever leaked out that this was

a play about flying pixies and fairies and dogs and pirates, it would destroy the theatre’s reputation.”

To tell Barrie’s unconventional story on Broadway, director Diane Paulus gathered a decidedly unconventional creative team.

American choreographer Mia Michaels is a three-time Emmy winner for her work on TV’s So You Think You Can Dance.

Co-composer Gary Barlow is the architect of the enduring British pop band Take That, which has produced 28 top-40 singles since 1989. Co-composer Eliot Kennedy has had No. 1 hits with the Spice Girls, Celine Dion, Bryan Adams, Aretha Franklin, and more. Book writer Graham is known in Britain not for writing fanciful musicals but rather plays about urgent social issues. Putting them all to-

gether, Graham said, shows how Paulus has a “forensic knowledge for how to build a musical.”

And that’s exactly why they all worked so well together, Michaels added.

“Diane is not afraid of anything,” she said. “She likes to surround herself with really creative people and then this very powerful, life force happens between them.”

The result is magic. “It is a sort of raucously entertaining, thrilling night at the theatre,” says Graham. “It’s such a comical and sparkly show. I think Diane Paulus has created some of the most beautiful and thrilling effects on stage that I’ve ever been a party to.”

John Moore is the Senior Arts Journalist for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

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A CHRISTMAS STORY

IRREVERENT NOSTALGIA: ENDURING AFFECTION FOR A CULT HOLIDAY CLASSIC A Christmas Story began life in the mind of author, radio host, raconteur, and comic genius Jean Shepherd. During the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, Shepherd was the sardonic host of a nightly radio program in New York, where his scorching comedy

and witty observations on the human condition made him one of radio’s most popular personalities. On his largely improvised radio program, Shepherd would wax philosophical about life, his childhood, his army days, and the general human condition. He

ABOUT THE SHOW Ralphie Parker wants only one thing for Christmas: An Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-shot Range Model Air Rifle. A Christmas Story, The Musical is the hilarious account of Ralphie’s desperate quest to ensure that this most perfect of gifts ends up under his tree this Christmas. The musical is based on the classic 1983 movie, which itself was based on stories by legendary radio humorist Jean Shepherd, and features funny and heartfelt songs

by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land) and a book by Joseph Robinette. A Christmas Story captures holiday wonder with such deliciously wicked wit that it is sure to delight children and grown-ups alike.

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addressed his listeners as “you fatheads,” and used his favorite word—excelsior—repeatedly with varying definitions.

Perhaps his most lasting legacy is evidenced in the tales he spun about his childhood in 1930s Indiana, like “Duel in the Snow or Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Street Kid” and “Flick’s Tongue.”

After his days in radio, Shepherd, along with screenwriter Leigh Brown and director Bob Clark, wove these stories and others together into a screenplay for the 1983 MGM film A Christmas Story, starring Peter Billingsley, Darren McGavin, and Melinda Dillon.

Set in late Depression-era Indiana and with Shepherd serving as the narrator, the movie introduces Ralphie Parker, who undertakes a great quest to

PHOTOGRAPH: CHRIS CARSTEN AS JEAN SHEPHERD AND MYLES MOORE AS RALPHIE IN A CHRISTMAS STORY, THE MUSICAL. PHOTO BY JESSE SCHEVE.

DECEMBER 5–10, 2017

PHOTOGRAPHS: (TOP LEFT) CHRISTIAN DELL’EDERA AS FLICK AND THE CAST OF A CHRISTMAS STORY, THE MUSICAL. / (RIGHT) CHRISTOPHER SWAN AS THE OLD MAN AND THE CAST OF A CHRISTMAS STORY, THE MUSICAL. / (BOTTOM LEFT) AVITAL AUSILEEN AS MISS SHIELDS AND EVAN GRAY AS RALPHIE IN A CHRISTMAS STORY, THE MUSICAL. PHOTOS BY GARY EMORD NETZLEY.

ensure he gets an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200shot Range Model Air Rifle for Christmas. The biggest obstacle standing in his way is his mother’s fear that “You’ll shoot your eye out!” But Ralphie is a man with a mission, and he hatches a series of schemes designed to win his coveted prize.

Along the way, he has to deal with his annoying little brother, a friend with his tongue frozen to a lamppost, a yellow-eyed bully, a cantankerous department store Santa, the neighbor’s dogs, his old man’s obsession with a “major award” he’s won in a contest, his mom’s militant defense of her Christmas turkey, a smoke-belching furnace, and an untimely four-lettered slip of the tongue.

In its theatrical release, the film’s box office performance was mediocre, but the film found new life when it debuted on cable television. The movie became a perennial favorite due

to Shepherd’s uproariously funny, ironic, and honest portrayal of the euphoria and manic anticipation families experience around Christmas time.

Today, A Christmas Story is a cult classic, and occupies the top spot on several prominent lists of all-time favorite Christmas movies. For more than a decade, TNT has broadcast a 24-hour marathon of the film each holiday season. Such is the film’s popularity that the Cleveland house where parts of the film were shot has been turned into a museum.

Given the enduring affection for the film, it made sense that a stage adaptation could be a natural fit. A creative team of theatre artists was assembled to transform the beloved film into a Broadway musical, including composing team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

You may have heard of Pasek and Paul, because this duo of talented 30-somethings is currently having what many might say is a

very good year. They won 2017 Oscars for Best Original Song and Best Original Music Score for the awards-season juggernaut La La Land, and they also wrote the music for one of the true bona fide hits of the current Broadway season, the heartfelt musical Dear Evan Hansen, which opened to resounding levels of Tony Award buzz.

Pasek and Paul’s funny and sentimental songs for A Christmas Story, the Musical, along with a faithful yet inventive book

by Joseph Robinette, bring the famous scenes of the film to life on stage. The musical made its Broadway debut in November 2012 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where it was both a popular and critical success.

Now on national tour, A Christmas Story, the Musical heads to the Aronoff this December, painting a refreshing holiday portrait of simpler time in America.

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WAITRESS

SARA BAREILLES ON “SOULFUL STORYTELLING” Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles wrote the music for the hit musical Waitress.

Broadway in Cincinnati caught up with her in New York in January.

ABOUT THE SHOW Brought to life by a groundbreaking all-female creative team, this irresistible new hit features original music and lyrics by six-time Grammy® nominee Sara Bareilles (“Brave,” “Love Song”). Inspired

by Adrienne Shelly’s beloved film, Waitress tells the story of Jenna, a waitress and expert pie maker who dreams of a way out of her small town and loveless marriage. A baking contest in a nearby county and the town’s new doctor may offer her a chance at a fresh start, while her fellow waitresses offer their own recipes for happiness. But Jenna must summon the strength and courage to rebuild her own life. Don’t miss this uplifting musical celebrating friendship, motherhood, and the magic of a well-made pie.

Broadway in Cincinnati: Was writing music for the stage something you’d always wanted to do?

Sara Bareilles: I always imagined myself as a performer. I did a

little community theater growing up. When I moved to New York, I reached out to my agent and wanted to suss out if there were opportunities for me in the theater—perhaps as a perform-

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er—and then this presented itself and I sort of said yes on a whim.

I didn’t know what I was saying yes to and it’s been life changing.

BIC: What was it like to be a part of such an incredible—and all-female—creative team? That doesn’t happen often.

SB: I don’t think we knew that it was groundbreaking at the time, because it wasn’t really a decision to specifically choose women for these roles—which is why I feel so proud that it happened organically. We were just the right people for these positions, and I always really love thinking about the next generation of young women who want to see themselves in jobs as

PHOTOGRAPH: JESSIE MUELLER AS JENNA IN THE ORIGINAL BROADWAY PRODUCTION OF WAITRESS. PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS © 2016.

JANUARY 9–21, 2018

PHOTOGRAPHS: (TOP) DREW GEHLING AS DR POMATTER AND JESSIE MUELLER AS JENNA IN THE ORIGINAL BROADWAY PRODUCTION OF WAITRESS. / (BOTTOM RIGHT) NICK CORDERO AS EARL AND JESSIE MUELLER IN THE ORIGINAL BROADWAY PRODUCTION OF WAITRESS. / (BOTTOM LEFT) JESSIE MUELLER AS JENNA AND CAST IN THE ORIGINAL BROADWAY PRODUCTION OZ WAITRESS. PHOTOS BY JOAN MARCUS 2016.

theater directors and composers and writers and choreographers.

It’s very gratifying to imagine the impact this might have on someone.

BIC: What was it about the movie Waitress that made you want to write the music for this?

SB: When I watched Adrienne Shelley’s film, I came away with such a sense of her humanity, and I loved that it was “messy.” I loved that the world she created was not made of black and white, heroes and villains. There is basically no one in this show who is all one thing or the other, and that feels like an honest reflection of life to me. So it was nice to get to try to carve out a deeper sense of soulful storytelling on the characters’ behalf with music.

It’s complicated—which felt very human to me, and I love that.

BIC: How does writing for the stage differ from what you’ve done as a recording artist?

SB: It’s all about the character and the storytelling. As someone who has been brought up as a pop writer, I think sometimes it’s easy to fall into certain patterns.

But for me stepping into the theater was like: Oh, the gloves are off. There are no rules. It was very liberating and playful. I so enjoyed getting the puzzle of it.

You get a short amount of time to deliver a lot of information or to deepen a relationship. It was

all about putting the puzzle pieces together and that was really fun. Really hard, but really fun.

BIC: Is there a particular moment when you can tell the audience is with you, investing in the characters?

SB: One of the moments that comes to my mind is when you meet Ogie, who is sort of our lovable clown. He doesn’t come on stage until about 50 minutes into the show but he provides such comic relief and you feel the audience get buoyed up by his joy and his guilelessness.

BIC: What is your favorite song in the show, and what song was hardest to write?

SB: The hardest song by far was the opening number. I rewrote it 195 times and when we finally got it, I was in tears. We were in this tiny little backstage room and everyone’s piled in there and I’m like: Is this it? And Diane [Paulus], our director, was like: YES! And I was like: Oh my gosh!

My favorite song to write I think was “She Used to Be Mine.”

It was my portal into the world of Waitress. It was me actively falling in love with this character.

That song remains incredibly special to me.

BIC: Do you want to write more for the stage?

SB: I would love to do more shows. Going to the theater has

been a great love of my life from childhood. So now being a part of a team that’s creating one of these experiences is deeply gratifying. I know better now how much time it takes and so I will think about that next time, but I’m hooked. I loved it and felt so warmly embraced by the community at large and I feel undyingly grateful for that so I would love to continue to get to lend whatever I can to this medium.

BIC: Who are you seeing in the audience of Waitress?

SB: There are a lot of mothers and daughters, and our story is about a soon-to-be mother and her relationship to her friends, so there are a lot of sisters and friends. But there are a lot of men, too, and a lot of young people, which I love. The story we’re telling is a really heartfelt one and there’s something in there for everybody.

BIC: Why do you think people should see this show?

SB: I really think people will enjoy this musical. There’s a lot of humor. There’s a lot of heart.

I personally think the music is really good [laughs]. It’s a small show and we’re a small team, and we took great care in putting the show together and crafting the right cast and crew and band.

It’s a painstaking process but it’s done with so much love.

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SCHOOL OF ROCK FEBRUARY 21–MARCH 4, 2018

SCHOOL OF ROCK TEACHES US TO BREAK THE MOLD At first glance, the character of Dewey Finn is a parent’s worst nightmare. In School of Rock, the hapless Dewey, desperate to pay the rent, impersonates his roommate and takes a gig as a substitute teacher at a posh prep school. A frustrated rock

musician with absolutely no teaching skills, Dewey quickly recognizes the musical and creative talents of his class, and coasts along in the job long enough to transform his scholarly but uptight fifth graders into an awe-inspiring rock band.

ABOUT THE SHOW School of Rock is a New York Times Critics’ Pick and “an inspiring jolt of energy, joy and mad skillz!” (Entertainment Weekly).

Based on the hit film, this hilarious new musical follows Dewey Finn, a wannabe rock star posing as a substitute teacher who turns a class of straight-A students into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. This high-octane smash features 14 new songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber, all the original songs from the movie and musical theater’s first-ever kids’ rock band playing their instruments live on stage. Vanity Fair raves, “Fists of all ages shall be pumping!”

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Along the way the kids, their parents, and Dewey himself learn lessons about independence, confidence, and self-expression.

School of Rock originated as a popular 2003 movie featuring Jack Black. Screenwriter Mike White got the idea for the film from the Langley Schools Music Project, where in the ’60s, Canadian music teacher Hans Fenger recorded two LPs with grade school students singing hits by The Beach Boys, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, and more. The pairing of old-school classics sung by some rockin’ kids proved to be the perfect ingredients for a hit movie.

A decade later, the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber secured the stage rights to the show, and

PHOTOGRAPH: SCHOOL OF ROCK ORIGINAL LONDON CAST. PHOTO BY TRISTRAM KENTON.

by Genevieve Holt

poser, famous for countless hits including The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Cats, and Sunset Boulevard, made a bit of a departure on this show, diving deep into the rock genre to delightful results.

Gulsvig notes that the show has broad appeal across generations. “It’s for anyone who likes music, and anyone who likes to have fun. There are some shows you can bring the little ones to, or old classics that only adults may want to see, but this show is right in the middle—you can bring everyone to it, including those tweeny boppers that might be too cool.”

There are moments in the show, says Gulsvig, that particularly resonate with parents like her. “I get a little choked up when the kids are singing ‘If Only You Would Listen.’ They’re banding together and telling the grownups ‘You’re not listening to us.

We just want to be ourselves. We want to feel free and loved and listened to.’ The kids in the audience get a lot out of it.”

There’s also a moment that gets the audience truly engaged every night. “There’s the moment when Dewey is taking the kids’

classical instruments away from them and handing them each a bass, or drums, etc. As each kid sort of finds his way with his ‘rock band’ role, the audience keeps applauding in the middle of the song. You can sense the audience is on a journey with us.”

And the crowd stays with them through the end of the night.

“I’ve never had an audience not be on their feet when we finish the show,” says Gulsvig. “One night, there was this kid whose dad had him propped up so he could see, and he was yelling so loud and was so amped up, it was incredibly inspiring. He may have been someone who thought ‘I don’t want to go see a play’ and then by the end he literally could hardly stay in his seat. It’s so great to see everyone so happy and excited and inspired.”

The resounding message of the show is to step out of your comfort zone, she says. “This show is about working together to make great music,” Gulsvig says. “But it’s also about not always doing exactly what everyone thinks you should do. Break the mold a little, be bold, be creative, and really be yourself.”

PHOTOGRAPHS: SCHOOL OF ROCK ORIGINAL LONDON CAST. PHOTOS BY TRISTRAM KENTON.

producers put plans into motion for a Broadway takeover. Webber, along with lyricist Glenn Slater, wrote 14 new songs that honored the classic rock, high octane music of the film.

Then casting directors just had the small task of finding a group of child performers who could play the rock music…at near-professional levels. Probably the single most mind-blowing aspect of seeing School of Rock on stage is the fact that the kids in the show play their own music live every night.

“The kids are so brilliant,” says Becky Gulsvig, who currently stars in the show on Broadway.

“It’s very humbling, because a lot of them play multiple instruments and cover multiple roles. They can smoke us all on the guitar and bass and drums. They’re so open to the adventure, because they are at an age before the fear kicks in. It’s just another day on the playground for them, but they also work really hard and are trained really well.”

Hearing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new music for the show promises be a gleeful experience for audience members. The com-

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CHICAGO MARCH 20–25, 2018

THE REAL WOMEN OF “MURDERESS ROW” AND THE WOMAN WHO TOLD THEIR STORY Part of the appeal of Chicago— the longest-running American musical in Broadway history—is that although the events unfolding on stage occurred almost 100 years ago, they feel current. Audiences feel as if they’re watching an episode of Law & Order, with sensational characters and crimes ripped from the headlines.

That’s because they were.

In 1924, 28-year-old Maurine Dallas Watkins arrived in Chicago, a city quickly becoming a mecca for crime, liquor, and jazz.

Watkins was an aspiring writer and playwright from Harvard University, and news writing was recommended as a way for writers to hone their craft.

ABOUT THE SHOW This triumphant hit musical is the recipient of six Tony Awards®, two Olivier Awards, a Grammy®, thousands of standing ovations and now the No. 1 longest-running American Musical in Broadway history. Chicago has everything that makes Broadway great: a universal tale of fame, fortune, and all that jazz; one show-stopping song after another; and the most astonishing dancing you’ve ever seen. It’s no surprise that Chicago has wowed audiences from Mexico City to Moscow, from Sao Paulo to South Africa.

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Watkins hit the gold mine at The Chicago Tribune, where she was assigned the Cook County Jail’s infamous “Murderess Row,” a beat editors thought too boring for men reporters. It was on Murderess Row that Watkins met and covered Belva Gaertner and Beulah Annan, women she would later immortalize as Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart.

If Chicago were a person, she’d be Belva Gaertner. A cabaret singer and divorcee, Gaertner climbed her way into high society. After divorcing William Gaertner, a man 20 years her senior, she was arrested in March 1924 at the age of 40 for the murder of her 30-year-old lover.

Walter Law was discovered shot dead in his car after a night

PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL KOLNIK.

by Rebecca Price

PHOTOGRAPHS: (TOP LEFT) PHOTO BY PAUL KOLNIK. / (TOP RIGHT) DYLIS CROMAN AS ROXIE HART. PHOTO BY JEREMY DANIEL. / (BOTTOM LEFT) TERRA C. MACLEOD AS VELMA KELLY IN CHICAGO. PHOTO BY PAUL KOLNIK. / (BOTTOM RIGHT) PHOTO BY PAUL KOLNIK.

on the town with Gaertner.

Found in her apartment with bloodstained clothes, she admitted she found Law dead, and was arrested. Her defense: she didn’t remember what happened.

Blaming it on jazz and drink, she played the card of the fallen woman. She used class, charm, and high fashion to turn her image around, and the press and all-male jury ate it up.

Gaertner was acquitted after almost four months on Murderess Row. After her trial, she again married William Gaertner. They separated a year later (after he accused her of trying to kill him), and she lived out her life traveling and living with her sister before dying at the age of 80.

If Gaertner was the classiest murderess in Chicago, Beulah Annan was the prettiest. Annan was 25 years old and married to her second husband when she was arrested in April 1924 for the murder of her lover and boss, Harry Kalstedt.

For a little under two months, Annan, who was born in Owensboro, KY, used her Southern charms to manipulate those involved in the case. Every interview and picture was an opportunity to play out her sob story in the public eye. She even faked a pregnancy to gain sympathy.

After she was acquitted, Annan turned her divorce from her husband, who stood by her the entire trial, into a photo op. However, her chances at fame were cut short. She died at the age of 29 of tuberculosis.

After only seven months in Chicago, Watkins moved to Yale University to finish her academic career. She channeled all her cynicism and disenchantment into a play titled The Brave Little Women. The play was ultimately performed—to rave reviews—under the name Chicago. Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly were born. Annan’s two lawyers were merged into the smooth-talking lawyer, Billy Flynn.

The play Chicago opened on Broadway in 1926. It was made into a silent movie in 1927, and in 1942 it became a movie called Roxie Hart, starring Ginger Rogers. After Watkins’ death in 1969, Bob Fosse bought the rights from her estate and worked with John Kander and Fred Ebb to create Chicago: A Musical Vaudeville, which opened on Broadway in 1975. Their musical version was revived in 1996 to rave reviews.

That revival, headed to Cincinnati in March, is the longest-running American musical in Broadway history, and last year passed Cats to become the second longest-running musical of all time (The Phantom of the Opera holds first place).

Watkins’ story was a true original and what some say exemplified a new American style of comedy. Shocking, hilarious, and exploitative, Chicago remains, almost 100 years later, a uniquely American story of celebrity, satire, and cynicism.

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The Lincoln Center Theater Production Rodgers & Hammerstein’s

THE KING AND I APRIL 10–22, 2018

THE QUINTESSENTIAL DIRECTOR FOR THE QUINTESSENTIAL PRODUCTION

ABOUT THE SHOW Two worlds collide in the Lincoln Center Theater production of this “breathtaking and exquisite” (The New York Times) musical. One of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s finest works, The King and I boasts a score that features such beloved classics as “Getting To Know You,” “I Whistle a Happy Tune,” “Hello Young Lovers,” “Shall We Dance,” and “Something Wonderful.” Set in 1860s Bangkok, the musical tells the story of the unconventional and tempestuous relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher whom the King brings to Siam to teach his many wives and children. Winner of the 2015 Tony Award® for Best Musical Revival, The King and I is “too beautiful to miss” (New York Magazine).

It’s not every day that an exquisite, distinguished Broadway revival of a classic musical comes around. By all accounts, Lincoln Center Theater’s production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I—headed to the Aronoff Stage next April—is one of those.

Known for creating revivals that combine jaw-droppingly gorgeous sets and costumes with immensely talented performers, lush orchestrations, and a keen eye for efficient and heartfelt storytelling, Tony Award–winning director Bartlett Sher has directed two superb, critically-lauded Broadway

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revivals in recent years—South Pacific (which played the Aronoff in 2010) and Fiddler on the Roof— and it was recently announced that he’ll helm a top-shelf revival of My Fair Lady for Lincoln Center in 2018.

Sher and his frequent collaborators Catherine Zuber (Tony winner for The King and I costumes) and Michael Yeargen (sets) had a unique challenge when looking to stage this version of The King and I. The two central characters in the musical are based on real people—King Mongkut of Siam and Anna Leonowens—and the story has a specific historical time and place—Siam (now Thailand) in the 1860s. The threat of western imperialism casts a shadow upon King Mongkut’s country, and he is challenged to find a way to modernize Siam while honoring its traditions. To that end,

PHOTOGRAPH: THE CAST OF RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S THE KING AND I. PHOTO BY MATTHEW MURPHY.

by Genevieve Holt

PHOTOGRAPHS: (TOP LEFT) LAURA MICHELLE KELLY AS ANNA AND THE ROYAL CHILDREN OF RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S THE KING AND I. / (TOP RIGHT) LAURA MICHELLE KELLY AND JOSE LLANA IN RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S THE KING AND I. / (BOTTOM) LAURA MICHELLE KELLY, BAYLEN THOMAS AND GRAHAM MONTGOMERY IN RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S THE KING AND I. PHOTOS BY MATTHEW MURPHY.

the King hires Anna Leonowens, an Englishwoman, to provide a western education for his children and wives.

Sher, Zuber, and Yeargen sought to take a fresh look at this story and see what new insights they could pull out of both the original musical as well as the real life stories of these people.

“Everyone who creates a work of art based on a real life has to pick and choose what aspect of the core story he or she wants to use,” says Sher.

When creating the set, the team avoided a literal re-creation of the Royal Palace of Siam, and instead drew upon historical photos of Buddhist temples made of teakwood and gold. They took care to accurately portray the parts of the palace designated for women. “The King built specific mansions within his palace,” says Yeargen. “Like a suburb,

almost, with these huge Western-style houses for his wives.”

They also wanted to make sure the characters and cultures were thoughtfully fleshed out. “I think we all approached this with a respect for Thai culture and an understanding that it has its own set of rules and traditions,” says Zuber. “The King is a very complex, interesting man, but not evil.

He’s very charming, very open to Western ideas, as demonstrated by the fact that he had Anna come tutor his children.”

The team also had to take a second look at how Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, with their 1950s sensibilities, portrayed race and culture.

“There is one number called ‘Western People Funny,’” says Sher, “which, in the traditional sense, is an extremely stereotyped song of the Thai, in their naiveté, trying on Western dress

and talking—ha, ha, ha—about how Western people are so funny. Whereas now, I think all you have to do is flip it, and suddenly you look at it from the point of view of the dominant culture instead of the subordinate culture, which is the way Rodgers and Hammerstein looked at it as the “superior” Westerners. If you flip it, ‘Western People Funny’ becomes ironic.”

This re-examining of the original bears fruit, says Sher.

“The more distance you get on the original production, the deeper you can look. History and time give us a chance to learn more about what [Rodgers and Hammerstein] were beginning to understand in 1951. It’s like having one foot in the past as deeply as we can, one foot in the present, and our eyes looking out as far ahead as we can to see how it resonates.”

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ALADDIN

MUSICAL MAESTRO This feature is excerpted from “Disney’s Aladdin: A Whole New World (The Road to Broadway and Beyond)” by Michael Lassell.

Alan Menken

Having earned a staggering number of accolades for his work on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and the film version of Aladdin, among many others,

superstar composer Alan Menken is an undisputed master of the stage and film musical. For the stage version of Aladdin, headed to the Aronoff Center in May 2018, he reveals that he had a very particular vision.

“It’s always been a dream of mine,” says Menken, “to somehow restore the telling of Aladdin the way Howard Ashman and I first envisioned it. The Disney film version is a dazzling action-adventure tale with great animation effects and a handful of songs, some with lyrics by Howard and some by the great Sir Tim Rice.

But the original concept that Howard first pitched was a tribute to those old Bob Hope–Bing

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Crosby ‘road pictures,’ almost a satire of that kind of Hollywood romantic comedy. And it was also meant to be a celebration of the jazz of the 1930s and ’40s, particularly the music of such breakout stars of the era as Fats Waller and Cab Calloway.”

So when Thomas Schumacher, president and producer of Disney Theatrical, told Menken he was putting together a script of Aladdin to license to amateur theatrical groups, the multiple Oscar-winning musician saw an opportunity to revisit the roots of the Aladdin project. “This was years before we even considered developing Aladdin for Broadway,” says Schumacher. “I

PHOTOGRAPH: (TOP) ARABIAN NIGHTS MEN. DISNEY’S ALADDIN ORIGINAL BROADWAY COMPANY. © DISNEY. PHOTO BY DEEN VAN MEER. / (BOTTOM) ALAN MENKEN. PHOTO BY LISA CROSBY.

MAY 29–JUNE 10, 2018

ABOUT THE SHOW

PHOTOGRAPHS: (TOP) ARABIAN NIGHTS WOMEN. DISNEY’S ALADDIN ORIGINAL BROADWAY COMPANY. / (BOTTOM RIGHT) COURTNEY REED AS JASMINE AND ADAM JACOBS AS ALADDIN. DISNEY’S ALADDIN ORIGINAL BROADWAY COMPANY. / (BOTTOM LEFT) ADAM JACOBS AS ALADDIN. DISNEY’S ALADDIN ORIGINAL BROADWAY COMPANY. © DISNEY. PHOTOS BY DEEN VAN MEER.

Discover a whole new world at Aladdin, the hit Broadway musical. From the producer of The Lion King comes the timeless story of Aladdin, a thrilling new production filled with unforgettable beauty, magic, comedy, and breathtaking spectacle.

It’s an extraordinary theatrical event where one lamp and three wishes make the possibilities infinite. Hailed by USA Today as “Pure Genie-Us,” Aladdin features all your favorite songs from the film as well as new music written by Tony and Academy Award winner Alan Menken (Newsies) with lyrics penned by the legendary Howard Ashman (Beauty and the Beast), Tony Award winner Tim Rice (The Lion King, Aida), and book writer Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer).

thought Alan would be way too busy to get involved with our little licensing project, but he really wanted to do it.”

“They came to me with a script based closely on the movie,” recalls Menken. “It would have been fine, but it wasn’t the musical-comedy homage to popular jazz-era movies that Howard and I first proposed. So I said, ‘Look, I have a whole treasure trove of existing material that was never used, songs for the main characters and characters that were eliminated in the film, including Aladdin’s three sidekicks, Babkak,

Omar, and Kassim.’” And so Chad Beguelin, who was writing the script, dug into Menken’s trunk and came back with something altogether new.

“As we began to work,” Menken says, “it became clear that we were going to need some new songs along with hits from the film and some songs that were written but never used. So I suggested that Chad write the lyrics since he was writing the new libretto and was already an accomplished, Tony-nominated lyricist in his own right. Chad was absolutely terrific at creating

new songs that fit perfectly with those Howard, Tim, and I had written for the film.”

For Menken, the journey has been deeply personal, because his beloved musical partner, Howard Ashman, died before the Aladdin film score was complete.

Menken is particularly grateful to have restored “Proud of Your Boy,” a song for Aladdin to sing to his fretful mother. “It was the hardest thing to lose from the film,” says Menken, “and not just because the song was lost—I’ve lost a lot of songs in my career—but because we had also lost Howard. That song packs an enormous emotional punch, and men in particular seem to relate to it deeply. So many of us go through a phase when we are disappointing our parents, or we think we are. I’m delighted to have had a hand in reshaping Aladdin. I love the show and all the music. But I am especially happy that Howard’s poignant ‘Proud of Your Boy’ once again has pride of place in the story of a boy who finally became all that a mother could wish for in a son.”

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WICKED SEPTEMBER 13–OCTOBER 15, 2017

CREATING EMERALD CITY COUTURE Without doubt, Wicked has some of the most inventive costumes ever seen on a Broadway stage, and Susan Hilferty’s Tony Award for Best Costumes proves the point. Learn more about how she came up with those incredible looks.

So much happened before Dorothy dropped in. Wicked, the Broadway sensation, looks at what happened in the Land of Oz… but from a different angle. Long before Dorothy arrives, there is another young woman, born with emerald-green skin—smart, fiery, misunderstood, and possessing an extraordinary talent. When she meets a bubbly blonde who is exceptionally popular, their initial rivalry turns into the unlikeliest of friendships…until the world decides to call one “good,” and the other one “wicked.” From the first electrifying note to the final breathtaking moment, Wicked— the untold true story of the Witches of Oz—transfixes audiences with its wildly inventive story.

How did you approach the task of designing Wicked’s costumes?

Susan Hilferty: I knew I was inventing a world, a parallel universe you’d recognize but at the same time was completely distorted. I looked at the original illustrations for the Wizard

of Oz books—which is where the Edwardian influence comes from—but with a contemporary eye. The silhouette is twisted, asymmetrical. The idea was to distort the human figure, but in a high-fashion kind of way. The way the animals looked is also invented: the monkey-skins, faces,

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How would you describe the overall look of the costumes?

SH: “Twisted Edwardian.” I found what I was doing was almost designing each idea twice; I had an idea that was straight, and then I had to transform it. In some cases I was acting like a fashion designer, much like Vivienne Westwood or Alexander McQueen, who will look at another time period and then exaggerate it and make it their own.

What aspects of the show did you keep in mind while bringing your costumes to life?

SH: My goal was to create a parallel universe. It’s a world

PHOTOGRAPH: THE NATIONAL TOURING COMPANY OF WICKED. PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS.

ABOUT THE SHOW

tails, the goats. The 1939 movie didn’t help: that was a ’20s world, and nothing made sense to this story.

PHOTOGRAPHS: (TOP LEFT) THE NATIONAL TOURING COMPANY OF WICKED. / (TOP RIGHT) AMANDA JANE COOPER AS GLINDA AND JESSICA VOSK AS ELPHABA. / (BOTTOM LEFT) JESSICA VOSK AS ELPHABA IN DEFYING GRAVITY. / (BOTTOM RIGHT) AMANDA JANE COOPER AS GLINDA. PHOTOS BY JOAN MARCUS.

where animals can talk, so we know it’s not our world. It’s a world that deals with a kind of inventiveness, things that we might call magic. The boundaries of the world are different than anything we know or are familiar with, but at the same time, the issues for the people of Oz are in many cases the same kind of issues we deal with. So I knew it had to be something that was of the imagination but in some ways had to thread back to things that we knew.

What difficulties did you encounter along the way?

SH: How to tell the story of these two girls, Glinda and Elphaba, in relation to this world. It was a long, complicated journey, like learning a new language.

How did you provide a sense of individuality, for instance, for the students in the scenes at

Shiz University?

SH: I designed with the idea that there was a Shiz store, where you could get a blazer or a skirt or a vest. There were maybe 10 pieces in the store. And to provide variety, the jackets are all split up the back and laced together, so you could have one half of this jacket, and half of that and then lace them together. Boys can wear skirts if they want; it’s a parallel universe after all. And then it was just a mixing of colors.

Is there any significance to the white and blue school colors of Shiz University?

SH: What I was trying to get at the end was an icon for each of the witches, where they become specifically representative: Glinda for goodness and Elphaba for evil. By using blue and white as the school colors, I was able to have Elphaba all in blue, and Glinda all in white. The goal was

to make the two women be the most outstanding thing in every world they entered.

So Elphaba never actually wears black?

SH: That would be too much of a contrast. Black would sink into a hole for all of Act II. Is it true that you reserve your highest praise for lighting designer Ken Posner?

SH: I gave him the biggest challenge you can give a lighting designer: two leading ladies, onstage together for most of the show, and standing next to each other for most of the show; one dark girl with black hair, green skin, dark clothes, and a hat with a brim on it, standing next to a blonde in white shiny clothes, white skin, no hat. That’s hard.

Kenny was brilliant about it and made it balanced so you never knew it was an issue.

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THE BOOK OF MORMON

THE GENESIS OF THE BOOK OF MORMON A Q & A with creators Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Bobby Lopez How did you come up with the idea for The Book of Mormon?

Trey Parker: Matt and I went to see Avenue Q when it opened in

ABOUT THE SHOW The New York Times calls it “the best musical of this century.” The Washington Post says, “It is the kind of evening that restores your faith in musicals.” And Entertainment Weekly says, “Grade A: the funniest musical of all time.” Jimmy Fallon of The Tonight Show calls it “Genius. Brilliant. Phenomenal.” It’s The Book of Mormon, the nine-time Tony Award®–winning Best Musical. This outrageous musical comedy follows the misadventures of a mismatched pair of missionaries sent halfway across the world to spread the Good Word. Now with standing-room-only productions in London, on Broadway, and across North America, The Book of Mormon has truly become an international sensation. Contains explicit language.

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2003, and we were like, “Wow, this is actually really good.” When it was over I was thinking, “This is exactly the kind of thing I’ve always dreamed about doing.”

Matt Stone: During intermission, we saw that we were thanked in the Playbill. “Well,” we thought, “that’s weird.”

Bobby Lopez: That’s because I saw the South Park movie when it opened in 1999, and I just thought, “Oh my God, this is exactly what I want to be doing.”

A week after that, the idea came to me for Avenue Q. TP: It happened purely by coincidence that Bobby showed up

PHOTOGRAPH: MONICA L. PATTON, RYAN BONDY, CODY JAMISON STRAND - THE BOOK OF MORMON © PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS 2016.

JULY 31–AUGUST 5, 2018

PHOTOGRAPHS: (TOP LEFT) CANDACE QUARRELS, CODY JAMISON STRAND - THE BOOK OF MORMON / (TOP RIGHT) THE BOOK OF MORMON COMPANY - THE BOOK OF MORMON / (BOTTOM LEFT) THE BOOK OF MORMON COMPANY - THE BOOK OF MORMON / (BOTTOM RIGHT) RYAN BONDY, DAVID ARON DAMANE - THE BOOK OF MORMON. © PHOTOS BY JOAN MARCUS 2016.

that night. He introduced himself, and we went across the street for a drink.

MS: Bobby is younger than Trey and me, so he looked at us like elder statesmen and asked what he should do next. We asked what he wanted to do, and he said, “I want to write something about Joseph Smith and the Mormons.”

BL: When I said Joseph Smith, they were like, “We’ve wanted to do that, too!” They had it in their heads to do some kind of Joseph Smith musical, but never did. I said, “If you guys want to do that, that’s fine, because I’d really love to see what you do, more than what I would do.”

TP: It just became ridiculously obvious that we should team up and do something about Mormons. So we said, “No, let’s do it together.”

Did you have any musical theater influences in writing the show?

TP: There’s a lot of Rodgers and

Hammerstein references in the show, because that’s what it feels like to me. When you’re doing this sort of happy-go-lucky, optimistic Mormon, it just plays right into it. For the second act pageant, “Joseph Smith American Moses,” we always thought it would be so awesome to do our own version of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” from The King and I. We did this improv where we put on African drum loops and started singing African melodies. We had such a great time doing it, it was ridiculous. But then we realized we should make it a bigger number. We went back and actually watched the “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” sequence. It was really long but it told such a huge story, and our number didn’t. So we were like, “Let’s follow The King and I, and really make it clear that the story has a much deeper and profound meaning to the Africans.”

BL: When we were writing “Making Things Up Again,” the first number in the second act, we

had just seen Sunday in the Park with George. I think Trey was sort of influenced by it, which is weird because I consider myself the Sondheim freak out of everyone.

Trey just sat down and started plunking out this Georges Seurat–like rhythm, which became the whole motif for “You’re making things up again, Arnold.”

TP: There’s just nothing more perfect in the universe to me than a good musical. And a bad musical makes you want to kill yourself. A good musical is to me so much more moving and powerful than a great movie or a great book, or anything.

Are there boundaries in what you can do or say on stage?

TP: There is a line that you can cross all you want as long as you have a reason for doing it. If it has a point and it has a story and it has genuine, real character and emotion, then you can pretty much do whatever you want, as long as you’re being truthful.

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