Hollywood Pantages Adds Optional Shows to 2015-16 Season: KINKY BOOTS, ONCE & More!

The Hollywood Pantages, a Nederlander Theatre, announced today the addition of eight shows available as options to the already on sale 2015-2016 SEASON. This new lineup of shows includes the return of Six Hollywood Pantages favorites. The Added Optional Shows will include Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, RIVERDANCE - THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY WORLD TOUR, MAMMA MIA!, ONCE, RAIN - A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES & last season's smash hit, KINKY BOOTS.

Current season ticket holders, as always, have first priority to purchase tickets for these newly added shows, and may begin purchasing today at www.HollywoodPantages.com/SeasonPackages or by phone at 866-755-BWAY (2929). Group tickets for all newly announced shows will be available for purchase on Monday, July 13th at 10am at www.PantagesGroups.com or by calling 866-755-3075 (M-F; 10am-5pm PT). On sale dates for these newly announced shows will be announced at a later date.

Optional Season Production #1
L.A. Return Engagement
NETworks presents
Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Hollywood Pantages Theatre
November 13 - 22, 2015

The Award-winning worldwide smash hit Broadway musical Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST returns by popular demand to the Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a limited engagement; November 13 - 22, 2015. This production, produced by NETworks Presentations, launched in February 2010 and has been seen nearly 3 million people while playing over 1,500 performances in all 50 United States and 8 Canadian Provinces.

Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST features the animated film's Academy Award-winning score with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman, with additional songs with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Tim Rice. The book is written by Linda Woolverton.

The original creators of the Broadway production are together again for this new touring production. The play is directed by Rob Roth and choreographed by Matt West, with Costume Design by Ann Hould-Ward (Tony Award winner for her work on Disney's Beauty and the Beast), Lighting Design by Natasha Katz, Scenic Design by Stanley A. Meyer, Sound Design by John Petrafesa Jr. and Music Supervision by Michael Kosarin.

Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is the classic story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped in a spell placed by an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed to his former self. But time is running out. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity.

Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST has become an international sensation that has played to over 35 million people worldwide in 21 countries.

For more information, visit www.BeautyAndTheBeastOnTour.com.

Optional Season Production #2
L.A. Return Engagement
RIVERDANCE - The 20th Anniversary World Tour
Hollywood Pantages Theatre
December 1 - 6, 2015

The international Irish dance phenomenon returns by popular demand with RIVERDANCE - The 20th Anniversary World Tour at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a limited one-week engagement; December 1 - 6, 2015. The production, which is composed by Bill Whelan, produced by Moya Doherty and directed by John McColgan, is currently celebrating a sold out, critically-acclaimed run across Europe and Asia and will arrive in North America in Fall 2015.

To mark the eagerly awaited return of the show to North America, RIVERDANCE - The 20th Anniversary World Tour will feature new costumes, new lighting, new projections and the addition of a brand new number, "Anna Livia," featuring the female members of the Irish dance troupe in an acapella hard-shoe number.

"The success of Riverdance across the whole world has gone beyond our wildest dreams," said producer Moya Doherty. "The fact that the show continues to draw and excite audiences is a tribute to every dancer, singer, musician, staff and crew member who have dedicated themselves to the show. This 20th Anniversary Tour is a thank you to our audiences and a celebration of what has been an incredible journey across two decades."

RIVERDANCE - The 20th Anniversary World Tour is an innovative and exciting blend of dance, music and song. Drawing on Irish traditions, the combined talents of the performers propel Irish dancing and music into the present day, capturing the imagination of audiences across all ages and cultures. RIVERDANCE - The 20th Anniversary World Tour has set design by Robert Ballagh, lighting design by John Comiskey, costume design by Joan Bergin and sound design by Michael O'Gorman.

For more information, visit www.Riverdance.com.

Optional Season Production #3
L.A. Return Engagement
MAMMA MIA!
Hollywood Pantages Theatre
January 26 - 31, 2016

MAMMA MIA!, the smash hit musical based on the songs of ABBA, will return to Los Angeles at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a limited one-week engagement; January 26 - 31, 2016.

Seen by over 54 million people around the world, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus' global smash hit musical is celebrating over 5,600 performances in its fourteenth smash hit year on Broadway, currently at the Broadhurst Theatre. The blockbuster feature film adaptation of MAMMA MIA!, produced by Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman, is the most successful movie musical of all time grossing $600 million worldwide. With a worldwide gross of over $2 Billion, MAMMA MIA! is acclaimed by the Associated Press as "quite simply, a phenomenon."

An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island, Donna is about to let go of Sophie, the spirited daughter she's raised alone. For Sophie's wedding, Donna has invited her two lifelong best girlfriends-practical and no-nonsense Rosie and wealthy, multi-divorcee Tanya - from her one-time backing band, Donna and the Dynamos. But Sophie has secretly invited three guests of her own. On a quest to find the identity of her father to walk her down the aisle, she brings back three men from Donna's past to the Mediterranean paradise they visited 20 years earlier. Over 24 chaotic, magical hours, new love will bloom and old romances will be rekindled on this lush island full of possibilities. Inspired by the storytelling magic of ABBA's songs from "Dancing Queen" and "S.O.S." to "Money, Money, Money" and "Take a Chance on Me," MAMMA MIA! is a celebration of mothers and daughters, old friends and new family found.

MAMMA MIA! features music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with a book by Catherine Johnson and direction by Phyllida Lloyd. MAMMA MIA! has choreography by Anthony Van Laast, production design by Mark Thompson, lighting design by Howard Harrison, sound design by Andrew Bruce and Bobby Aitken, and musical supervision, additional material and arrangements by Martin Koch.

MAMMA MIA! is produced by Judy Craymer, Richard East and Björn Ulvaeus for Littlestar in association with Universal.

Optional Season Production #4
L.A. Return Engagement
ONCE
Hollywood Pantages Theatre
March 15 - 20, 2016

ONCE, winner of eight 2012 Tony Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, will return by popular demand to the Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a limited one-week engagement; March 15 - 20, 2016.

ONCE, which was also named Best Musical by the New York Drama Critics' Circle, Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards, ran for more than 1,100 performances on Broadway with acclaimed international productions from London and Melbourne to Japan and South Korea.

ONCE features the Academy Award-winning music and lyrics of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, a book by award-winning Irish playwright & screenwriter, Enda Walsh (Penelope, Hunger, The New Electric Ballroom), direction by the acclaimed Scottish director of Black Watch, John Tiffany, movement by Steven Hoggett (Black Watch, American Idiot) and music supervision and orchestrations by Martin Lowe (Mamma Mia!). The set and costume design are by five time Tony Award winner Bob Crowley (The Coast of Utopia, Mary Poppins), lighting design is by Tony winner Natasha Katz (Aida, The Coast of Utopia), and sound design is by Clive Goodwin.

ONCE is the celebrated musical based on the Academy Award-winning film. It tells the story of an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, their unexpected friendship and collaboration evolves into a powerful but complicated romance, heightened by the raw emotion of the songs they create together. Brought to the stage by an award-winning team of visionary artists and featuring an ensemble cast of gifted actor/musicians, ONCE is a musical celebration of life and love: thrilling in its originality, daring in its honesty... and unforgettable in every way.

The 2007 Academy Award-winning film, ONCE, was written and directed by John Carney, and starred Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, with original music and lyrics by Mr. Hansard and Ms. Irglová.

The Oscar winning independent Irish film, ONCE was made for $150,000. Shot in 17 days, it went on to gross $20M worldwide becoming a critically acclaimed international smash. It stars Glen Hansard, from the popular Irish Rock band The Frames, and Markéta Irglová. Glen and Markéta won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original song for "Falling Slowly," the Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Music, and the soundtrack was nominated for two Grammy Awards.

Optional Season Production #5
L.A. Return Engagement
RAIN - A Tribute to the Beatles
Hollywood Pantages Theatre
April 5 - 10, 2016

Returning once again by popular demand to the Hollywood Pantages Theatre is RAIN - A Tribute to the Beatles, playing a limited one-week engagement; April 5 - 10, 2016.

As "the next best thing to seeing The Beatles!" (Associated Press), RAIN performs the full range of The Beatles' discography live onstage, including the most complex and challenging songs that The Beatles themselves recorded in the studio but never performed for an audience. In addition, nine new songs have been included with the launch of the 2013 Tour which include Help!, Here Comes The Sun and All You Need Is Love. Together longer than The Beatles, RAIN has mastered every song, gesture and nuance of the legendary foursome, delivering a totally live, note-for-note performance that's as infectious as it is transporting. From the early hits to later classics (I Want To Hold Your Hand, Hard Day's Night, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Let It Be, Come Together, Hey Jude and more), this adoring tribute will take you back to a time when all you needed was love, and a little help from your friends!

The story of RAIN began in the mid-1970s when keyboardist Mark Lewis joined forces with four other local musicians who together formed the band that was originally called "Reign" played throughout the Los Angeles/Orange County, CA area. With their mutual love for the music of The Beatles, Reign was in demand to play Beatles music and rode an enormous wave of nostalgia for the rock n' roll band that had broken up in 1970. For more than two decades the band has distinguished itself by focusing on details, always being faithful to The Beatles, which is the foundation for the concert today.

For more information, visit www.RainTribute.com.

Optional Season Production #6
L.A. Return Engagement
KINKY BOOTS
Hollywood Pantages Theatre
April 13 - 24, 2016

On the high-heels of last season's wildly-successful L.A. Premiere, KINKY BOOTS, the smash-hit musical that brings together four-time Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein (Book) and Grammy Award-winning rock icon Cyndi Lauper (Tony Award-winner for Best Score for Kinky Boots), returns to the Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a limited two-week engagement; April 13 - 24, 2016.

Directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell, KINKY BOOTS opened on Broadway April 4, 2013 and continues to play to standing-room-only crowds nightly. The show, which has broken all box office records at the Hirschfeld Theatre, recouped its costs in October 2013, after just 30 weeks on Broadway.

KINKY BOOTS took home six 2013 Tony Awards, the most of any show in the season, including Best Musical, Best Score (Cyndi Lauper), Best Choreography (Jerry Mitchell), Best Orchestrations (Stephen Oremus) and Best Sound Design (John Shivers). The show also received the Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Broadway.com Awards for Best Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Album, along with many other accolades.

Inspired by true events, KINKY BOOTS takes you from a gentlemen's shoe factory in Northampton to the glamorous catwalks of Milan. Charlie Price is struggling to live up to his father's expectations and continue the family business of Price & Son. With the factory's future hanging in the balance, help arrives in the unlikely but spectacular form of Lola, a fabulous performer in need of some sturdy new stilettos.

The design team for KINKY BOOTS includes Tony Award nominee David Rockwell (Scenic Design), Tony Award-winner Gregg Barnes (Costume Design), Tony Award-winner Kenneth Posner (Lighting Design), Tony Award-winner John Shivers (Sound Design), Josh Marquette (Hair Design), Randy Houston Mercer (Make-up Design), Telsey + Company, Justin Huff, CSA (Casting), Adam Souza (Musical Direction), with Musical Supervision and Arrangements and Orchestrations by Tony and Grammy Award-winner Stephen Oremus.

KINKY BOOTS is produced on Broadway and on tour by Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Independent Presenters Network, CJ E&M, Jayne Baron Sherman, Just for Laughs Theatricals/Judith Ann Abrams, Yasuhiro Kawana, Jane Bergere, Allan S. Gordon & Adam S. Gordon, Ken Davenport, Hunter Arnold, Lucy and Phil Suarez, Bryan Bantry, Ron Fierstein and Dorsey Regal, Jim Kierstead/Gregory Rae, BB Group/Christina Papagjika, Michael DeSantis/Patrick Baugh, Brian Smith/Tom and Connie Walsh, Warren Trepp and Jujamcyn Theaters.