Arizona Broadway Theatre Announces 2021-2022 Season

Arizona Broadway Theatre has announced its 2021-2022 season this week. The Broadway-style productions will appear on ABT's Mainstage, with two limited engagement shows on the Encore Room stage, beginning this Fall.

Chicago

The season will kick off with the long-awaited return of Chicago (September 19 - October 30, 2021). This production opened on March 13, 2020, and was shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic after only four performances. Unconventionally, opening night will be on a Sunday night, ensuring that the audience present when the final Sunday evening performance was suddenly canceled will be the first to see the curtain rise again. Set amidst the decade of the roaring twenties, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and wannabe nightclub dancer who maliciously murders her on-the-side lover. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media, and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, and hires the slickest criminal lawyer in town to transform her crime into a barrage of sensational headlines. Filled with greed, corruption, exploitation, and one show-stopping hit after another, Chicago is sure to give you the old "Razzle Dazzle!"

Elf the Musical

Elf the Musical runs November 26 - December 30 and will be a perfect holiday outing for the whole family. Based on the 2003 film starring Will Ferrell, Elf the Musical is the hilarious tale of Buddy, who, as a baby, mistakenly crawls into Santa's bag of gifts and is transported to the North Pole. When his enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find the world's greatest Dad and discover his true identity. Buddy is determined to win over his new family and help New York remember there is a Santa Claus. This modern-day holiday classic is sure to make everyone embrace their inner elf!

Gypsy

Speculated by many to be the greatest of all American musicals, Gypsy (January 21- February 20, 2022) tells the story of the dreams and efforts of one hungry, powerhouse of a woman to get her two daughters into show business. Determined that her younger daughter June will have a successful career, Mama Rose's plans are derailed when June elopes, forcing Rose to turn all her attention on her older, less talented daughter Louise, who eventually becomes burlesque stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. The musical features songs that have become standards of the musical theatre canon, including Some People, Let Me Entertain You, Rose's Turn, and the show-stopping Everything's Coming Up Roses. At the heart of the musical is the gregarious Mama Rose, whose journey made critic Frank Rich call Gypsy "Broadway's own brassy, unlikely answer to King Lear."

Flashdance The Musical

Dance like you've never danced before (cue chair and splashing water)! Flashdance The Musical (March 18- April 24) tells the inspiring story of Alex, a welder by day and 'flashdancer' by night, who dreams of going to the prestigious Shipley Dance Academy and becoming a professional dancer. When a romance complicates her ambitions, she harnesses it to drive her dream. Based on the popular 1983 feature film of the same name, Flashdance The Musical is a musical spectacle featuring phenomenal choreography about the power of holding onto your dreams - and love - against all odds. Smash hits include Maniac, Manhunt, Gloria, I Love Rock & Roll, and the unforgettable title track, Flashdance...What a Feeling!

Ghost the Musical

Adapted from the hit film by its Academy Award-winning screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin, Ghost The Musical (May 6- May 29) follows Sam and Molly, a young couple whose connection takes a shocking turn after Sam's untimely death. Trapped between two worlds, Sam refuses to leave Molly when he learns she is in grave danger. Desperate to communicate with her, he turns to storefront psychic Oda Mae Brown, who helps him protect Molly and avenge his death. Ghost The Musical is a poignant romance that builds comedy, suspense, and deeply felt emotion to an ethereal climax that audiences will never forget. Featuring such popular songs as the Righteous Brothers' classic Unchained Melody, this powerful love story is sure to become a fan favorite!

The SpongeBob Musical

Coming next Summer, June 10-July 17, ABT takes a trip to Bikini Bottom to visit SpongeBob and his friends in the dynamic stage musical The SpongeBob Musical, based on the beloved animated series created by Stephen Hillenburg. The show features a book by Kyle Jarrow, with original songs by Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alexander Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T's, They Might Be Giants, and T.I., and songs by David Bowie, Tom Kenny, and Andy Paley.

Happy Days, a New Musical

ABT finishes out its season with a return to the blue-sky days of 1959 Milwaukee, complete with varsity sweaters, hula hoops, and jukebox sock-hoppin' fun! Arnold's, the famed drive-in malt shop and number one hangout, is in danger of demolition, so Richie, Fonzie, and the gang team up to save it with a dance contest and a TV-worthy wrestling match. Even Pinky Tuscadero, Fonzie's childhood sweetheart, returns to help, and - lo and behold - they rekindle their old flame. Based on the hit '70s TV series, Happy Days, A New Musical (August 26- September 25) will have you rockin' and rollin' all week long!

Patrons who wish to purchase season subscriptions may call the Box Office at (623) 776-8400. Single tickets for the first three shows of the season will go on sale in August 2021. For more information about these and other upcoming productions presented at Arizona Broadway Theatre, visit azbroadway.org.

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