Ahmanson - Los Angeles :2013

[VernonGersch]

With The Pantages season recently announced, wondering what the Ahmanson has up her sleeve for the upcoming season.

They've already announced the touring version of Anything Goes (can't wait to see that again, no matter who is in the cast - would be so excited if it was Stephanie J Block)

Other thoughts for the new season - maybe CTG partners with "an upcoming musical" something like Yank or the revival of Kiss Of The Spider Man - or brings the Steppenwolf's Detroit from the National Theater in London.

Or a fantastic revival that orginates on the Ahmanson stage...a la Funny Girl

I wonder what the mechanics are that the touring productions of Billy Elliot, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert and Sister Act are all hitting the Pantages and not The Ahmanson. Anyone care to lend some insight?

Will say that so far this has been a great season - Bring It On, Fela, American Idiot and Follies...

[rosscoe(au)]

Saw Bring It On and forgot about ten minutes later, looking forward to Follies. Any chance that Funny Girl might be back on with a new star?

I would love them to bring the full Boadway cast of The Best Man in. Wishful thinking on my part...

[Goggles]

I hope they have something up their sleeve! I wasn't too impressed with the Pantages line up.
this season at the Ahmanson has been awesome! I am doing a two show day in a couple of weeks. I have a tix for waiting for godot and then American idiot in the evening :)
I basically should be signing my paychecks over to CTGLA haha

[Wildcard]

The only other touring show out there is Flashdance. Possibly How to Succeed and Evita. Would love it if Matilda stopped in LA first before NY.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Well, Anything Goes and a return of Mary Poppins in August are scheduled. It's possible that H2$ could come in, if they decide to tour. I'm not really sure what else is touring, but maybe there might be some return engagements, and (I would hate for them to stoop this low) there's still Flashdance.

[tourboi]

Those shows hitting the Pantages have less to do with mechanics and more to do with the presenter (IE Broadway LA) beating out the competition (Center Theatre Group) on bids and price offers.

Also, at least with Priscilla, it's produced by James Nederlander, who owns Broadway LA. So it was a natural for him to put it in his own presenting season there.

[BroadwayBaby6]

I find it hard to believe that the Ahmanson will book FLASHDANCE unless they're absolutely desperate to fill a slot. Despite the show's London director and choreographer getting replaced by the fantastic Sergio Trujillo, there's only so much that can be done with the godawful material.

I am guessing that the Ahmanson will book the last leg of the Scottsboro Boys mini-tour (so far hitting San Diego and San Francisco). I expect at least one pre-Broadway musical and at least one play with a "big name".

As for Anything Goes, I anticipate Stephanie will most likely be touring with the show.

[rosscoe(au)]

Of course I would wet myself if Evita was to tour, have been waiting since 1981 to finally see a production of this show. Sadly It's not the Hal Prince production.

[emo_geek]

When does the Ahmanson usually announce? When did they announce last year?

[RemlapLBC]

CTG's website says they will annouce in March 2012, so this month.

I wondered why the Scottsboro boys said SD & SF and skipped LA. It would be a great to see.

[VernonGersch]

Really curious - as a subscriber to The Ahmanson - what in fact they'll announce...
and if anything will be a pre-Broadway tryout

For the record, cannot fathom how they can book MARY POPPINS again (granted its not part of the subscription series) after it JUST played at the Ahmanson a few years ago..

hey, whatever can line their wallets to ensure excellent theater choices for the new season is just fine with me - i am more than impressed with this current season

[Goggles]

For the record, cannot fathom how they can book MARY POPPINS again (granted its not part of the subscription series) after it JUST played at the Ahmanson a few years ago..

the same way that The Pantages booked Beauty and the Beast again!

[aasjb4ever]

Well here in Philadelphia, they just booked the Les Mis and Wicked tours AGAIN, Les Mis played here in jan 2011 and Wicked was here Jan 2010, so they wasted no time re booking these tours.

[TheHappyPhantom]

Hopefully they won't bring back such pointless crap as Bring it On. Anything Goes and American Idiot are bad enough. I'd love to see them get back to their roots and bring us some more hard hitting stuff. I'm going to opening night of Follies, maybe it'll be announced by then.

[someone.else's.story2]

I am double crossing my fingers that we'll get Evita.

Agree that they keep bringing the same crap back to the Pantages...over and over and over again.

[chrisampm2]

TheHappyPhantom, please cite the Ahmanson's storied history of hard-hitting productions. This is the theatre that housed Phantom for years as you must know and made a home for Charlton Heston's string of star-vehicles in its first years. American Idiot is actually a bit of risk for them, as it doesn't jibe with the subscribers' sensitive ears. I've rarely seen more walkouts at an opening night.

[VernonGersch]

they should be announcing soon, right?

I'd imagine that besides ANYTHING GOES - what else???

[BroadwayBaby6]

I definitely can see the Ahmanson getting an H2$ revival tour. It would do very well with their subscribers (most of whom probably are old enough to have seen Robert Morse in the original). Since the Pantages seems to have gotten all the other big touring shows, I'm sure they're scrambling to get a couple of pre-Broadway shows. I don't see them getting Matilda because a hit show like Matilda should have no problems transferring directly from London to Broadway without having to stop in LA.

[rosscoe(au)]

They must be getting close to announcing this season, yes?

[jwsel]

@chrisampm2, you never saw The Black Rider at the Ahmanson. Most of the audience was gone by intermission. I can't imagine walkouts at American Idiot were anything like that. In fact, I went last night and didn't see many people leave early.

I do think the Ahmanson has been playing it pretty safe for the past few years. (I think the abject failure of Black Rider led to some of this.) But it also has taken some risks booking shows like Drowsy Chaperone (pre-Broadway and entirely unknown at the time), Caroline, or Change (which was not considered particularly successful on Broadway), Dead End, Edward Scissorhands and other Matthew Bourne productions, and several productions from Peter Hall's company. I also think the Ahmanson has been able to play things more safe these days because CTG has added the Kirk Douglas to the Taper as a venue for plays.

[Wildcard]

I wouldn't be surprised if The Lion King was one of the shows given that the exclusive west coast Las Vegas production is now closed.

[Claudia Draper]

Why not SPIDERMAN ?

[chrisampm2]

jwsel, I did see Black Rider and loved it. That was 6 years ago and, you're right, its failure seems to have scared Ritchie off of testing his subscribers' sensibilities too much too often. While there have been some risks, which you cite, I'd call only Caroline or Change hard-hitting. Drowsy was untested but it's a lapcat of a musical.

[BroadwayBaby6]

Let's not forget the pre-Broadway tryouts of shows such as Drowsy Chaperone and Curtains get "enhancement money" from commercial producers. Staging a pre-Broadway run of a show isn't usually a big risk.

[chrisampm2]

Theaters like the Ahmanson depend on keeping their subscribers happy so they'll re-up for the next season. So, even if enhancement money limits the financial downside of that one production, the untested show risks alienating their base if the show's a stinker. The "light musical comedy" nature of most of their tryouts usually just risks being tepid, but still it's not the most safe strategy in the theater world.