BROADWAY IN HOUSTON
Announces
The 2001 - 2002 Season
The 2001 - 2002 Broadway in Houston Season raises the curtain on a sensational Six - Show
package, which includes the Southwest premiere of Disney’s THE LION KING, Pulitzer Prize Winning PROOF
, Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC, Disney’s
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and direct from Broadway, the award - winning SWING and
CONTACT.
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CATS, Andrew Lloyd Webber's worldwide musical phenomenon, returns to Jones Hall December 25-30, 2001 as a special attraction of Broadway in Houston.
With book and lyrics based on the enchanting poems of T.S. Eliot's "Old
Possum's Book of Practical Cats" and a haunting Lloyd Webber score that
includes the hit single "Memory," this feline frolic, dubbed the "Now and Forever" musical, has become a family favorite.
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David Auburn's 2001 Award - winning play, winner also of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, centers on the relationship
between a math professor and his eccentric daughter, who has inherited both her father's genius and his mental instability.
A favorite of critics and audiences since its premiere in May 2000 at off - Broadway's Manhattan Theatre Club, PROOF transferred
to Broadway last October. Nominated for six Tony Awards, it captured that award for Best Play. The show's Broadway director,
Daniel Sullivan, also took the 2001 Tony as Best Director. His direction will be recreated for this touring production.
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With Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein and a book by Oscar Hammerstein and Joshy Logan adapted
from James A. Michener’s Tales from The South Pacific, SOUTH PACIFIC originally opened on Broadway at the Majestic
Theatre on April 7, 1949 breaking all records while making theatrical history.
It ran for 1,926 performances (5 years), making it the second longest running musical of the decade. It won the Pulitzer Prize
for drama in 1950. In addition, it won nine Tony awards including Best Musical, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award
and the Donaldson Award for Best Musical of the Season.
The original Broadway production starred Mary Martin as Nelli Forbush and Metropolitan Opera basso Ezio Pinza as Emile
de Becque. Both received Tony Awards for their performances. This was followed by an equally successful 1958 motion
picture version starring Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi.
Adapted from two short stores by James Michener, SOUTH PACIFIC chronicles two love affairs. The first involves Lt. Joe
Cable and a young Polynesian girl. The second revolves around Nellie Forbush, a Navy nurse from Little Rock, and Emile de
Becque, a French planter with whom she falls in love one enchanted evening. Rodgers and Hammerstein tied the two stories
together by having Cable and de Becque go on a dangerous mission behind Japanese lines from which only one of them
returns.
This all - new multi - million dollar production of South Pacific features such memorable song hits as: “Some Enchanted
Evening,” “This Nearly was Mine,” “Bali Hai,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of my Hair,” and “There is Nothing
Like a Dame.”
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From the producers who brought audiences THE SOUND OF MUSIC with Richard Chamberlain, SMOKEY JOE’S
CAFE and STOMP, SWING! received six Tony Award nominations: Best Musical, Best Director, Best Choreography, Best
Orchestrations and two nominations for Best Featured Actress. Directed and choreographed by Lynn Taylor - Corbett,
SWING! was also honored with nominations for Outstanding Broadway Musical and Outstanding Choreography by the
Outer Critics Circle and Best Cast Album by the Grammy Awards committee.
SWING! is a celebration of the music and dance phenomenon that swept the nation in the ‘30s and ‘40s and has returned to
become one of today’s fastest growing trends.
SWING! opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre to powerful praise for its music, its dance and its style. More than a
dance revue, SWING! crosses ethnic and cultural barriers, hi-lighting an eclectic mix of Jive, Latin Swing, West Coast Swing,
Hip-Hop Swing and Country Western Swing. It is this multi - dimensional quality of SWING! that garnered critic’s praise:
Clive Barnes of the New York Post called SWING! “A major breakthrough and the most exhilirating show in town!”
In addition to several original songs, SWING! features classic swing tunes such as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Harlem
Nocturne,” “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing),” “Jumpin at the Woodside,” “Sing, Sing, Sing!,” “Stompin at
the Savoy” and “Blues in the Night.”
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The Tony Award winning Best Musical CONTACT, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman and written by John
Weidman, took New York by storm winning every major award including the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer
Critics Circle Award and Drama League Award for Best Musical.
Three sensual stories told entirely through dance about people in the wild pursuit of love, CONTACT is performed to a wide
range of music - from Stephane Grappelli’s rendition of Rodgers & Hart’s “My Heart Stood Still,” to pieces by Grieg,
Tchaikovsky and Bizet to Robert Palmer, Dean Martin, the Beach Boys and the Squirrel Nut Zippers by a cast of 24 dancers
/ actors who captivate and seduce the audience.
When CONTACT opened last year at New York’s Lincoln Center Theater it was hailed by Time Magazine for “kicking the
dust off a tired old Broadway.”
Syndicated columnist Liz Smith called CONTACT “one of the rare absolutely perfect things I have ever seen in the theater,”
adding that “not since Bob Fosse and Michael Bennett has a choreographer - director made such an intelligent creative impact
on the American musical scene. You’ll be sitting on the edge of your seat, electrified.” And The New York Times exclaimed
that “CONTACT restores the pleasure principle to the American musical. It is that rare entertainment that leaves you floating
all the way home.”
Director - Choreographer Susan Stroman won her third Tony Award, as well as the Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Lucille
Lortel and Astaire Awards for CONTACT. Ms. Stroman won her first two Tony Awards for her choreography of the hit
Broadway musicals CRAZY FOR YOU, directed by Mike Ockrent and for director Harold Prince’s new production of the
classic musical SHOWBOAT, both of which enjoyed long runs on Broadway and on tour. Ms. Stroman’s other Broadway
credits include the musicals BIG and STEEL PIER and the annual Madison Square Garden spectacular A CHRISTMAS
CAROL.
She won London’s coveted Olivier Award for her choreography of the acclaimed Royal National Theatre production of
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s OKLAHOMA! and is also the director and choreographer of the current hit Broadway revival
of Meredith Wilson’s THE MUSIC MAN.
She has also created ballets for the recent feature film Center Stage. This season Ms. Stroman is collaborating, again as
director / choreographer with Mel Brooks on the musical version of his classic film comedy, The Producers, which opened on
Broadway in April.
Writer John Weidman wrote the books for the musicals PACIFIC OVERTURES (Tony nomination) and ASSASSINS, both
with scores by Stephen Sondheim, BIG (Tony nomination) and co - wrote the book with Timothy Crouse for Lincoln Center
Theater’s hit revivel of Cole Porter’s ANYTHING GOES. He is currently working on a new musical with Stephen Sondheim
and Harold Prince. Mr. Weidman won nine Emmy Awards for his writing for the PBS series Sesame Street.
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DISNEY’S
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
June 4 - June 9, 2002
Jones Hall
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, Broadway’s smash hit musical, will make a return engagement to Houston June 4 through
June 9, 2002 at the Jones Hall. The show made its pre - Broadway premiere and played to sold - out houses in Houston in
November / December, 1993.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST opened in April 1994 and is about to begin its eighth enchanting year on Broadway. At close
to 2,800 performances, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is Broadway’s 13th longest running musical and will soon surpass the
run of the original Broadway production of HELLO, DOLLY! In addition to the North American tour, productions of
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST are currently delighting audiences in Madrid and Stuttgart. The lavish Broadway musical
features Alan Menken’s Academy Award - winning score with Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. BEAUTY AND
THE BEAST has received 10 major awrds including the 1994 Tony Award for Costume Design, the Olivier Award (London)
for Best Musical, the Ovation Award (Los Angeles) for Best Musical and the Jefferson Award (Chicago) for Best Musical.
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 evil enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end
and he will be transformed to his former self. Time is running out. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his
household will be doomed for all eternity.
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DISNEY
Presents
July 5 - August 25, 2002
Jones Hall
THE LION KING, winner of 24 major industry awards, is bringing all its awe - inspiring pageantry of costumes, masks,
puppets, sets, lighting, special effects and magnificent musical numbers performed by an incomparable cast to Jones Hall, July
5 - August 25, 2002.
THE LION KING opened on Broadway in November 1997 and is now in its third year of sold out performances at the New
Amsterdam Theatre. THE LION KING is also playing to capacity crowds in London, Toronto, Tokyo, Fukuoka, and Los
Angeles. THE LION KING is the winner of 24 major awards: six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, eight Drama Desk
Awards, six Outer Critics Circle Awards, the New York Drama Critics Awards for Best Musical, a 1998 Theatre World
Award, the Astaire Award for Outstanding Choreography, a Drama League Award and a Grammy Award for Best Musical
Show Album. In additiona Julie Taymor made Broadway history by becoming the first woman in theatrical history to win the
Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical.
Julie Taymor, director, costume designer, and mask / puppet co - designer for THE LION KING, has always created
theater. Ms. Taymor’s fist hurdle with THE LION KING was “how to deal with a story that is all animals, but is in essence a
human story - am I going to take great actors and hide them in animal suits?” This duality between the human and animal
became the philosophy behind the costumes, masks, puppets, even the staging; the human and animal would both be seen,
and celebrated, at the same time. In all cases, the actor would be the force behind the stage music, and he or she would be
visible to the audience.
THE LION KING animated film incorporated five songs by composer Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice: hits like “The Circle
of Life,” “Can you Feel the Love Tonight?” and “Hakuna Matata.” For the stage version, more songs were needed to explore
Simba’s growth and Nala’s courage. The creative team turned to The Rhythm of the Pride Lands, a recording inspired by the
film, featuring songs by South African songwriter Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin and Hans Zimmer. The lyrics of these
soulful and evocative melodies were re-written for the stage version, but their South African sound and mood became the
foundation for a unique combination. Along with its daring design and direction, the score for THE LION KING blends
American popular music with African rhythms into a seamless and completely new whole.
Stephen Winn of The San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “The most gratifying sound of all comes from the audience, the swelling
murmur of astonishment for a spectacle that is pure theater .....THE LION KING makes its claim as a work of exuberant
theatrical imagination.” And from Jack Kroll at Newsweek, “Let it be said once that THE LION KING is a great show, not
just for the parents and kid who will flock to it, but for anyone drawn to a landmark event in American entertainment. The
Disney organization deserves credit for guts in this enterprise. It could have played it safe. Instead it chose Julie Taymor. The
result is a fusion of commerce and art sure to delight all but the stuffiest theater intellectuals, who will no doubt accuse Taymor
of selling out .....Taymor demonstrates that she's a master show man as well as a stage magician of incandescent imaginative
power....In THE LION KING all the senses come together in flashpoints that can explode....But it’s Taymor’s visual magic
that’s unprecedented in Broadway’s muscials.....Only a cosmic calamity can prevent THE LION KING from being a historic
success.....Disney has upped the ante on the resurging American musical.”
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CATHY RIGBY
Stars In
September 24 - 29, 2002
At the New Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
Olympic gymnast turned Tony - nominated musical theatre actress CATHY RIGBY will take to the road to reprise her starring Broadway role as The Cat in the Hat in the national tour of SEUSSICAL THE MUSICAL, a Houston premiere production coming September 24 - 29, 2002. This full-of-frivolity family musical ushers in the inaugural season of AT&T Wireless Broadway In Houston at the new Hobby Center for the Performing Arts.
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SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Season Tickets for the 2001 - 2002 Broadway in Houston Season go on sale today. On sale dates for
individual shows will be announced in the coming months. Renewal forms will be mailed to current Houston
Broadway Series ticket holders in April. Season tickets are available now by calling the Houston Broadway Series
Ticket Office at 713-622-SHOW (7469), Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00am - 5:00pm or online
at broadwayseries.com
Group tickets for parties of 20 or more people are on sale now for all Houston Broadway Series shows through
August 2002 at 713-693-2692. The Broadway in Houston Season is presented by the Society for the Performing Arts.