ABOVE: “Hadestown,” photo by Matthew Murphy, “Hamilton” and “Wicked” photos by Joan Marcus, courtesy the Straz.
TAMPA | The Straz Center for the Performing Arts announced its 2020-2021 Broadway season Feb. 7, detailing a wide array of new and returning fan favorite productions.
“We have a tremendous season ahead, truly a remarkable line-up of fantastic shows,” Straz Center President and CEO Judy Lisi said in a statement. “When we say the best of Broadway, we mean it.”
In addition to the Straz’s eight-show Broadway series, which includes heavily-acclaimed hits like “Hadestown” and “The Prom,” the Straz will present return engagements of “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Hamilton” and “Wicked.”
“The 2020-2021 season has brand-new hit shows that really electrified New York,” Lisi said. “Plus, we’re bringing several shows that are on people’s all-time-favorites list. The mix represents all that the musical can accomplish: from quieter, more thought-provoking stories to the rafter-shaking spectacle of blockbusters. This season will be a very interesting emotional ride for our Broadway audiences.”
The full schedule of new and returning favorites, with details about each production, can be found below via the Straz:
“To Kill a Mockingbird” | Oct. 6-11, 2020
Emmy Award winner Richard Thomas will star as Atticus Finch.
All rise for Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork. The New York Times Critic’s Pick “To Kill a Mockingbird” is “the most successful American play in Broadway history. (60 Minutes). New York Magazine calls it “a real phenomenon. Majestic and incandescent, it’s filled with breath and nuance and soul.” With direction by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, “To Kill a Mockingbird” – “the greatest novel of all time” (Chicago Tribune) – has quickly become “one of the greatest plays in history” (NPR).
“Escape to Margaritaville” | Oct. 27-Nov. 1, 2020
Welcome to Margaritaville, where people come to get away from it all – and stay to find something they never expected. With a book by Emmy Award winner Greg Garcia (“My Name is Earl,” “Raising Hope”) and Emmy Award nominee Mike O’Malley (“Survivors Remorse,” “Shameless”) Escape to Margaritaville is the musical comedy featuring both original songs and your most-loved Jimmy Buffett classics, including “Fins,” “Volcano,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and many more. USA Today calls it “A little slice of paradise!” and Entertainment Weekly raves, “It will knock your flip-flops off!” So, don’t let the party start without you.
“Tootsie” | Nov. 17-22, 2020
Call it “musical comedy heaven” (Rolling Stone). Call it “the most uproarious new musical in years!” (The Hollywood Reporter). Call it “Tootsie!” This laugh-out-loud love letter to the theatre tells the story of Michael Dorsey, a talented but difficult actor who struggles to find work until one show-stopping act of desperation lands him the role of a lifetime. Featuring a hilarious Tony-winning book by Robert Horn and an outrageously clever score by 2018 Tony winner David Yazbek (“The Band’s Visit,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”), this New York Times Critic’s Pick is “a joyful delight” (The Washington Post) that’s “so packed with punchlines, it should be called a jokebox musical!” (Bloomberg). “In these turbulent times, when the world seems out of balance, we need a place to let the good times roll,” raves Rolling Stone. “Tootsie is it!”
“Hadestown” | Dec. 1-6, 2020
Come see how the world could be.
Welcome to “Hadestown,” where a song can change your fate. Winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, this acclaimed new show by celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and innovative director Rachel Chavkin (“Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812”) is a love story for today … and always.
Intertwining two mythic tales – that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone – “Hadestown” is a haunting and hopeful theatrical experience that grabs you and never lets go.
“The Band’s Visit” | Dec. 29, 2020 – Jan. 3, 2021
The critically acclaimed smash-hit Broadway musical “The Band’s Visit” is the winner of 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, making it one of the most Tony-winning musicals in history. It is also a Grammy Award winner for Best Musical Theater Album.
With a score that seduces your soul and sweeps you off your feet, and featuring thrillingly talented onstage musicians, “The Band’s Visit” rejoices in the way music makes us laugh, makes us cry, and ultimately, brings us together.
“Wicked” | Jan. 13-31, 2021
“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 girl, 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.”
With a thrilling score that includes the hits “Defying Gravity,” “Popular” and “For Good,” Wicked has been hailed by The New York Times as “the defining musical of the decade.” Time cheers, “if every musical had the brain, the heart, and the courage of Wicked, Broadway really would be a magical place.”
“The Prom” | Feb. 9-14, 2021
Everyone’s invited to the joyous Broadway hit that New York Magazine calls “smart and big-hearted” and The New York Times declares it “makes you believe in musical comedy again!” “The Prom” is a new musical comedy about big Broadway stars on a mission to change the world and a love that unites them all.
Variety raves, “It’s so full of happiness that you think your heart is about to burst.” And The Hollywood Reporter cheers, “It’s comic gold!” You belong at “The Prom!”
“Shear Madness” | Feb. 16-April 4, 2021
Tampa is known for its shenanigans – which makes it the perfect setting for “Shear Madness,” the screwball hair-salon-whodunit that everybody loves. Audiences figure out the crime by following the clues and even questioning the suspects. Clues change every night, so audiences never know who the murderer will be until the end of the show. Seen by more than 12.5 million people worldwide, Shear Madness is the wash-and-go criminal caper that delivers the perfect cut every time.
“Dear Evan Hansen” | March 23-28, 2021
A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he’s always wanted: a chance to finally fit in. “Dear Evan Hansen” is the deeply personal and profoundly contemporary musical about life and the way we live it.
“One of the most remarkable shows in musical theater history,” says The Washington Post. Rolling Stone calls “Dear Evan Hansen,” “a game-changer that hits you like a shot in the heart” and NBC News raves “an inspiring anthem resonating on Broadway and beyond.”
“Dear Evan Hansen” features a book by Tony Award winner Steven Levenson, a score by Academy Award and Tony Award winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and direction by four-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif.
“Cats” | April 27-May 2, 2021
“Cats,” the record-breaking musical spectacular by Andrew Lloyd Webber that has captivated audiences in more than 30 countries and 15 languages, is now on tour across North America!
Audiences and critics alike are rediscovering this beloved musical with breathtaking music, including one of the most treasured songs in musical theater – “Memory.” Winner of seven Tony Awards® including Best Musical, Cats tells the story of one magical night when an extraordinary tribe of cats gathers for its annual ball to rejoice and decide which cat will be reborn. The original score by Andrew Lloyd Webber (“The Phantom of the Opera,” “School of Rock,” “Sunset Boulevard”), original scenic and costume design by John Napier (“Les Misérables”), all-new lighting design by Natasha Katz (“Aladdin”), all-new sound design by Mick Potter, new choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler (“Hamilton”) based on the original choreography by Gillian Lynne (“Phantom”) and direction by Trevor Nunn (“Les Misérables”) make this production a new Cats for a new generation!
“Hamilton” | June 1-27, 2021
“Hamilton” is the story of America then, told by America now. Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway, hamilton has taken the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton and created a revolutionary moment in theatre – a musical that has had a profound impact on culture, politics, and education.
With book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, and musical supervision and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton is based on Ron Chernow’s acclaimed biography. It has won Tony, Grammy and Olivier Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and an unprecedented special citation from the Kennedy Center Honors.
For more information about the Straz Center, becoming a season ticket holder or forthcoming but as of yet unannounced individual ticket sales, visit StrazCenter.org.
