(Graphic courtesy the Straz Center)
TAMPA | The Straz Center for the Performing Arts announced its 2024-25 Broadway season March 15, nine shows with a world premiere plus special encore engagements.
The season officially begins with the Nov. 12-17 run of “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical.” The “record-setting Broadway holiday sensation … helps remind us of the true meaning of the holiday season,” its synopsis notes.
“Some Like it Hot” follows Dec. 10-15, featuring a book co-written by “Red, White & Royal Blue” director Matthew López based off of the 1959 Marilyn Monroe film. The New York Times called it a “super-sized, all-out song-and-dance spectacular!”
Jukebox musicals will subsequently kick off 2025. “The Cher Show,” celebrating the LGBTQ+ icon’s music and life, will play Jan. 14-19, 2025; “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical” will play Feb. 11-16, 2025 and the Michael Jackson-inspired “MJ the Musical” follows Feb. 25-March 2, 2025.
A three-week engagement of “Disney’s The Lion King” will then play April 2-20, the celebrated musical based off of the 1994 animated feature. “There is simply nothing else like ‘The Lion King,’” the synopsis says.
“Mystic Pizza” will play April 29-May 4, a new musical based off of the 1988 Julia Roberts film. It features 80s and 90s hits. “Shucked” will play June 3-8, which made headlines throughout its Broadway run for its LGBTQ+ inclusion.
The season will also feature the world premiere of “The Boy Who Loved Batman,” billed as an inspirational comedy Oct. 1-Nov. 10. The beginning of next year will include encore engagements of “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations” Jan. 3-5, 2025 and “MAMMA MIA!” Jan. 28-Feb.2, 2025.
“The process of curating the 2024-2025 Bank of America at the Straz season has been thrilling, challenging and artistically rewarding,” Straz Center President and CEO Greg Holland said in a statement.
“The season brings a renewed focus on new works with the Straz Center’s production of a world-premiere play, ‘The Boy Who Loved Batman’ and the new musical, ‘Mystic Pizza,’” he continued. “The capstone of this new season is, of course, ‘The Lion King,’ which makes its first return to the Straz in nearly a decade for a breathtaking three-week engagement.”
View a synopsis of each production below, presented in chronological order, courtesy of the Straz Center:
“The Boy Who Loved Batman” | Oct. 1-Nov. 10 (World Premiere)
Based on a true story, The Boy Who Loved Batman is an inspirational comedy about one man’s vision that became a national phenomenon. It’s a crazy journey that goes from New Jersey to Hollywood, comic books to the silver screen. Every hero needs a hero, even Batman.
“Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical” | Nov. 12-17
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical is the record-setting Broadway holiday sensation which features the hit songs “You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch” and “Welcome Christmas” from the original animated special. Max the Dog narrates as the mean and scheming Grinch, whose heart is “two sizes too small,” decides to steal Christmas away from the holiday loving Whos. Magnificent sets and costumes inspired by Dr. Seuss’ original illustrations help transport audiences to the whimsical world of Whoville and helps remind us of the true meaning of the holiday season. Don’t miss what The New York Times calls “an extraordinary performance! 100 times better than any bedtime story.”
“Some Like it Hot” | Dec. 10-15
Winner of four Tony Awards®, including Best Choreography and Best Costumes, and the Grammy Award® for Best Musical Theater Album, Some Like it Hot is “A super-sized, all-out song-and-dance spectacular!” – The New York Times. Set in Chicago when Prohibition has everyone thirsty for a little excitement, Some Like it Hot is the “glorious, big, high-kicking” (Associated Press) story of two musicians forced to flee the Windy City after witnessing a mob hit. With gangsters hot on their heels, they catch a cross-country train for the life-chasing, life-changing trip of a lifetime.
“Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations” (Broadway Encore) | Jan. 3-5, 2025
Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations returns to the Straz by popular demand. It’s the electrifying smash-hit Broadway musical that follows The Temptations’ extraordinary journey from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, set to the beat of the group’s treasured hits, including “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” “Get Ready,” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and so many more!
“The Cher Show” | Jan. 14-19, 2025
Superstars come and go. Cher is forever. For six straight decades, only one unstoppable force has flat-out dominated popular culture ¬¬¬– breaking down barriers, pushing boundaries and letting nothing and no one stand in her way. The Cher Show is the Tony Award®-winning musical of her story, and it’s packed with so much Cher that it takes three women to play her: the kid starting out, the glam pop star and the icon. The Cher Show is 35 smash hits, six decades of stardom, two rock-star husbands, a Grammy®, an Oscar®, an Emmy® and enough Tony Award-winning Bob Mackie gowns to cause a sequin shortage in New York City, all in one unabashedly fabulous new musical that will have audiences dancing in the aisles!
“MAMMA MIA!” (Broadway Encore) | Jan. 28-Feb. 2, 2025
A mother. A daughter. 3 possible dads. And a trip down the aisle you’ll never forget!
Set on a Greek island paradise where the sun always shines, a tale of love, friendship, and identity is beautifully told through the timeless hits of ABBA. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter’s quest to discover the father she’s never known brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited decades ago.
For nearly 25 years, people all around the world have fallen in love with the characters, the story and the music that make MAMMA MIA! the ultimate feel-good show.
“A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical” | Feb. 11-16, 2025
Created in collaboration with Neil Diamond himself, A Beautiful Noise is the uplifting true story of how a kid from Brooklyn became a chartbusting, show-stopping American rock icon. With 120 million albums sold, a catalogue of classics like “America,” “Forever in Blue Jeans” and “Sweet Caroline,” an induction into the Songwriters and Rock & Roll Halls of Fame, a Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award and sold-out concerts around the world that made him bigger than Elvis, Neil Diamond’s story was made to shine on Broadway – and head out on the road across America.
Like Jersey Boys and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical before it, A Beautiful Noise is an inspiring, exhilarating, energy-filled musical memoir, that tells the untold true story of how America’s greatest hitmaker became a star, set to the songs that defined his career.
“MJ the Musical” | Feb. 25-March 2, 2025
He is one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Now, Michael Jackson’s unique and unparalleled artistry comes to Tampa as MJ the Musical, the multi-Tony Award®-winning new musical centered around the making of the 1992 Dangerous World Tour, begins a tour of its own. Created by Tony Award-winning director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, MJ goes beyond the singular moves and signature sound of the star, offering a rare look at the creative mind and collaborative spirit that catapulted Michael Jackson into legendary status.
“Disney’s The Lion King” | April 2-20, 2025
More than 100 million people around the world have experienced the phenomenon of Disney’s The Lion King, and now you can, too, when Tampa’s best-loved musical returns to the Straz Center. Winner of six Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, this landmark musical event brings together one of the most imaginative creative teams on Broadway. Tony Award-winning director Julie Taymor brings to life a story filled with hope and adventure set against an amazing backdrop of stunning visuals. The Lion King also features some of Broadway’s most recognizable music, crafted by Tony Award-winning artists Elton John and Tim Rice. There is simply nothing else like The Lion King.
“Mystic Pizza” | April 29-May 4, 2025
Based on the beloved 1988 MGM rom-com that launched the career of Julia Roberts, Mystic Pizza is a new musical about three working-class girls who navigate the complexities of life, love and family in a small-town pizza joint serving everyone from the townies to the privileged country club set. And what’s in that secret sauce, you ask? The hits of the ‘80s and ‘90s! The hit songs range from “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” to “Hold On” to “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.”
“Shucked” | June 3-8, 2025
Shucked is the Tony Award®–winning musical comedy The Wall Street Journal calls “flat out hilarious!” And nobody knows funny like economists. Featuring a book by Tony Award winner Robert Horn (Tootsie), a score by the Grammy® Award–winning songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally (Kacey Musgraves’ “Follow Your Arrow”) and directed by Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien (Hairspray), this corn-fed, corn-bred American musical is sure to satisfy your appetite for great musical theater.
Straz Center season ticket renewals and new subscriptions will be available beginning April 2 and individual tickets will go on sale at later dates. For more information, visit StrazCenter.org.
