Broadway in Austin Announces 2024-25 Season
Corn, kindness, and the boy who never grew up come to the Bass
By Richard Whittaker, 8:30PM, Tue. Mar. 5, 2024
The best of Broadway keeps making its way to Austin, with Texas Performing Arts announcing the titles for its 2024-25 Broadway in Austin season at the Bass Concert Hall. The schedule is filled with beloved classics like Hamilton and Funny Girl, and red hot new smashes like MJ and Shucked.
Season ticket holders can now get access to some of the best that Broadway has to offer, starting in the fall: MJ (Oct. 8-13), Shucked (Nov. 12-17), Peter Pan (Dec. 10-15), Clue (Jan. 14-19, 2025), Funny Girl (March 4-9, 2025), and Moulin Rouge! The Musical (May 13-25, 2025). Season ticket holders will be able to turn their six pack into seven with the return of Hamilton (March 25-April 7, 2025), and they get first dibs on tickets for Come From Away (Jan. 4-5, 2025) and Les Misérables (Feb. 4-9).
Broadway in Austin isn't the only programming done by Texas Performing Arts at the Bass Concert Hall. Just last week, the city's largest theatre was packed with grade schoolers for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. "It was just remarkable," said Bob Bursey, Texas Performing Arts Executive and Artistic Director. Yet being able to host some of the biggest touring productions of some of the most massive Broadway hits is a real feather in the team's cap. It's a massive endeavor, between scheduling and making sure the venue can provide what the productions need. "The practicalities are certainly part of it," Bursey said, "but we're really looking for what is going to create a great season for our subscribers."
Six- and seven-ticket season packages are available now. Existing subscribers are automatically renewed, and can check out their invoice in their account before payment. New subscribers can find out about how to join at austin.broadway.com.
The 2024-25 season promises to be as exciting as the 2023-24 season, which is going out on a high note with Wicked, Girl From the North Country, and Frozen. But what of the future? "Broadway productions are so big days that we're having some conversations about some future shows that are hoping to go out on the road," Bursey said, "and we end up asking ourselves, 'Well, how will we make that work?' But we always find a way."
Of course, it helps that the Bass is the biggest stage is town, and has the capability to host large, technically demanding shows of the type that dominate Broadway today. Bursey glowed with pride. "It's incredible when it's full, as it so often is."
MJ
Oct. 8-13
Sometimes you look at a story and think, how can they turn this into a musical? When MJ made a juke box musical about Michael Jackson, the question was more like "why hasn't this happened before?" The book by Lynn Nottage takes a peek into the rehearsal studios for the 1992 Dangerous World Tour, with choreography by Christopher Wheeldon getting the feel of developing those iconic dance moves. And, of course, a soundtrack drawn from that legendary and massive Jackson discography.
"I got to see it back in the spring," Bursey said, "and I was really impressed by how many people were drawn to it from around the world. It really reminded me that MJ is truly a global sensation, and his music transcends all kinds of geographic and cultural and political boundaries."
Shucked
Nov. 12-17
Who would expect a show inspired by Hee Haw to be the toast of Broadway? Yet the musical exploits of the corn-living residents of Cob County and their moonshinin' ways made for an unexpected smash when it lead the way after the Great White reopened post-lockdown. With book by Robert Horn (Tootsie, Hercules) and music by Nashville mainstays Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark, it's a tongue-in-cheek tale of love among the corn rows. Having only just wrapped up on its Broadway run in January, now Shucked departs New York with a Tony win and two Drama Desk Awards in its luggage.
Peter Pan
Dec. 10–15
Nothing says Christmas theatre like J.M. Barrie's tale of a the boy who never grew up, whether it be the original 1904 play (still a fixture of the British stage) or Jerome Robbins' 1954 musical. Now it'll be part of Austin's yuletide, with this adaptation of the Robbins' version by playwright Larissa FastHorse, directed by Lonny Price and with choreography by Lorin Latarro.
Come From Away
Jan. 4-5, 2025
It's a short trip to town for Irene Sankoff and David Hein's true-life tale of an unexpected diversion. On September 11, 2001, the small Canadian town of Gander (pop. 11,000) suddenly took in 7,000 guests as 38 commercial flights were grounded after the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. The Tony- and Olivier-winning musical is now on tour, a reminder of kindness in the darkness of moments.
The touching musical played Bass back in 2020, the last Broadway in Austin show before another catastrophe, the pandemic, darkened the stage. Bursey said, "When I realized that they had that slot in the beginning of January available, I thought, gosh, what a great way to welcome the new year. The music is beautiful, it has great performances in it, and the story continues to be really relevant."
Clue
Jan. 14–19, 2025
Not everything on Broadway is a musical – which is fortunate for Clue, since you couldn't hear the tunes over the laughter. The murderously funny farce brings the beloved 1985 movie comedy (based on Agatha Christie-loving designer Anthony E. Pratt's game Cluedo) right up to date by keeping its post-war mansion house setting.
Bursey noted that there aren't many touring plays, but last year Bass managed to secure Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird , with Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch. With the less serious Clue, he'd been pleasantly surprised by "how excited younger folks are by that. It's been really interesting how Broadway has had certain shows – Six was one, Hadestown is another – where high school kids and college age kids have been really interested in it, and Clue is one of those that we're seeing younger people being very, very drawn to."
Les Misérables
Feb 4–9, 2025
The musical that proved you can make a musical out of anything. Megaproducer Cameron Mackintosh was thought to have lost his mind when he spent years bringing to the West End the French musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg (music), and Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel (book and lyrics) based on Victor Hugo's epic novel of love and injustice. Multiple awards and revivals later (and that's on top of one of the longest Broadway runs ever), it's still a favorite.
Indeed, it's still picking up momentum after four decades of almost constant performance. Bursey said, "The tour is on the road right now, and in the cities that it's played in so far it's breaking attendance records."
Funny Girl
March 4-9, 2025
Few musicals have been as loved and as tough to restage as Isobel Lennart's retelling of the career and personal struggles of Ziegfeld girl turned variety superstar Fanny Brice. It's taken decades for anyone to feel like they could step into the shadow of Barbra Streisand's defining turn on stage and screen as Brice. But this new version, with updated book by Harvey Fierstein, has given new life to the "My Man" musical.
"People are starting to appreciate it as one of the greatest musical scores of all time, and the classic songs that are in it," Bursey said. It's also another show that's found a younger audience, courtesy of Lea Michele's headlining turn in the most recent Broadway production. Plus, there's a strong local connection as the lighting designer is four-time Tony winner and UT alum Tony Adams. "He's a really wonderful theatre artist and a great person."
Hamilton
March 25-April 6, 2025
Is there anyone who hasn't seen Hamilton yet? Does it matter? After headlining the Broadway in Austin season with a sellout run in 2019 and a triumphant return in 2021, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony-, Grammy-, and Pulitzer-winning modern classic makes Austin's biggest stage the room where it happens once again.
"It's a show that, to me, deserves repeat viewings easily," said Bursey. "Not only because of the history and the legacy and the impact that it had, but it's just an incredible show. I'm thrilled that we're able to bring it back."
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
May 13-25, 2025
The stage version of Baz Luhrmann's juke box musical movie has become the modern musical, with ongoing productions in New York, London, and Cologne, as well as a touring version on the road. With a book by John Logan; music supervision, orchestrations, and arrangements by Justin Levine; and choreography by Sonya Tayeh, this spectacular adaptation took the original film and made it even wilder and more magical, bringing the story of doomed lovers Satine and Christian in Belle Epoque France to stages around the nation.
As the epitome of Broadway razzle dazzle, it's hard to imagine a better capper for the season. Bursey said, "It's all about the spectacle, and Baz Luhrmann's film being brought to life. It's an extravaganza. It's romance and excess and all of the theatrical magic."
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Broadway in Austin, Texas Performing Arts, MJ, Shucked, Peter Pan, Come From Away, Les Miserables, Hamilton, Funny Girl, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
