Broadway travels West in the 2018-19 Hollywood Pantages Theatre season, with seven major musical productions, including the record-breaking revival of Hello, Dolly!, scheduled to hit the historic stage at the corner of Hollywood and Vine.
The season will kick off Nov. 6-25 with A Bronx Tale, the new musical adapted by Chazz Palminteri from his colorful 1960s childhood memoir, with songs by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater. Co-directed by Robert De Niro (who helmed the 1993 screen version) and stage veteran Jerry Zaks, the show has been running on Broadway since November 2016.
Zaks also directed the four-time Tony Award-winning revival of Hello, Dolly! The lovingly staged return to Broadway’s Golden Age has been playing to packed houses at New York’s Shubert Theatre since March 15 last year, grossing a staggering $91.9 million to date. Original leads Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce recently departed the production to make way for Bernadette Peters and Victor Garber.
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No casting has been announced for the Pantages run, Jan. 29-Feb. 17, 2019. However, given that Midler followed her last Broadway engagement, starring as Sue Mengers in John Logan’s single-character play I’ll Eat You Last, by reprising the role in Los Angeles, fans can only hope she might be coaxed to do the same with Dolly Gallagher Levi.
Next up in the season is Cats, the 1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber blockbuster, staged by original director Trevor Nunn with updated choreography by Hamilton Tony winner Andy Blankenbuehler. The T.S. Eliot-inspired musical runs Feb. 26-March 24.
Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory follows, with Jack O’Brien directing a musical that combines new songs by the Hairspray team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman with classic tunes from the beloved 1971 Gene Wilder movie. That show runs March 27-April 14.
Director Bartlett Sher’s lauded Broadway revivals of South Pacific and The King and I have yielded popular touring productions in recent years. He follows April 16-May 5 with a fresh take on Fiddler on the Roof, which draws out connections between the classic show’s setting in early 20th century Russia and the enduring theme of forced emigration in the contemporary world.
Rounding out the Pantages season are two 1980s commercial behemoths from the composing team of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, both in newly reimagined productions. First up is Les Miserables, playing May 7-June 2, followed by Miss Saigon, running July 16-Aug. 11.
Season ticket packages for the lineup are available at HollywoodPantages.com.
