Theatre News and Reviews

Who needs New York when Broadway-bound shows play San Francisco first? The 2005-06 Best of Broadway season announced by producers Carole Shorenstein Hays and Scott E. Nederlander features four high-profile pre- Broadway tryouts.

World premieres of “Lestat,” an Elton John musical based on the novels of Anne Rice, and “Ring of Fire,” a theatrical portrait of “the music and soul” of Johnny Cash, lead the see-it-here-first bill. Best of Broadway ticket buyers will also get a fresh look at Conor McPherson’s “Shining City” when it receives its American premiere here this fall. The previously announced revival of “A Chorus Line,” due in the summer of 2006, completes the season’s pre-Broadway quartet. All four tryout shows are scheduled for the Curran Theatre and are expected to move directly on to Broadway.

Familiar titles fill out the schedule. British choreographer Matthew Bourne brings his 1995 all-male “Swan Lake” to the Orpheum Theatre in spring 2006. “Wicked,” the “Wizard of Oz” prequel musical, which had its pre-Broadway run here in 2003, opens the new season this summer. A reprise of another Curran world premiere, “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas,” follows in the fall. Both shows get a change of venue this time, from the Curran to the Orpheum. A revival of “Annie” at the Golden Gate Theatre and a clown piece at the Curran, “Slava’s Snowshow,” round out the season. Aside from the eponymous Slava, no casting was announced.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 2nd, 2005 at 6:19 am and is filed under Theatre, Broadway. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.