The Straz Center for the Performing Arts has announced their 2022-2023 Broadway season.
The lineup includes eight shows the season hosts special return engagements of Hamilton and Wicked.
“Touring Broadway is back in Tampa in a big, big way,” said Straz Center President and CEO Judy Lisi. “We’ve got an astonishing season planned that includes audience favorites, award winners, R&B, rock & roll and a couple of shows that were originally announced for the 2020-2021 slate and postponed due to the pandemic,” she continued. “This line-up truly is the best of Broadway, and we can’t wait to share it with Tampa Bay area audiences.”
Six:
Nov. 1 – 6, 2022
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.
From Tudor Queens to Pop Princesses, the Six wives of Henry VIII take the mic to remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an exuberant celebration of 21st century girl power! This new original musical is the global sensation that everyone is losing their head over. The New York Times says Six “Totally Rules!” (Critic’s Pick) and The Washington Post hails Six as “Exactly the kind of energizing, inspirational illumination this town aches for! The Broadway season got supercharged!”
Written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss.
Hadestown:
Nov. 29 – Dec. 4, 2022
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 from 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.
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical:
Jan. 31 – Feb. 5, 2023
Her voice is undeniable. Her fire is unstoppable. Her triumph is unlike any other.
This new musical reveals a comeback story like no other – of a woman who dared to defy the bounds of racism, sexism and ageism to become the global Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Tina – The Tina Turner Musical is a celebration of resilience and an inspiration of triumph over adversity.
One of the world’s best-selling artists of all time, Tina Turner has won 12 Grammy® Awards and her live shows have been seen by millions, with more concert tickets sold than any other solo performer in music history.
Featuring her much loved songs, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical is written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall and directed by the internationally acclaimed Phyllida Lloyd.
Chicago:
Feb. 21 – 26, 2023
After more than 25 years, Chicago is still the one musical with everything that makes Broadway shimmy-shake: a universal tale of fame, fortune and all that jazz, with one show-stopping song after another and the most astonishing dancing you’ve ever seen. No wonder Chicago has been honored with six Tony Awards®, two Olivier Awards, a Grammy®, and thousands of standing ovations. You’ve got to come see why the name on everyone’s lips is still … Chicago.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird:
April 11 – 16, 2023
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). Emmy Award®-winning actor Richard Thomas will play the role of Atticus Finch in the national tour.
Ain’t Too Proud:
May 2 – 7, 2023
Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations is the electrifying new smash-hit Broadway musical that follows The Temptations’ extraordinary journey from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Nominated for 12 Tony® Awards and the winner for Best Choreography, it’s a thrilling story of brotherhood, family, loyalty and betrayal during a decade of civil unrest in America. Set to the beat of the group’s treasured hits, including “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” “Get Ready” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” Ain’t Too Proud tells the unforgettable story of the legendary quintet that Billboard magazine named the greatest R&B group of all time.
Jagged Little Pill:
May 16 – 21, 2023
Some shows you see. This show you feel.
Joy, love, heartache, strength, wisdom, catharsis, LIFE – everything we’ve been waiting to see in a Broadway show – is here in the exhilarating, fearless new musical based on Alanis Morissette’s world-changing music.
Directed by Tony Award® winner Diane Paulus (Waitress, Pippin, upcoming 1776) with a Tony-winning book by Diablo Cody (Juno) and Grammy-winning score, this electrifying production about a perfectly imperfect American family “vaults the audience to its collective feet” (The Guardian). “Redemptive, rousing and real, Jagged Little Pill stands alongside the original musicals that have sustained the best hopes of Broadway.” (The New York Times)
You live, you learn, you remember what it’s like to feel truly human … at Jagged Little Pill.
In addition to the eight-show Broadway series The Straz will present a special return engagement of Hamilton & Wicked:
Hamilton
Dec. 28, 2022 – Jan. 22, 2023
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.
Wicked
March 8 – 26, 2023
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 young woman, 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.”
From the first electrifying note to the final breathtaking moment, Wicked—the untold true story of the Witches of Oz—transfixes audiences with its wildly inventive story that USA Today cheers is “a complete triumph! An original musical that will make you laugh, cry, and think.”
Hear more about the great shows coming to The Straz Center (:49) on the Experience Tampa Bay in 10 Minutes or Less podcast. We will take you to the beach (6:04) and experience a yummy seafood restaurant in Westchase (3:24).
Written by R. Pitts
Photo Getty Royalty Free
Produced by Micaela Figueroa