The Bushnell Announces its 2009-2010 Broadway Series
Blockbuster Broadway hits come to Hartford!
March 18, 2009 - HARTFORD, CT – The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts is thrilled to announce its 2009-2010 Broadway Series. Next season The Bushnell will once again bring the hottest Broadway titles to Hartford, with five Connecticut premieres, including Young Frankenstein, the 2008 Tony Award®-winning Best Play August: Osage County, Christmas with the Rat Pack – Live at The Sands, the winner of four 2008 Tony Awards including Best Musical and the 2008 Grammy Award® for Best Show Album, In the Heights, the 2007 Tony Award-winning Best Musical Spring Awakening, the 2008 Tony Award-winning Best Musical Revival, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific, and the 75th anniversary production of one of America’s most memorable masterpieces, Porgy and Bess .
Current subscribers will receive their renewal packages in April, and new subscriptions will be available in June – however patrons interested in new subscriptions may call the Box Office today to have their name placed on a waiting list.
The 2009-2010 Broadway Series:
Young Frankenstein
October 6-11, 2009
Mortensen Hall
The classic Mel Brooks movie is ALIVE...and it's headed here! You'll have a monstrously good time at this spectacular new production, winner of the 2008 Outer Critics Circle Award and the Broadway.com Audience Award for BEST MUSICAL! Don't miss the sensational cast delivering all your favorite moments from the classic film, plus brand-new show-stopping numbers for the stage, including "Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and “Puttin' on the Ritz." This wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Frankenstein legend follows bright young Dr. Frankenstein (that's Fronkensteen) as he attempts to create a monster - but not without scary and hilarious complications. The brains behind the laughter is mad genius and three-time Tony® Award-winner Mel Brooks himself - who wrote the music and lyrics and co-wrote the book - along with his record-breaking team from The Producers: five-time Tony®-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman and three-time Tony®-winning writer, Thomas Meehan.
August: Osage County
November 17-22, 2009
Mortensen Hall
Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony® Award for Best Play, Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s August: Osage County is a grand, gripping new play that tells the story of the Westons, a large extended clan that comes together at their rural Oklahoma homestead when the alcoholic patriarch disappears. Forced to confront unspoken truths and astonishing secrets, the family must also contend with matriarch Violet (played by Academy Award®-winner Estelle Parsons), a pill-popping, deeply unsettled woman at the center of this storm. August: Osage County is a rare theatrical event - a large-scale work filled with unforgettable characters, a powerful tale told with unflinching honesty. The New York Times cheers, “August: Osage County is flat-out, without qualification, the most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years," and Time Magazine named August: Osage County the "#1 Show of the Year!" August: Osage County is written by Tracy Letts and directed by Anna D. Shapiro.
Christmas with the Rat Pack – Live at The Sands
December 15-20, 2009
Mortensen Hall
Beat the winter blues with the holiday version of The Rat Pack Live at The Sands, especially created to heat things up for the coolest kind of holiday cheer. This spectacular show celebrates the incredible talent of three of the world’s most famous entertainers, singing some of the finest music ever recorded. Drift back to a glamorous era with Frank, Sammy & Dean, a live 15-piece big band and the fabulous Burelli Sisters. Enjoy the songs they made famous, along with seasonal favorites like “Merry Little Christmas,” “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Jingle Bells,” “Silent Night,” “Mistletoe and Holly,” “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow,” “White Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Love To Keep Me Warm,” and “Auld Lang Syne.”
In the Heights
January 5-10, 2010
Mortensen Hall
In the Heights, winner of four 2008 Tony Awards including BEST MUSICAL!, is a sensational new show about chasing your dreams and finding your true home. With an amazing cast, incredible Tony® Award-winning dancing and a thrilling Tony® Award-winning score, In the Heights is an exhilarating journey into a vibrant Manhattan community - a place where the coffee is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. Experience the next chapter of the classic American story at the most joyous, exciting and award-winning new musical on Broadway. Find out what it takes to make a living, what it costs to have a dream, and what it means to be home…In the Heights .
Spring Awakening
February 23-28, 2010
Mortensen Hall
There’s a reason you never forget your first love. Broadway's most talked about new musical is now the biggest Tony® Award winner in years. Spring Awakening is the groundbreaking fusion of morality, sexuality and rock & roll that has awakened Broadway like no other musical in years. Winner of 8 Tony Awards including BEST MUSICAL, Spring Awakening celebrates the unforgettable journey from youth to adulthood with a power, a poignancy and a passion you will never forget. We agree with The New York Times: "Broadway may never be the same again!" "HAUNTING AND ELECTRIFYING! This brave new musical has a shivery sensual allure unmatched by anything in the theatre right now." – Charles Isherwood, The New York Times "A GROUNDBREAKING JOLT OF GENIUS!" ---Clive Barnes, NY Post
South Pacific
April 20-25, 2010
Mortensen Hall
Winner of seven 2008 Tony® Awards including Best Musical Revival! “Simply Wonderful! Beguiling Theatrical Magic!” hails the New York Post for the breathtaking new production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific. A stunning reinvention produced by Lincoln Center Theater, South Pacific swept the 2008 Tony® Awards, winning seven honors including Best Musical Revival and Best Director for Bartlett Sher. Set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells the sweeping romantic story of two couples and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of war and by their own prejudices. The beloved score’s songs include “Some Enchanted Evening,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair,” “This Nearly Was Mine” and “There is Nothin’ Like a Dame.” USA Today cheers, “★★★★! Gorgeous! South Pacific doesn’t just float; it soars!”
Porgy and Bess
June 8-13, 2010
Mortensen Hall
Porgy and Bess is recognized as an American masterpiece, with a story that intertwines pride, prejudice, pathos and passion through a jazz and blues influenced score. Originally billed as a “Folk Opera,” Porgy and Bess introduced classic Gershwin songs including “Summertime,” “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” as well as magnificent and enthralling choruses that stunned music and drama critics alike at its premiere in 1935.
Ticket Information:
• Current subscribers will receive their renewal packages in the mail in April.
• If you’re not currently a subscriber and are interested in a subscription, please call The Bushnell Box Office at 860-987-5900. In June, new subscription orders will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis after all renewing subscribers have been accommodated.
• On-sale dates for individual tickets will be announced soon.
About The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts
The Bushnell is Connecticut’s premier performing arts center, hosting more than 350 events yearly, including major Broadway tours, symphony orchestras, family presentations, local arts and community events. The Bushnell is home to two theaters- the historic 2,800-seat Mortensen Hall, and the 907-seat Belding Theater, a state-of-the-art performance hall that opened in 2001. The Bushnell’s nationally recognized arts-in-education program, PARTNERS® (Partners in Arts and Education Revitalizing Schools), now in its 16th year, is a cross-community educational effort serving 15 schools in 6 districts, serving approximately 3,400 Pre-K-12 students. The Bushnell opened in January 1930 and is a non-profit organization. For more information, call The Bushnell at (860) 987-6000, The Bushnell Box Office at (860) 987-5900 or visit our website at www.bushnell.org.