2024-2025 Touring Season- Page 8

[KarenValentine'sheadband]

Posted: 4/6/24 at 12:18pm

Palm Desert's McCullam Theatre 2024/2025 announced: 

 

Come From Away 11/26 - 12/1 

 

The Book of Mormon - 1/30 - 2/1 

 

Dear Evan Hanson - 2/21 - 2/23 

 

The Simon & Garfunkel Story - 2/26 - 2/27

 

Ani't Too Proud - 3/7 -3/9 

 

Six - 3/25 - 3/30 

 

Tina - 5/9 - 5/11

Updated On: 4/6/24 at 12:18 PM

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/6/24 at 4:19pm

Come From Away at Palm Desert is from 11/26-12/1 only. One week stop. Not 11/2-12/1.

[Timon3]

Posted: 4/6/24 at 8:00pm

Nice to see Palm Springs announce, which Imsuspect is all non-equity.

So when is the Ahmanson going to announce?

[KarenValentine'sheadband]

Posted: 4/6/24 at 9:15pm

Timon3 said: "Nice to see Palm Springs announce, which Imsuspect is all non-equity.



Yes most likely. I'm a little surprised SIX went non-equity so quickly. 

 

[tourboi]

Posted: 4/6/24 at 9:58pm

I am not sure that SIX is going non-Eq. Has that been announced? It's not uncommon for mostly non-eq markets (small ones like Palm Desert or North Charleston, for example) to book one 'big' Equity show every year to anchor their season. SIX is probably their anchor this year, which makes sense. It's a full Equity show but small enough to have a guarantee they can afford to book. 

[KarenValentine'sheadband]

Posted: 4/6/24 at 10:45pm

tourboi said: "I am not sure that SIX is going non-Eq. Has that been announced? It's not uncommon for mostly non-eq markets (small ones like Palm Desert or North Charleston, for example) to book one 'big' Equity show every year to anchor their season. SIX is probably their anchor this year, which makes sense. It's a full Equity show but small enough to have a guarantee they can afford to book."

 

That make sense. Thank you. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/8/24 at 5:46pm

Chicago is getting the Beauty and the Beast anniversary tour, which I haven't really seen talked about anywhere. I'm still surprised we never got Funny Girl. 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 4/8/24 at 5:52pm

If you check Playbill's website of upcoming tours, you'll see Six is still equity. I doubt they'll go non-Equity any time soon. 

[MATTHEW SCHMIDT]

Posted: 4/8/24 at 6:18pm

Timon3 said: "Nice to see Palm Springs announce, which Imsuspect is all non-equity.

So when is the Ahmanson going to announce?"

They said in the upcoming weeks.  They announced the first show for the new season, Stephen Sondheimer's Old Friends with Bernadette Peters.

[Mac19]

Posted: 4/10/24 at 6:54pm

Pretty happy with the season announced tonight for The Peace Center in Greenville, SC! We've still got Clue, Peter Pan, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Mamma Mia left in our current season. 

The Lion King - September 11-29, 2024
& Juliet - October 15-20, 2024
A Beautiful Noise - January 14-19, 2025
Hamilton - February 4-16, 2025
Shucked - March 11-16, 2025
Moulin Rouge - April 15-27, 2025
Back to the Future - May 13-18, 2025
Some Like It Hot - June 10-15, 2025
Life of Pi - July 8-13, 2025
Kimberly Akimbo - August 5-10, 2025

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/10/24 at 6:58pm

RippedMan said: "I'm still surprised we never got Funny Girl."

it’s coming next spring

[KarenValentine'sheadband]

Posted: 4/12/24 at 5:20pm

Thousand Oaks, Ca announced their 2024/2025 season today. 

 

Clue - 11/29 - 12/1 2024

Mean Girls - 1/10 - 1/12 2025

The Book of Mormon - 2/6 - 2/9 2025

Ain't Too Proud - 3/14 - 3/16 2025

The Addams Family - 5/8 - 5/11 2025

[Musigamist]

Posted: 4/16/24 at 8:43pm

Cleveland, OH:

October: Beautiful Noise 10/8-10/27

November: Some Like it Hot 11/5-11/24

January: Pi 1/4-1/26

February: Parade 2/4-2/23

March: &Juliet 3/4-3/24

April-May: Shucked 4/22-5/11

June/July: Kimberly Akimbo 7/15-8/4

[dwirth]

Posted: 4/16/24 at 8:57pm

Musigamist said: "Cleveland, OH:

October: Beautiful Noise 10/8-10/27

November: Some Like it Hot 11/5-11/24

January: Pi 1/4-1/26

February: Parade 2/4-2/23

March: &Juliet 3/4-3/24

April-May: Shucked 4/22-5/11

June/July: Kimberly Akimbo 7/15-8/4"

As part of tonight's announcement, Cleveland's Playhouse Square confirmed they have 44,000 active season ticket holders - the most in the country for a Broadway Series.  

[inception]

Posted: 4/16/24 at 9:40pm

That's quite something - 3 weeks for each show!

I'm very curious about when Kennedy Center anounces.  I had wondered if they might get Some Like It Hot in November when I will be in Washington, but now it looks like it is playing Cleveland through that whole period.

[Timon3]

Posted: 4/17/24 at 7:09pm

Cleveland must be the biggest tour stop outside the major US cities, hence why Hamilton is doing 3 weeks and I am sure previous engagements have played longer?

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/17/24 at 7:22pm

Why does Cleveland Playhouse have so many ~active~ subscribers? Do they just have no other competition in the area?

[Musigamist]

Posted: 4/17/24 at 9:29pm

Call_me_jorge said: "Why does Cleveland Playhouse have so many ~active~ subscribers? Do they just have no other competition in the area?"

Having been based in Cleveland for a couple of years now, I can say that the support for the arts and other cultural activities are quite strong here and is seen not just at Playhouse Square, but in many other ways as well. For example, the Cleveland Orchestra is considered tops in the country and routinely sells out its 1,800 seat hall, the Cleveland Museum of Art is very impressive as well, and in additional to PSQ, there are two large regional theaters based in Cleveland (Cleveland Playhouse and Great Lakes Theater) as well as a number of medium and small-sized professional companies (DoBama Theatre, Karamu House, Beck Center), and numerous community theaters. Funding-wise, the county has a regularly renewed taxpayer approved levy to fund Cuyahoga Arts and Culture that helps support these and many other similar organizations.

Now, more to your question; these are my guess as to why:

• In the 1970s, Cleveland nearly lost all of its theaters to parking lots in the wake of economic downturn following WW2. To save the theaters from the wrecking ball (it was literally out front waiting the go ahead), a huge grassroots effort was put together to save the theaters; thousands of people got involved doing everything from donating money, to picketing, to fundraising, etc. and they were saved after months and years of work. It wasn't until 2016 that final theater was renovated, and even now all of the marquees are being replaced for the first time ever. Most of the individuals who helped with that effort are still around and are continuing to "save" the theaters by being active subscribers so that threat never happens again.
• The low cost for a subscription—7-show packages range from $175-$1000+, but that low end allows more people to become subscribers.
• A minor reason for sure, but the Connor Palace, where most of these shows play is extraordinarily decorative with spacious and well-furnished dressing rooms that have been chronicled for decades as some of the best anywhere in the country (and having seen them I would agree) making it a more pleasant experience for the performers. And now, Playhouse Square is expanding their real estate holdings again to create apartments for performers to stay in inside the complex for a discounted rate.

I don't really think a lack of competition is much of a reason given that Cleveland is two hours or less from Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Toledo which tend to get most shows for two week runs on the first year themselves, and then three hours from Detroit and Buffalo.

 

What I find most staggering is that Cleveland can support three weeks of a subscription series and an additional 5-6 one week run of non-subscription tours while also maintaining 500-person crowds at the two main regional theater companies every night (And next summer a multi-week, non subscription run of Hamilton on its third visit to Cleveland) Arts culture and pride that Cleveland is chosen to receive these performances is a huge driver and it's clearly working.

 

 

Updated On: 4/17/24 at 09:29 PM

[stoptheworld38]

Posted: 4/17/24 at 10:11pm

Burlington, VT (The Flynn)

Hadestown - 10/15 - 10/16/24 (returning to its original home state!)

Pretty Woman - 1/30 - 1/31/25

The Addams Family - 3/28 - 3/29/25

Dear Evan Hansen - 4/23 - 4/24/25

Ain't Too Proud - 6/10 - 6/11/25

 

I'm over the moon for Hadestown as it's one of my all-time favorites. My family just bought a membership this year for the first time ever to get early access to tickets when they go on sale. It'll be my 3rd (and maybe 4th if I go twice...) time seeing it following Broadway in 2021 and the first tour in 2023. Looking forward to revisiting DEH as well - yes I know it has its issues but there's also aspects of it that mean a lot to me. After seeing the 2022 tour I told myself I wouldn't go out of my way for it but would see it again if it came to me, so here we have it. Addams Family I saw a community theatre production of at the same venue shortly before I started volunteering at the company. Never seen Pretty Woman or Ain't Too Proud but will probably check them out. All in all by Burlington standards, not a bad line-up.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/17/24 at 10:18pm

Musigamist said: "Call_me_jorge said: "Why does Cleveland Playhouse have so many ~active~ subscribers? Do they just have no other competition in the area?"

Having been based in Cleveland for a couple of years now, I can say that the support for the arts and other cultural activities are quite strong here and is seen not just at Playhouse Square, but in many other ways as well. For example, the Cleveland Orchestra is considered topsin the country and routinely sells out its 1,800 seat hall, the Cleveland Museum of Art is very impressive as well, and in additional to PSQ, there are two large regional theaters based in Cleveland (Cleveland Playhouse and Great Lakes Theater) as well as a number of medium and small-sized professional companies (DoBama Theatre, Karamu House, Beck Center), and numerous community theaters. Funding-wise, the county has a regularly renewed taxpayer approved levy to fund Cuyahoga Arts and Culture that helps support these and many other similar organizations.

Now, more to your question; these are my guess as to why:

• In the 1970s, Cleveland nearly lost all of its theaters to parking lots in the wake of economic downturn following WW2. To save the theaters from the wrecking ball (it was literally out front waiting the go ahead), a huge grassroots effort was put together to save the theaters; thousands of people got involved doing everything from donating money, to picketing, to fundraising, etc. and they were saved after months and years of work. It wasn't until 2016 that final theaterwasrenovated, and even now all of the marquees are being replaced for the first time ever.Most of the individuals who helped with that effort are still around and are continuing to "save" the theaters by being active subscribers so that threat never happens again.
• The low cost for a subscription—7-show packages range from $175-$1000+, but that low end allows more people to become subscribers.
• A minor reason for sure, but the Connor Palace, where most of these shows play is extraordinarily decorative with spacious and well-furnished dressing rooms that have been chronicled for decades as some of the best anywhere in the country (and having seen them I would agree) making it a more pleasant experience for the performers. And now, Playhouse Square is expanding their real estate holdings again to create apartments for performers to stay in inside the complex for a discounted rate.

 

 

 

 

I don't really think a lack of competition is much of a reason given that Cleveland is two hours or less from Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Toledo which tend to get most shows for two week runs on the first year themselves, and then three hours from Detroit and Buffalo.



What I find most staggering is that Cleveland can support three weeks of a subscription series and an additional 5-6 one week run of non-subscription tours while also maintaining 500-person crowds at the two main regional theater companies every night (And next summer a multi-week, non subscription run of Hamilton on its third visit toCleveland) Arts culture and pride that Cleveland is chosen to receive these performances is a huge driver and it's clearly working."

 

 

 

 

Thank you for this detailed response!

[annang]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 11:25am

inception said: "I'm very curious about when Kennedy Center anounces. I had wondered if they might get Some Like It Hot in November when I will be in Washington, but now it looks like it is playing Cleveland through that whole period."

The Kennedy Center is almost always the last big venue to announce. Really for no good reason.

 

[sarcadam88]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 11:34am

Columbus, OH:

 

MJ - September 10-15, 2024

Peter Pan - January 14-19, 2025

& Juliet - February 18-23, 2025

Funny Girl - March 25-30, 2025

A Beautiful Noise - April 22-27, 2025

Kimberly Akimbo - June 3-8, 2025

Hamilton - July 8-20, 2025

 

Season options:

The Book of Mormon - October 8-13, 2024

Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical - December 3-8, 2024

[dan94]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 12:35pm

Musigamist said: "Call_me_jorge said: "Why does Cleveland Playhouse have so many ~active~ subscribers? Do they just have no other competition in the area?"

Having been based in Cleveland for a couple of years now, I can say that the support for the arts and other cultural activities are quite strong here and is seen not just at Playhouse Square, but in many other ways as well. For example, the Cleveland Orchestra is considered topsin the country and routinely sells out its 1,800 seat hall, the Cleveland Museum of Art is very impressive as well, and in additional to PSQ, there are two large regional theaters based in Cleveland (Cleveland Playhouse and Great Lakes Theater) as well as a number of medium and small-sized professional companies (DoBama Theatre, Karamu House, Beck Center), and numerous community theaters. Funding-wise, the county has a regularly renewed taxpayer approved levy to fund Cuyahoga Arts and Culture that helps support these and many other similar organizations.

• The low cost for a subscription—7-show packages range from $175-$1000+, but that low end allows more people to become subscribers."

I've been a subscriber in Cleveland for about 20 years now, my parents added me to their subscription when I was a young kid. When I started going, it was a 2 week market, and a performance that sold no tickets beyond subscribers filled about a third of the house. They turned things around, really within a span of about 7 years, through programming and price.

The houses in Cleveland are massive. The two theatres that house the subscription shows are 2700 and 3400 seats. They could not move the back of the house, so around 2006 they introduced a "Smart Seats" program that offered about 100 of the worst seats for $10 for every performance. This got a lot of people in the door. 

Also on the pricing end - tours are more expensive. The prices for these shows have started to become identical to Broadway pricing. That aforementioned $10 seat was now $60 when Doubtfire just came through. They got people in the door, prices did rise, and they were able to convert them by saying "you saw 2 shows this year. For an extra $40, you could have seen 7."

Programming - the audience base has COMPLETELY changed since I started going. The average subscriber around 2004 was a 75-80 year old couple with mobility issues. To their credit, they were able to see this wasn't sustainable and successfully pivoted to "moms and teen daughters". They slashed adult programming almost entirely in favor of shows that you could bring the whole family to. 

Bridges of Madison County never came. The 2014 Cabaret tour never came. Fela showed up, but not as part of the season. Plays like Frost/Nixon and August Osage County stopped being scheduled. Cleveland was one of 9 cities that took the original Parade tour - they stopped taking risks like that. 

There is now 1 show per season that is "risky" and not family friendly. They have a function where you can swap out of 1 show per season for one of the non-season shows. 

They are successful because this is the thing moms can take their daughters to for a relatively cheap nice night out.

PS - that 44k subscription number is reduced from the pandemic. They had 46-48k subscribers at their height. Also a Cleveland Orchestra subscriber - they are not selling out. A decently filled house anymore is about 60% sold. The Blossom season sells. Severance does not.

Updated On: 4/18/24 at 12:35 PM

[Timon3]

Posted: 4/19/24 at 7:49pm

Interesting that both Cleveland & Colombus, Ohio announcements is so close together. I looked on Wiki and Colombus is times the size of Cleveland by population - but shows run 3 times as long in the smaller Cleveland. Every show announced in the Colombus season package only run for 1 week.

Updated On: 4/19/24 at 07:49 PM

[sarcadam88]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 12:45pm

Akron, OH

 

TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL - September 24-25, 2024

DEAR EVAN HANSEN - November 12-13, 2024

HADESTOWN - February 22, 2025

COME FROM AWAY - March 25-26, 2025