Musical Theatre West will continue its tradition of presenting Broadway’s best on the West Coast with four shows during its 2015-2016 season. Lerner and Loewe’s Tony Award-winning musical My Fair Lady, to run October 23 through November 8, 2015 will open the season with a sentimental pang. Just in time for Valentine’s Day the beloved tale of star-crossed lovers, West Side Story will take the stage February 12 through 28, 2016.
The outrageously entertaining singing nuns of Sister Act will have you on your feet come April 8, 2016. Then MTW will transport audiences to the French Riviera for high jinks and hilarity via two Dirty Rotten Scoundrels July 8 through the 23, 2016.
Below are the full details and descriptions of each performance this season, provided by Musical Theatre West.
MY FAIR LADY | October 23-November 8, 2015
When Professor Henry Higgins bets he can transform Cockney guttersnipe Eliza Doolittle into a proper English lady, he gets far more than he wagered for in Lerner and Loewe’s Tony Award-winning musical. Based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, My Fair Lady set Broadway records when it premiered in 1956.
The show went on to become the longest running musical of its time, sweeping the Tony Awards with nine nominations and five top honors. The Original Cast Recording spent more than 300 weeks on the charts, with a collection of delectable and memorable songs, from I Could Have Danced All Night, Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?, and Get Me to the Church On Time, to everyone’s favorite lesson in diction, The Rain in Spain. In 1964, the big screen adaptation, starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, earned seven Academy Awards, including “Best Picture,” bringing a new dimension to the treasured classic for audiences to enjoy.
WEST SIDE STORY | February 12-28, 2016
From the first notes to the final breath, West Side Story remains a musical masterpiece. Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Laurents, and Jerome Robbins, among the greatest artists of their day, collaborated to create the tour-de-force musical, a 20th century retelling of Romeo and Juliet. The world’s greatest love story takes to the streets of New York, circa 1950s, as two young idealistic lovers find themselves caught between warring gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. Their struggle to survive in a world of hate, violence and prejudice is one of the most innovative, heart-wrenching and relevant musical dramas. The 1961 film adaptation earned a triumphant 10 Academy Awards, making it the most-awarded musical film of all time. Bernstein and Sondheim’s score is considered one of Broadway’s finest, with songs of hope, love, and the harsh realities of life, including Somewhere, America, Maria, Tonight and I Feel Pretty.
SISTER ACT | April 8-24, 2016
Sister Act is Broadway’s habit-forming musical comedy smash that will make you jump for joy! When wannabe disco diva Deloris Van Cartier witnesses a crime, the cops hide her in the last place anyone would think to look—a convent! Under the suspicious watch of Mother Superior, Deloris helps her fellow sisters find their voices as she unexpectedly rediscovers her own. Based on the hit 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg, this uplifting musical was nominated for five Tony Awards including “Best Musical,” “Best Book of a Musical” for Cheri and Bill Steinkellner and Douglas Carter Beane, and “Best Original Score” for Tony and eight-time Oscar winner Alan Menken (Newsies, Beauty And The Beast, Little Shop Of Horrors) and Tony-nominated Glenn Slater (Tangled, The Little Mermaid). Filled with powerful gospel music, outrageous dancing and a truly moving story, Sister Act will have you dancing in the aisles!
DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS | July 8-24, 2016
The con is on! From the composer/lyricist of The Full Monty comes this hilarious, and often risqué musical based on the Steve Martin and Michael Caine film. Two con artists working on the French Riviera decide that the first to swindle “America’s Soap Queen” out of $50,000 can stay in town and the loser has to beat feet. Brilliantly crafted by David Yazbek and Jeffrey Lane, the show earned 11 Tony Award nominations, including “Best Musical,” “Best Book,” and “Best Score.”
The box office will open for the best seats, least expensive package deals and single tickets sales on Wednesday, September 16 at 12:00PM. Click here, or call 562.856.1999, ext. 4 to save your spot. Tickets start at $20.