nominated The 39 Steps will provide
an entertaining mix of a Hitchcock
masterpiece, a juicy spy novel and
a dash of Monty Python. Then,
in April, American Stage in the
Park will feature Monty Python’s
Spamalot. “Lovingly ripped off”
from the motion picture Monty
Python and the Holy Grail, this
show won Best Musical at the
2005 Tony Awards, and audiences
have been laughing ever since.
At the Francis Wilson Playhouse
in Clearwater, which will be
celebrating its 86th season, they
will be performing Broadway
hits such as Sweeney Todd, the
musical thriller with lyrics and
music by Stephen Sondheim and
winner of nine Tony Awards,
which will kick off the season in
September. Then, in October, you
can see The Tale of the Allergist’s
Wife, a comedy set in Manhattan.
In November, the classic drama
The Diary of Anne Frank confronts
the horror of a family living in
a new reality, as they hide from
the Nazis; and in December, the
heartwarming family treat of
The Secret Garden will bring to
life the beloved children’s novel.
Next, Neil Simon’s They’re
Playing Our Song will celebrate the
music of Marvin Hamlisch and
lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager in
January. In late February through mid-
March, the landmark Broadway musical
Oklahoma! will blend drama, comedy,
song and dance. The Tony Award
and Pulitzer Prize drama A Streetcar
Named Desire will bring Stanley, Stella
and Blanche to life in the beginning of
April; and to close their season, they
will present the musical “whodunit”
The Mystery of Edwin Drood, based on an
unfinished novel by Charles Dickens.
Stageworks Theatre in Tampa will
produce three Broadway plays this
season. In the Blood, a modern riff on
The Scarlet Letter will be on stage in
February; while, in March, they will
present the classic edge-of-your-seat
courtroom drama Inherit the Wind.
Stageworks’ last Broadway show for the
season will be Neil Simon’s Broadway
Bound in the spring.
Eight O’Clock Theatre, which is
produced at the Largo Cultural Center,
BEST OF BROADWAY
American Stage in the Park will
present Monty Python’s Spamalot.
Stageworks will present Neil
Simon’s Broadway Bound.
moving story by the Pulitzer Prize and
Tony Award-winning creators of Next
to Normal follows one woman’s two
possible life paths, painting a deeply
moving portrait of the lives we lead, as
well as the lives we might have led.
Another show, that is not part of the
Broadway series, Once, an enchanting
story of a Dublin street musician and
his muse, will be performed at the
end of September.
The 2015-2016 Broadway Series at
Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater starts
off with a bang on December 29th,
when Bialystock and Bloom take the
stage in The Producers. Based on the
outrageous humor of Mel Brooks’
cult comedy film, this play won
twelve Tony Awards.
In January, 2016, Ragtime tells the
story of an upper-class wife, a Jewish
immigrant and a daring young
Harlem musician in New York at
the turn of the century with a Tony
Award-winning score. Later that
month, the quintessential backstage
musical comedy 42nd Street will
have both a matinee and an evening
performance.
In February, one of the best-loved
musicals, Annie, will be a brand new
incarnation of the iconic original
with its unforgettable songs and
eternal anthem of optimism. Also in
February, the Hall will present the
winner of nine Tony Awards including
Best Musical. From Trey Parker and Matt
Stone, the creators of South Park, and
Robert Lopez, co-creator of Avenue Q,
comes THE BOOK OF MORMON, a new
Broadway musical that Jon Stewart of
The Daily Show describes as, “a crowning
achievement, so good it makes me angry,”
and by Entertainment Weekly as “the
funniest musical of all time.” Don’t miss
your chance to see what Ben Brantley of
the New York Times calls “the best musical
of this century.” At the end of the month,
the irresistible family musical Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
will be a re-imagining of the Biblical
story told through unforgettable songs.
Rounding out the season, in March,
Ruth Eckerd Hall will stage Saturday
Night Fever, one of the most loved
dance stories of all time, packed with
hits from The Bee Gees. Then, later in
March, Bullets Over Broadway, Woody
Allen’s comedy about the making
of a Broadway show with a mobster
partner will feature colorful characters,
big laughs and songs of the 1920s.
American Stage Theatre in St.
Petersburg will present some exciting
Broadway hits within their 2015-2016
season. In November through the first
weeks of December, the Tony Award-
62 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015