Austin Way Magazine - GreenGale Publishing - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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What's happening & When Austinites love a good musical, so the new season of Broadway Across America will give theatergoers six rea- sons to rejoice. Half the shows—The Little Mermaid, Kinky Boots, and Motown: The Musical—coming to the Bass Concert Hall on the University of Texas campus are mak- ing their Austin premieres, and the other three, The Book of Mormon, The Sound of Music, and Cabaret, are back by popular demand. These carefully curated selections are all developed, produced, and marketed by the Theater Division of Key Brand Entertainment, led by CEO Lauren Reid, a Houston native and UT alum. Says Reid, who is based in New York and is a voter for the Tony Awards, "I have to go see every single show that opens in New York; it's a privilege. It is rather time-consuming. You don't realize how many shows there are until you have to fit them onto your calendar." Here, Reid discusses what it takes to bring the Great White Way to 40 cities in the US and Canada. Who decides which shows play where? We have a pretty good idea, post–Tony Awards, of the shows that we want to bring, whether it's the Best Musical from that season, or Best Play or Best Revival. What we call the "mega-musicals," the Wickeds and the Lion Kings, those are our tent-pole productions, and we want to make sure we bring them to every one of our cities as quickly as possible. Then we really look at each city to shape what that season will look like, and we make the selection out of probably 25 titles and choose six to eight of those. We send surveys to our subscribers, and also to the single-ticket buyers, with a slate of shows, and we analyze the responses to those shows. We always do this in consultation with our partners, the folks at Bass Concert Hall—everybody has a voice. We actually have three to four programming calls in the course of a season to talk about interest in titles before the Tony Awards, and another call after the Tony Awards. Are Austin's theatergoers more adventurous than those in some other cities? I hate to make generalizations, but I do feel like Austin has a little bit more of an edge. I don't want to diminish anybody else, but certainly an intellectual edge and a knowledge of some Broadway titles that other cities may not necessarily know just yet. Ultimately, we look at the mix of titles, and we want to make sure we bring the Tony Award winners, the Tony-winning revivals, probably a family show, and then, in Austin in particu- lar, something for an adult audience as well. Austin's a really great town for live entertainment; it has a growing theater scene. And especially being on a university campus, we have an opportunity and, frankly, a mission to bring in some more cutting-edge theater. Does what wins the Tony Awards really affect which shows are selected by Broadway Across America? Yes, the Tony Awards—especially Best Musical and Best Revival—are very meaningful. I don't ever limit it to just those titles, but we want to make sure we're bringing the best of Broadway to our cities. austin.broadway.com AW A SeASon of DebutS WE PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN AS THREE MUSICALS MAKE THEIR LOCAL PREMIERES DURING THE NEW SEASON OF BROADWAY IN AUSTIN . by WES EICHENWALD THE LITTLE MERMAID September 29–October 4 The Disney classic kicks off the series, answering the question: How do you get mermaids to move convincingly onstage? KINKY BOOTS November 10–15 With music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and book by Harvey Fierstein, this won the 2013 Tony for Best Musical. "It's fun for all ages," says Reid. THE BOOK OF MORMON December 8–13 "It's as close to perfect as they come, and totally offensive to boot," says Reid. This hot musical (and 2011 Best Musical Tony winner), from the creators of South Park, debuted in Austin in October 2013 and returns in December —not exactly a traditional holiday offering, but who cares? THE SOUND OF MUSIC February 23–28, 2016 Needing no introduction, this new production of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic will bring in families. CABARET March 29–April 3, 2016 "For me," says Reid, "it's just the best production of that show, and I'm proud to bring it to Austin." MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL April 26–May 1, 2016 "A great musical with tremendous music and an interesting story based on Berry Gordy's journey," says Reid. "People walk out singing and happy. That one's about the music." Bass Concert Hall, 2350 Robert Dedman Dr.; austin.broadway.com The Book of Mormon is coming back by popular demand, while Kinky Boots (right) and Motown: The Musical (below) are making their Austin premieres this fall. 52 AUSTINWAY.com culture eventful photography by joan marcus (mormon,motown); matthew murphy (kinky boots)