Fung-Wah bus aside, the cost of trekking down to Manhattan can be pricey, especially if you are headed to check out a Broadway production where tickets can cost the same as a few handles of alcohol. Thankfully, Boston is a frequent stop on national tours of Broadway shows. Here, for your theatrical pleasure, is a rundown of the big-budget productions happening this semester:
The Lion King (Opera House, Now through February 20)
For those Jumbos who missed an opportunity to see this awe-inspiring extravaganza last semester, "The Lion King" has been given an extended run in Boston. The costumes, set pieces, and overall production values have set a new standard in excellence for the American musical. While the plot and even the dialogue remain identical to the movie we all grew up with, very little about the show seems repetitive. Watch in amazement as humans turn into gazelles, giraffes, hyenas, and lions (Oh, my!).
The Producers (Colonial Theater, Feb. 22-March 6)
The award-winning farce returns to Boston for two weeks of laughing about the Nazis. (Perhaps that's where Prince Harry got his idea for the armband.) While spring is still a cold month or two away, audiences will be laughing in the aisles celebrating a "Springtime for Hitler."
The plot mirrors the 1968 Mel Brooks movie, as scheming producers Bialystock and Bloom try to swindle their investors by devising a musical that is bound to fail. Unfortunately, crowds love the musical about the Third Reich. Even though the movie version of the musical (which is already based on a movie) will come out in December, featuring the original dynamic duo of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, "The Producers" is a magical theatrical production, and Bostonians are lucky to get a second peek.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Wilbur Theater, Feb. 2-March 6)
Looking back on senior year of high school, many classmates were petrified of Virginia Woolf. Almost everyone shivered at the mere thought of reading "To the Lighthouse." Never fear, non-English major, for the Modernist writer doesn't figure prominently in this drama about the human truths that arise behind this safe veneer we call society.
Written by three-time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Edward Albee, "Who's Afraid" comes to Boston for a three week engagement. The all-star cast will surely live up to expectations. Kathleen Turner, fresh off her Broadway performance as Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate," and Bill Irwin, a fantastic comedic actor making a dramatic turn here, play the lead couple.
Sweet Charity (The Colonial Theatre, March 18-March 27)
Hey, big spender! "Sweet Charity," director and choreographer Bob Fosse's signature musical, is coming to town. Adapted from Federico Fellini's "Nights of Cabiria," "Sweet Charity" follows the life of darling girl Charity Hope Valentine as she tries to "make it" in this big, bad world.
In this star vehicle, Christina Applegate will be playing our lead heroine. She finds herself trapped in an elevator, struts her stuff as hostess at the Fan-Dango dance hall, and whoops(!) falls for yet another unattainable hunk. A show heavy on dance numbers and unrealistic dreams, the production basically sinks or swims depending on the actress playing Charity. Hey, Applegate showed depth in... "Married with Children."
The Phantom of the Opera (Begins March 30, 2005, The Opera House)
The Phaaaantom of the Opera is here, inside my mind! Or rather, inside the Boston Opera House...In any case, after making its way through 90 cities and even onto the big screen, Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic success "The Phantom of the Opera" is returning to Boston this spring.
Boston's newly restored Opera House is sure to provide the perfect setting for the play's glorified but haunted Paris Opera House. Lloyd Webber's infectious music provides the backdrop for Gaston Leroux' original story of a beautiful aspiring opera star, Christine, and her ghostly love affair with the Opera House's legendary and hideous Phantom.
Little Shop of Horrors (The Colonial Theatre, May 3-15, 2005)
"Little Shop of Horrors" is the timeless story of a nerdy and orphaned Seymour who will do anything to win the heart of his sweet but misled love interest, Audrey.
This charming but somewhat disturbed love story has become a classic as much for its unpretentious sweetness as for its infamous man-eating plant.
Stuck in a rundown florist shop in the seedy part of town, Seymour struggles for success, love, and general approval from both his boss, Mr. Mushnik, and the already taken Audrey. Seymour finally catches his break when a mysterious plant makes its way into the shop window. Seymour's future is finally looking up when this carnivorous plant's thirst for blood gets out of control. Charming. Really.
