It’s no secret that The Actors Fund has stepped up this year and every year in helping to keep unemployed artists afloat. You can still give to the organization that has already given so much. Watch an inspiration video from the Fund, narrated by Broadway favorite Colin Donnell.
With the vaccine rollout now well underway and the U.S. economy moving towards reopening, national touring venues across the country are beginning to plan dates for traveling productions of Broadway titles. Below is a list of planned national tour dates and venues for the 2021–2022 season, organized by region.
Playbill will add to this story as more stops and itineraries are announced. This article was last updated April 16.
Atlanta, Georgia
The Fox Theatre is set to reopen August 25 with Hamilton, which kicks off the 2021-2022 Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta series. Fiddler on the Roof follows in November with Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical planned for the holiday seasons. 2022 will see the national tours of Tootsie, Ain’t Too Proud, Jesus Christ Superstar, Beautiful, Frozen, Blue Man Group, and Mean Girls. Click here for more.
Baltimore, Maryland
The Hippodrome Broadway series has an eight-show package lined up for its new season, beginning with Tootsie November 30. Rounding out the package roster through October 2022 are The Prom, Dear Evan Hansen, Pretty Woman, Ain’t Too Proud, Hairspray, Mean Girls, and Hamilton. Also on the schedule is Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. Click here for more.
Boston, Massachusetts
Broadway in Boston reopens with Hadestown at the Citizens Bank Opera House on November 2, followed by Pretty Woman in January, with the tours of To Kill a Mockingbird, Ain’t Too Proud, Wicked, and Anastasia taking them through the summer. Hamilton is set for a two-month sit down beginning in January 2023. Broadway In Boston also plays at the Emerson Colonial Theatre, an Ambassador Theatre Group venue, which will host Jesus Chris Superstar in January 2022 followed by Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. Click here for more.
Cleveland, Ohio
Playhouse Square, home to Broadway in CLE, will return with a five-show season beginning with The Prom November 2. The city will also see tours of Pretty Woman, To Kill a Mockingbird, Ain’t Too Proud, and Frozen. Click here for more.
Dallas, Texas
Dallas Summer Musicals intends to welcome audiences back to Music Hall at Fair Park with Wicked August 3. The season continues with Jersey Boys and Hamilton before ringing in 2022 with Hadestown. Rounding out the season are Rent, Come From Away, Jesus Christ Superstar, Mean Girls, Oklahoma!, and Frozen. Click here for more.
Denver, Colorado
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts Broadway will welcome audiences back to the Buell Theatre December 2 with The Lion King, followed by a five-week run of Hamilton starting in February. Dates are pending for four shows postponed from the fall 2021 season: My Fair Lady, a pre-Broadway run of 1776, Mean Girls, and Ain’t Too Proud. DCPA has also announced several new titles, but no dates have been set. Those titles include Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Hadestown, Jersey Boys, Moulin Rouge!, Pretty Woman, Riverdance 25th Anniversary Tour, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Tootsie. Click here for more.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Broadway in Fort Lauderdale returns with seven shows stopping at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Opening the new season will be Come From Away on November 3, with The Prom closing out 2021. In 2022, audiences will see Tootsie, Ain’t Too Proud, Frozen, Cats, and Pretty Woman. Click here for more.
Greensboro, North Carolina
The Tanger Center will welcome audiences for its 2021-2022 Broadway season with six shows, beginning with Wicked October 6. The rest of the year will see the national tours of Beautiful, Dear Evan Hansen, and Come From Away. Next year, audiences can catch The Lion King and Mean Girls. Click here for more.
Hartford, Connecticut
Broadway at the Bushnell returns October 12 with eight shows, starting with Escape to Margaritaville and The Band’s Visit. The season continues in 2022 with What the Constitution Means to Me, My Fair Lady, Blue Man Group, Dear Evan Hansen, Pretty Woman, and Hamilton. Dates for Hadestown and Mean Girls will be announced at a later date. Click here for more.
Kansas City, Missouri
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and the Kansas City Music Hall will celebrate with the Broadway is Back Series, opening with Hamilton September 28. Tootsie will stop for a week in November, and then Wicked for a longer stint in January. Other titles for 2022 are Stomp, Mean Girls, Jesus Christ Superstar, An Officer and a Gentleman, Fiddler on the Roof, and Ain’t Too Proud. Click here for more.
Las Vegas, Nevada
The Smith Center for the Performing Arts has six shows tapped for its Broadway Las Vegas Series, starting with Cats October 12. A new production of the An Officer and a Gentleman musical will follow, with Jack Thorne’s production of A Christmas Carol playing in the holiday season. 2022 will bring in tours of My Fair Lady, The Band’s Visit, and Tootsie. Click here for more.
Los Angeles, California
Broadway in Hollywood performances of Hamilton will resume at the Pantages Theatre on October 12 with tickets currently on sale through January 2. Moulin Rouge! is set to play the summer of 2022. The Dolby Theatre will see stops from My Fair Lady, also beginning October 12, then Tootsie and Pretty Woman later in 2022. The Band’s Visit has been announced, but not scheduled. Click here for more.
Meanwhile, Center Theatre Group will present four shows in the Ahmanson Theatre with the Old Vic production of A Christmas Carol ringing in the holiday starting November 30. The season continues in 2022 with the West End hit Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, The National Theatre’s The Lehman Trilogy, and finally Broadway’s Hadestown. Click here for more.
Miami, Florida
Broadway in Miami at the Adrienne Arsht Center was able to reschedule four shows from those canceled last season, starting off September 28 with Hadestown followed by Hairspray in December, and then Dear Evan Hansen, Anastasia, and Jesus Christ Superstar in finishing up the season in 2022. Click here for more.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Bank of America Broadway on Hennepin is slated to begin September 7 at the Orpheum Theatre with Come From Away. Also on tap for this year are Frozen, Oklahoma!, and Anastasia. In 2022, audiences can see Jersey Boys, Cats, Pretty Woman, Hadestown, The Prom, Moulin Rouge!, Ain’t Too Proud, and Hamilton. Click here for more.
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans’ Saenger Theatre will welcome back Broadway fans with Tootsie on November 9, followed by both Cats and Hadestown in December. Anastasia, Mean Girls, and Hamilton round out the season in 2022. Click here for more.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Broadway Philadelphia boasts a robust season of 13 shows in three different venues of the Kimmel Cultural Campus. The lineup begins with Hamilton on October 20 at the Academy of Music, with Pretty Woman, Hadestown, Beautiful, Waitress, and To Kill a Mockingbird all making stops in 2022. The Merriam Theater will host Rain—A Tribute to The Beatles beginning October 29, followed by Anastasia in November and Stomp at the end of the year. Other shows this season at the Merriam include Rent’s: 25th Anniversary Farewell Tour and Hairspray. The Forrest Theatre will welcome Oklahoma! In March and Dear Evan Hansen in August. Click here for more.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh returns to the Benedum Center September 7 with the Tony-winning Hadestown. The season continues with Pretty Woman: The Musical and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical closing out 2021. The slate of seven shows continues with Oklahoma!, Hamilton, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations. Click here for more.
Providence, Rhode Island
The Taco/The White Family Foundation Broadway Series opens at the Providence Performing Arts Center on October 9 with Pretty Woman. Hamilton and Cirque Dreams Holidaze follow in December, with a full spring calendar including Jesus Christ Superstar, The Prom, Oklahoma!, Ain’t Too Proud, Dear Evan Hansen, and My Fair Lady. Titles in the Encore Series include Rent, An Officer and a Gentleman, and Blue Man Group. Click here for more.
St. Louis, Missouri
The Fabulous Fox Theatre reopens with a seven-show Broadway Series, starting with Pretty Woman November 16. After Cats closes out 2021, the new year will welcome The Prom, Mean Girls, My Fair Lady, Hamilton, and The Lion King. Click here for more.
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Zions Bank/Broadway at the Eccles series intends to resume performances at the Delta Hall at the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater with Frozen, beginning October 28. Mean Girls will follow, with Hamilton ringing in the new year. Later in 2022 are Anastasia, The Band’s Visit, Jesus Christ Susperstar, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Hadestown, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Click here for more.
San Francisco, California
BroadwaySF will bring 10 shows to the Bay Area’s Golden Gate and Orpheum Theatres, including three rescheduled tour stops from the 2019–2020 season, beginning with Mean Girls July 27 and followed by My Fair Lady and The Band’s Visit. The 2021-2022 season officially kicks off (dates TBA) with Oklahoma!, followed by To Kill a Mockingbird, The Prom, Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations, Moulin Rouge!, and Hadestown with a seventh show to be revealed later, replacing The Cher Show. Click here for more.
The Curran, home to the San Francisco engagement of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, has suspended all performances through November 28.
San Jose, California
Broadway San Jose will begin its five-show season with Hamilton October 12. The lineup continues at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts with Hairspray in November. In 2022, audiences can catch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Tootsie, and Dear Evan Hansen. Special subscription add-ons include Riverdance, Come From Away, and Rent. 1776 is now scheduled to come to San Jose in 2023. Click here for more.
Tucson, Arizona
Broadway in Tucson returns to the University of Arizona’s Centennial Hall with a seven-show season, kicking things off with Hamilton November 17. The season continues in 2022 with My Fair Lady, The Band’s Visit, Tootsie, Hadestown, Come From Away, and Pretty Woman: The Musical. Click here for more.
Washington, D.C.
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has lined up the four most recent Tony-winning Best Musicals in its 2021–2022 lineup: Hadestown, The Band’s Visit, Dear Evan Hansen, and Hamilton. Hadestown kicks off the lineup at the Center’s Opera House October 13. Additional titles throughout the season include Ain’t Too Proud, Beautiful, The Prom, Jesus Christ Superstar, Riverdance, Mean Girls, Oklahoma!, Jersey Boys, and To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as A Monster Calls from London’s Old Vic. Additionally, the Kennedy Center will resume its Broadway Center Stage series of original stagings of beloved shows, with titles to be announced. Click here for more.
In celebration of Broadway during the COVID-era shutdown, photographer Rebecca J. Michelson and graphic designer Tiffany Holt continue their series giving theatre classics a contemporary twist with The Ensemblist. The artists welcomed DeMarius Copes (Mean Girls), Nina Lafarga (Frozen), Mars Rucker (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), and Jane Bruce (Jagged Little Pill) for a photo shoot using current theatre performers to reinvent cherished Broadway musicals from the past.
“For this third round of the Re-imagined Marquees series, we really wanted to showcase popular classic shows and continue to put our spin on them,” Michelson explains. “With the help of historian Ali Sousa, we were able to find and utilize some rare marquee photos, including even using graphic design to decorate the Nederlander in the famous bright green signature wall of the Rent era.”
The photographer says young people continue to inspire her for the project. “They are seeing themselves in these photos, and that is my favorite part about being a photographer; bringing people’s dreams to life through art.”
“Inspired by the shows that have shaped us and our industry, this project has been so thrilling as it gave us the space to imagine a Broadway without limitations,” Holt adds. “During a difficult time like this, it has been so creatively and emotionally fulfilling to collaborate with other artists and celebrate the beautiful community that is at the core Broadway.”
The West End production of Frozenis back on sale to the public, opening at the newly refurbished Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 8 September 2021, with previews from 27 August, and is now booking until 3 April 2022.
On this day in 2015, the new musical It Shoulda Been You, from Brian HargroveandBarbara Anselmiopened on Broadway featuring an all-star cast includingLisa Howard,Tyne Daly,Harriet Harris, andSierra Boggess, and directed by David Hyde Pierce.
The original Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie opened at the Martin Beck Theatre April 14, 1960. The production, directed and choreographed by Gower Champion, played 607 performances before closing October 7, 1961. The musical would garner eight Tony Award nominations, winning four including Best Musical.
Bye Bye Birdie tells the story of the MacAfee family and the residents of Sweet Apple, Ohio, who go topsy-turvy when teen idol Conrad Birdie comes to town to serenade one lucky fan before he joins the army. The production featured music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams, and book by Michael Stewart.
The production starred Chita Rivera as Rose Grant, Dick Van Dyke as Albert Peterson, Dick Gautier as Conrad Birdie, Paul Lynde as Mr. MacAfee, Kay Medford as Mae Peterson, Michael J. Pollard as Hugo Peabody, and Susan Watson as Kim MacAfee. Rounding out the cast were Jessica Albright, Ed Becker, Vicki Belmonte, George Blackwell, Johnny Borden, Lynn Bowin, Kenny Burrell, John Coyle, Dick Crowley, Dori Davis, Jerry Dodge, Barbara Doherty, Lada Edmund, Tracy Everitt, Don Farnworth, Bud Fleming, Penny Ann Green, Amelia Haas, Lee Howard, Gary Howe, Will Jordan, Judy Keirn, Allen Knowles, Kasimir Kokich, Ed Kresley, Sharon Lerit, Marijane Maricle, Marissa Mason, Jeannine Masterson, Pat McEnnis, Tony Mordente, Oran Osburn, Louise Quick, Charles Nelson Reilly, Norma Richardson, Jimmy Sisco, Bob Spencer, Dean Stolber, Michael Vita, and Karin Wolfe with Carmen Alvarez and Charles Nelson Reilly as standys and Penny Ann Green and Ed Kresley as swings.
Bye Bye Birdie features scenic design by Robert Randolph, costume design by Miles White, lighting design by Peggy Clark, and film sequences by Robert J. McCarty in association with Robert Gaffney, and stage management by Michael Thoma and Edward Nayor. Visit the Playbill Vault for the complete cast and creative team.