If I had my say, it would be up. Defying Gravity up.
Wicked would be a coup for lil' ol' Spokane. Cities are vying for the attention of Stephen Schwartz's popular musical (pun intended. Oh rats, now I've got that song stuck in my head.) It keeps getting invited back for return engagements, and it's only been running on Broadway since '03. The tour began in Chicago, but was so popular it never left. Now there are open-ended productions in Los Angeles, Chicago, and London, aside from the original Broadway. The tour is announced for fall '07, but considering that the current tour started in Seattle this past September, and there are no announced dates between Boston in early fall and Florida in March, could we have a November run? Or February '08? In the words of another witch, "Possible. Very very possible.*"
So what are my GUESSES? Based on past seasons and what I know is out there... Here are the most likely eight shows.
Camelot with Michael York. Gotta have one of the classic Lerner & Loewe or Rodgers & Hammerstein in the mix.
Sweet Charity, probably right after Molly Ringwald finishes her run in this Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields blast from the past.
Movin' Out, the dance show based on Billy Joel music. It'll be in Alberta November and early December, so I wouldn't be surprised if it swings down here for the early January slot.Riverdance. The river is flowing again, and again it'll be up in Alberta in February '08. They might have arranged a March dance spectacular date.
The Light in the Piazza. It's a beautiful tone poem of a musical, especially the Italian songs. The most romantic, serious, old-fashioned musical on Broadway in the past few years. Not a song-and-dance spectacle (a nice change of pace), a beautiful and fascinating story told through music.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Silly, edgy, as is all of William Finn's shows (think Falsettos).
TicketsWest also brings a young-children family friendly show to town each summer. Last year it was Dora the Explorer's Pirate Adventure (RIGHT before my daughter started learning about the exciting Hispanic heroine, and now she wears Dora shoes, Dora jammies, Dora dress, colors Dora books ... you get the picture). This year, Nickelodeon is producing Dora's cousin Diego in a live show, based on the spinoff cartoon show "Go Diego Go." Our kid isn't interested in Diego's show, but she does love his sidekick Baby Jaguar, and the two episodes she's seen Diego in. Dora appears in the live show to keep everyone's attention. Looks like this might be one show she's interested in seeing.
Remember, these are my GUESSES. We'll find out tomorrow afternoon. (By the way, Bobo will probably beat me to listing them on his blog, since I'll be away from the computer most of tomorrow.)
In related news, when Disney brings its ice show to the Spokane Arena, the show will be "High School Musical On Ice." Disney had a smash hit with their cable channel's original movie musical about, well, a high school musical. It's big. Extremely big. The same way that Wicked is big. (Hm, same audience, in fact.) So it is the next ice extravaganza -- skating to the soundtrack of the original movie. (They're doing two sequals of the movie, which is why I stress the 'original.')
Confirmed dates in the region:
Stomp: Portland's Keller Auditorium, Jun 19 - Jun 24, 2007
Camelot: Portland's Keller Auditorium, Oct. 2-7, 2007
Spamalot: Seattle's Paramount Theatre, Oct. 10 - 28, 2007 AND Portland's Keller Auditorium, Aug. 22 - Sep. 2, 2007
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: Portland's Keller Auditorium, July 10 - 15, 2007
Sweeney Todd: Portland's Keller Auditorium, Apr. 8 - 13, 2008
Avenue Q: Portland's Keller Auditorium, Jun. 24 - 29, 2008
Phantom of the Opera: Portland's Keller Auditorium, Aug. 13 - Sep. 7, 2008
* Into the Woods, particularly as played by Bernadette Peters.
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