2018–2019 Ahmanson Theatre Partial Season Release

Center Theatre Group announced three new productions fresh from Broadway that will join the 2017 Tony-winning Best Musical in the 2018–2019 season at the Ahmanson Theatre. Moving musicals “Come From Away” and the Lincoln Center Theater production of “Falsettos” join hit comedy “The Play That Goes Wrong” and the previously announced “Dear Evan Hansen.” The remaining two productions in the season will be announced at a later date.

"This is shaping up to be a remarkable season at the Ahmanson," said Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie. "We're extremely pleased to be bringing Broadway’s six-time Tony Award-winning ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ to Los Angeles.

“Now we’re ready to announce three more remarkable shows. First, we have added another great new musical, 'Come From Away,' the show that stole Broadway's heart last season. We also look forward to bringing you Lincoln Center Theater's terrific revival of William Finn and James Lapine’s groundbreaking musical ‘Falsettos.’ And finally, we have secured 'The Play That Goes Wrong,' a wonderful new madcap murder mystery."

“This top-notch season is filled with some of the finest offerings to come out of New York in years."

"Dear Evan Hansen"
October 17 – November 25, 2018

The winner of six 2017 Tony Awards including Best Musical, “Dear Evan Hansen” is a deeply personal and profoundly contemporary musical about life and the way we live it. The previously announced engagement will launch Center Theatre Group's 2018–2019 Season at the Ahmanson Theatre.

“Dear Evan Hansen” features a book by Tony Award winner Steven Levenson, a score by Academy Award and Tony-winning composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and direction by four-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif.

Casting will be announced at a later date.

Declared “One of the more remarkable shows in recent musical theater history” by the Washington Post’s Peter Marks, “Dear Evan Hansen” opened at the Music Box Theatre to rave reviews on December 4, 2016, where it’s broken all box office records and has struck a chord with critics and audiences alike.

In addition to winning six Tony awards, “Dear Evan Hansen” has won numerous other awards, including the 2017 Drama League Award for Outstanding Musical Production and, for the off-Broadway production, two Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and two Helen Hayes Awards.

The original Broadway cast recording of “Dear Evan Hansen,” produced by Atlantic Records, was released in February 2017, making an extraordinary debut on the Billboard 200 and entering the chart at number eight — the highest charting debut position for an original cast album since 1961.

“Come From Away”
November 28, 2018 – January 6, 2019

The critically acclaimed “Come From Away” was nominated for seven Tony Awards winning Best Direction of a Musical and also won five Outer Critics Circle Awards including Best Musical, four Helen Hayes Awards including Outstanding Musical Production, three Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical and the Drama League Award for Best Musical.

“Come From Away,” which has been playing to standing room only audiences on Broadway, features a book, music and lyrics by two-time Tony Award nominees and Outer Critics Circle Award winners Irene Sankoff and David Hein, direction by Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle winner Christopher Ashley, musical staging by two-time Tony Award nominee Kelly Devine (“Rocky”) and music supervision by Ian Eisendrath (“A Christmas Story”).

“Come From Away” features scenic design by Tony Award winner Beowulf Boritt (“Act One”), costume design by Tony Award nominee Toni-Leslie James (“Jelly’s Last Jam”), lighting design by two-time Tony Award winner Howell Binkley (“Hamilton”), sound design by Tony Award nominee and Outer Critics Circle Award winner Gareth Owen (“End of the Rainbow”), orchestrations by Tony Award nominee August Eriksmoen (“Bright Star”), and music arrangements by Ian Eisendrath.

The New York Times Critics’ Pick takes you into the heart of the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. Cultures clashed and nerves ran high, but uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night, and gratitude grew into enduring friendships.

On 9/11, the world stopped. On 9/12, their stories moved us all.

Following sold-out, record-breaking, critically-acclaimed engagements at La Jolla Playhouse, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. and Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre, “Come From Away” landed on the “Best Theater of the Year” morelists in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Seattle Times, San Diego Union Tribune and Toronto Star, and was featured in The New York Times’ “Memorable Theatre of 2016.”

“Falsettos”
April 16 – May 19, 2019

The Lincoln Center Theater production of William Finn and James Lapine’s Tony Award-winning musical “Falsettos” which received five Tony nominations including Best Musical Revival, marks a reunion for composer/lyricist Finn and playwright/director Lapine.

In 1981, Finn and Lapine’s new one-act musical “March of the Falsettos” premiered at Playwrights Horizons’ second floor, 75-seat space. The story of a gay man named Marvin, his lover Whizzer, Marvin’s wife Trina, son Jason and their psychiatrist Mendel, “March of the Falsettos” was a critical success, described by The New York Times as “a musical find.”

“March of the Falsettos” eventually moved to Playwrights Horizons’ larger downstairs theatre for an extended engagement before enjoying a long run Off-Broadway at what was then known as the Westside Arts Theatre. Fast forward to 1990, when a second new musical by Finn and Lapine, “Falsettoland,” opened at Playwrights Horizons. A continuation of the story of Marvin and his extended family in the early days of the AIDS crisis, “Falsettoland” repeated the success of its predecessor with rave reviews and a move to the Lucille Lortel Theatre.

In 1992, the two one-act musicals were combined into one and opened on Broadway as “Falsettos.” The musical ran for over a year at the John Golden Theatre and won Tony Awards for Finn’s score and Finn and Lapine’s book.

The new production of “Falsettos” is directed once again by James Lapine with choreography by Spencer Liff, sets by David Rockwell, costumes by Jennifer Caprio, lighting by Jeff Croiter, sound by Dan Moses Schreier and features Michael Starobin’s original orchestrations. “Falsettos” received five 2017 Tony nominations and was hailed as “an exceptional production” by Charles Isherwood of The New York Times, who added “This singular show, about an unorthodox family grappling with the complexities of, well, just being a family — unorthodox or otherwise — has been restored to life, some 25 years after it was first produced, with such vitality that it feels as fresh and startling as it did back in 1992.”

“The Play That Goes Wrong”
July 9 – August 11, 2019

Co-written by Mischief Theatre company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, “The Play That Goes Wrong” is a riotous comedy about the theatre. The play introduces The ‘Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’ who are attempting to put on a 1920s’ murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong…does, as the accident prone thespians battle on against all the odds to get to their final curtain call.

It is a remarkable rags-to-riches story for a play which started its life at a London fringe venue with only four paying members of the public at the first performance, and has gone on to play to an audience of over half a million around the world.

Mischief Theatre, led by Artistic Director Henry Lewis and Company Director Jonathan Sayer, was founded in 2008 by a group of graduates of The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and began as an improvised comedy group. Mischief Theatre performs across the UK and internationally with improvised and original scripted work.

“The Play That Goes Wrong” is directed by Mark Bell, featuring set design by Nigel Hook, lighting design by Ric Mountjoy, sound design by Andy Johnson and costume design by Roberto Surace.

The Broadway production of “The Play That Goes Wrong” transferred from the West End where it was awarded 2015 Olivier Award. It went on to receive a 2017 Tony Award for Best Set Design, Broadway.com’s Audience Choice Award for Best Play and the Theater Fans Award Choice Award for Best Play. “The Play That Goes Wrong” is now in its third smash hit year on the West End and is the longest running play currently on Broadway.

---

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under Artistic Director Michael Ritchie, programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1600 to 2000-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.

Bank of America is the season sponsor and Delta airlines is the official airline sponsor for Center Theatre Group’s 2018–2019 season at the Ahmanson Theatre.

Tickets for the 2018–2019 season are currently only available to renewing subscribers. Current subscribers can call (213) 972-4444 or login to their account at CenterTheatreGroup.org to renew. To be placed on a priority waiting list for group sales please call (213) 972-7231 and a representative will be able to assist and answer any questions.

Tickets and subscriptions for the 2017–2018 Season at the Ahmanson Theatre, which includes the “Bright Star,” “Something Rotten!,” “Crazy for You,” “Soft Power” and “The Humans,” are available by phone at (213) 972-4400 and online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org/Ahmanson.

# # #