Broadway Across America unveils its 2008-2009 season
Plan ahead for upcoming sell-out shows

February 4, 2008
By Brett Oppegaard of The Columbian

"Wicked," one of the most popular stage shows of the decade, is coming back to Portland for five weeks. But that doesn't necessarily mean it will be easier to get tickets this time.

The musical, part of the just-announced 2008-09 Broadway Across America season in Portland, turns "The Wizard of Oz" upside down. The show continues to gain fans and still is the top grossing production on Broadway. Overall, including tours and an open-ended run in Chicago, it has made more than $350 million so far. Producers are turning up the exposure this year, with longer runs in more cities.

"Wicked" came here for the first time in 2006, and tickets for that two-week stretch of performances sold out quickly enough to warrant more than doubling the stay this time. This area has sold out shows with runs of this length before - "The Phantom of the Opera," "Miss Saigon" and "Beauty and the Beast" - or even longer. The seven-week run of "The Lion King" also sold out.

This market used to have to wait years for the top touring productions to come through even once. But the local presenter, an arm of Portland Opera, has been thriving this decade and regularly attracting more than 10,000 subscribers a year, with 15 to 20 percent of those coming from Clark County.

As testament to that success, "Spring Awakening" is also part of the group's upcoming season. That show, which won eight Tony awards last year, including best musical, has been praised for breaking Broadway out of its artistic doldrums. It's an emotional and passionate musical that focuses on the self-discovery of hormone-ravaged teens in 1891 Germany. Its source material had been banned for nearly a century.

Other edgy pieces coming include "The Color Purple," which delves into racial oppression, and return engagements of both "Movin' Out," focused on the anguish caused by the Vietnam War, and "Rent," about young bohemians in New York in the 1990s dealing with HIV and AIDS.

The Portland schedule also will be balanced with lighter fare, such as "The Rat Pack - Live at the Sands," recreating a Las Vegas night with entertainers Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin, as well as "Grease," a love story set in the 1950s.

The 2008-09 Broadway in Portland series:

-"A Chorus Line," July 29-Aug. 3. Winner of nine Tony awards, including best musical, plus the Pulitzer Prize for drama, this show takes audiences backstage at the audition of a lifetime. Information online at achorusline.com.

- "Spring Awakening," Oct. 21-26. This piece about teenage self-discovery in 1891 Germany won eight Tony awards last year, including best musical. Information online at springawakening.com.

- "The Color Purple," Dec. 30-Jan. 4. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker as well as the Oscar-nominated film by Steven Spielberg, this musical covers four decades and contentious issues ranging from infanticide to racial oppression to spirituality. Information online at colorpurple.com.

- "Movin' Out," Jan. 16-18. Combining the talents of Grammy-winner Billy Joel and director-choreographer Twyla Tharp, this dance-driven piece paints a vivid portrait of an American generation torn apart by the Vienam war.

- "Wicked," March 4-April 5, 2009. Before that young girl from Kansas arrived in Munchkinland, Galinda and Elphaba were stuck rooming together in college, despite their differences. This backstory changes everything you think you know about "The Wizard of Oz." Information online at wickedthemusical.com.

- "Grease," April 21-26, 2009. Set in the simpler time of poodle skirts, drive-in restaurants and T-birds, where bad boy Danny falls in love with girl-next-door Sandy, spurring love songs such as "Summer Nights," "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "You're the One That I Want." Information online at greaseonbroadway.com.

- "Rent," June 9 - 14, 2009. The long Broadway run ends on June 1 this year, meaning the touring group becomes the franchise for this tale of young friends trying to survive in New York City in the 1990s under the specter of HIV. Information online at siteforrent.com.

- "The Rat Pack - Live at the Sands," Spring, 2009. You don't have to imagine being at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas back in the day when the entertainment lineup included Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin because this production recreates that experience with top impersonators. Information online at theratpackliveatthesands.com.