Broadway Near You: National Tour Roundup | Playbill

News Broadway Near You: National Tour Roundup Our roundup of Broadway national tours and other productions on the road that may find a future life in New York.

Some of Broadway’s biggest hits are hitting the road, while favorite classics are also playing in cities across the U.S.

The following is our roundup of shows playing cities near you, upcoming tours, and new productions originating on the road that may find their way to Broadway.

TOURING SHOWS YET TO PLAY NEW YORK:

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Paul Coltas, Matthew Murphy

THE BODYGUARD
Grammy nominee Deborah Cox will star as Rachel Marron, the role created on screen by the late Whitney Houston, in the national tour of the musical adaptation of The Bodyguard, based on the film of the same name. Directed by Thea Sharrock, the tour will kick off at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ, November 25 prior to an official tour opening at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN, January 10, 2017. Based on Lawrence Kasdan’s 1992 Oscar-nominated Warner Bros. film and adapted by Academy Award winner Alexander Dinelaris, The Bodyguard had its world premiere on December 5, 2012, at London’s Adelphi Theatre. Stops are also planned in Memphis, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Los Angeles. Click here for tour dates.

LOVE NEVER DIES
Among the most anticipated shows to tour the U.S. is Love Never Dies, the sequel to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical The Phantom of the Opera, which will launch a North American tour in 2017. The tour will reflect the overhauled Australian production that was staged by Simon Phillips. Now titled Love Never Dies – The Phantom Returns, the story continues ten years after the conclusion of The Phantom of the Opera. It follows soprano Christine Daaé to New York's Coney Island, where she is invited to perform for the mysterious Mr. Y. After Christine, her now-husband Raoul and their young son Gustav arrive in New York City, familiar characters begin to emerge, including one with whom Christine shares a dark secret.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC
A brand-new production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, directed by three-time Tony winner Jack O'Brien, hit the road in September 2015. Newcomer Kerstin Anderson stars as Maria opposite Ben Davis as Captain von Trapp. Melody Betts plays Mother Abbess. The handsomely designed production, created by a slate of Tony-winning designers, is currently playing tour dates through summer 2017. Click here for tour dates.

BROADWAY SHOWS CURRENTLY ON THE ROAD:

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Joan Marcus

A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER
The dark and clever Tony-winning musical hit the road in September 2015. Based on a series of murders (in which one actor delivers a tour-de-force performance as eight different characters in the same family), the inventive musical by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak is staged by Tony winner Darko Tresnjak. Tour dates are scheduled through March 2017. Click here for tour dates.

BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL
The story of Grammy Award winner Carole King comes to life in the bio musical that takes audiences from her Brooklyn beginnings to the recording of her landmark album Tapestry. Abby Mueller, whose sister Jessie won the Tony for playing King on Broadway, stars as the singer-songwriter in the national tour that kicked off in 2015. It remains a strong Broadway box-office draw, and tour dates are scheduled through the end of 2017. Click here for tour dates.

THE BOOK OF MORMON
The Tony-winning megahit conceived by South Park creators-writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q Tony winner Robert Lopez is showing no signs of slowing down on its second national tour. Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, the touring cast includes Ryan Bondy, Cody Jamison Strand and Candace Quarrels. Stops include Milwaukee, Hershey, Louisville, Dallas, Fort Myers, Pittsburgh, Richmond, San Diego and Salt Lake City. Click here for tour dates.

CABARET
The Roundabout Theatre Company revival of the Kander and Ebb hit returned to the road in early 2016, featuring Randy Harrison (Queer As Folk, Wicked) and Andrea Goss as the Emcee and Sally Bowles, respectively. The gritty production is based on the Sam Mendes-Rob Marshall revival. Tour stops through August 2017 include Boston, Toronto, Appleton, St. Louis, Naples and Schenechtady. Click here for tour dates.

JERSEY BOYS
The unstoppable jukebox musical that traces the rise of the Four Seasons has been on the road since launching its first national tour in 2006. It launched a year after the Broadway production opened to acclaim in 2005. (That production continues at the August Wilson Theatre.) Tour dates through July 2017 can be found here.

MATILDA
Roald Dahl’s children’s book got an edgy pop musical makeover thanks to songwriter Tim Minchin. The darkly comic tale of a precocious bookworm with magical powers launched its tour in May 2015. The elaborate and inventive stage production is directed by Matthew Warchus. The Tony-winning Broadway original ends its run January 1, 2017 after 1,592 performances. Tour dates through July 2017 can be found here.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
This newly imagined staging of the Andrew Lloyd Webber hit returned to the road in 2013 under the direction of Laurence Connor, who also staged the revivals of Les Misérables and the upcoming Miss Saigon. Unlike the iconic Hal Prince original that toured for decades and continues on Broadway, this Phantom has a new physical production design and staging, with the exception of the late Maria Björnson’s original, Tony Award-winning costume design. The Voice finalist Chris Mann stars as the Phantom. Click here for tour dates.

NEWSIES
The Broadway hit based on the beloved Disney film launched its tour in 2014 after a successful run. Alan Menken and Jack Feldman’s songs take on a muscular new life thanks to a fresh book from Harvey Fierstein that enhances the story’s political stakes. The tour will end its run October 2. Prior to its conclusion, original Broadway cast members Jeremy Lordan and Kara Lindsay, among others, will reunite to film the production live on stage when it stops in Los Angeles at the end of August. Click here for tour dates.

KINKY BOOTS
The Tony-winning hit that celebrates individuality while stomping the stage in hip-high red leather boots, hit the road in 2014. Directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, the pop-infused Cyndi Lauper-scored musical took Tonys for Best Score and Best Choreography (among others). While the Broadway original continues its run, the tour is playing stops through summer 2017, with an international engagement in Tokyo this October. Click here for tour dates.

THE LION KING
Julie Taymor’s hit stage adaptation of the Disney animated film continues its journey across the U.S. Current cast members include Buyi Zama as Rafiki, Aaron Nelson as Simba, Nia Holloway as Nala, Mark Campbell as Scar and Gerald Ramsey as Mufasa. The innovative mix of puppetry, mask and music is booking dates through summer 2017, with stops planned in Alberqueque, Salt Lake City, New Orleans, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Houston and more. Click here for tour dates.

WICKED
Broadway’s most famous witches continue to fly across the U.S. in the Stephen Schwartz-Winnie Holzman musical that currently stars Emily Koch as Elphaba, Amanda Jane Cooper as Glinda and Jeremy Woodward as Fiyero. Wicked is currently booking tour dates through fall 2017, including Columbus, Providence, Wichita, Washington, D.C., Orlando, Rochester, Minneapolis and more. Click here for complete tour dates.

OTHER TOURS:

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Matthew Murphy, Joan Marcus

CHEERS LIVE ON STAGE
Cheers Live On Stage will begin its tour September 9-18 in Boston, the setting of the hit TV series. Inhabiting the classic TV characters will be Grayson Powell as Sam Malone, Jillian Louis as Diane Chambers, Barry Pearl as Ernie “Coach” Pantusso, Buzz Roddy as Cliff Clavin, Sarah Sirota as Carla Tortelli and Paul Vogt as Norm Peterson. Based on the Emmy-winning series, the two-act comedy is adapted for the stage by Erik Forrest Jackson and directed by Matt Lenz. The tour will also stop in Chicago, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Hershey. Click here for tour dates.

DIRTY DANCING
The stage adaptation of the 1980s cult dance classic that starred Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey launched its first U.S. tour in 2008. The production was once announced for Broadway, but never docked in New York. It has returned to the road several times, most recently in a 2016-17 equity tour, directed by James Powell. Eleanor Bergstein, who wrote the original screenplay, adapted her work for the stage. Hit songs from the film are featured in the score of the jukebox musical. Christopher Tierney and Rachel Boone co-star as Johnny Castle and Frances “Baby” Houseman, respectively. For tour dates through June 2017, click here.

INTO THE WOODS
The national tour of Fiasco Theater’s imaginatively stripped-down version of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical will launch in November. A troupe of 10 actors bring this reinvention of the Tony-winning Broadway musical to life. The Dodgers and Networks are presenting the tour that will kick off November 29-December 4 at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, FL. Click here for tour dates.

UPCOMING BROADWAY TOURS:

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Angela Sterling, Joan Marcus

ALADDIN
Disney’s most recent Broadway musical Aladdin, a stage adaptation of the 1992 animated film that has been expanded with new songs, will launch its tour April 11, 2017, in Chicago, IL. Director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw will recreate his work from the Broadway original. Casting and additional tour dates have not been announced. The stage production has music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin with a book by Beguelin. Click here for tour dates.

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
Inspired by the Academy-Award winning film, An American in Paris features a score packed with Gershwin hits. With Tony-winning choreography by Christopher Wheeldon, the tour will feature Garen Scribner and Sara Esty. The Broadway production ends its run October 9, and the tour will launch October 25-November 6 at Boston’s Citi Wang Theatre following a preview period at Proctor’s in Schenectady, NY. Stops also include Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Tempe, St. Paul, Des Moines and Atlanta. Click here for tour dates.

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME
Filled with stunning visuals, Simon Stephens’ Tony-winning stage adaptation of the 2003 Mark Haddon novel about a socially awkward teenager and mathematical savant is expertly staged by Tony winner Marianne Elliott. The Broadway production concludes September 4, with a national tour set to launch September 27 in Rochester, NY. Additional stops include Washington, Minneapolis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Boston, Nashville, Tempe, San Francisco and more. Click here for tour dates.

FINDING NEVERLAND
The pop-infused Broadway musical that explores the life of J.M. Barrie and the origin of how he came to write Peter Pan, is based on the Miramax film of the same title. Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy wrote the anthemic pop score for the production that is directed by Diane Paulus. The Broadway production will close August 21, with the show’s national tour slated to launch October 11 in Buffalo, NY. Casting has not been announced. Additional cities include Chicago, St. Louis, Seattle, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego, Houston and Baltimore. Click here for tour dates.

FUN HOME
The lesbian coming-of-age musical based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir took home the 2015 Tony Awards for Best Score, Best Book, Best Direction, Best Actor and Best Musical. It will end its Broadway run September 10. The in-the-round Broadway production will be reconceived to play proscenium theatres across the U.S. The cast includes Kate Shindle, Robert Petkoff and Alessandra Baldacchino. It will launch its tour October 2 at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square, with stops planned in Chicago, Las Vegas, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Philadelphia and Seattle. Click here for tour dates.

HAMILTON
Theatregoers across the U.S. will have the chance to see the Broadway megahit when it launches its tour at San Francisco's SHN Orpheum Theatre in March 2017, where it will play for 21 weeks before moving on to the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles August 11-December 30. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop take on the American founding father will also play Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Portland, Last Vegas and Seattle, with dates to come. Casting for the tour has not been announced. Click here for the latest on tour dates.

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
Darren Criss, who played a 12-week stint in the Broadway debut of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, will launch the national tour of the Tony-winning musical, which kicks off at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco October 4-30. He’ll be joined by Tony-winning actress Lena Hall, who will reprise her award-winning role as Yitzhak. Hall will also play the role of Hedwig for one performance a week in San Francisco and Los Angeles, marking the first time in Hedwig history that the same actor has played both Hedwig and Yitzhak in the same production of the John Cameron Mitchell-Stephen Trask musical. Stops also include Denver, Detroit, St. Paul, San Antonio, Philadelphia and Boston. Click here for tour dates.

IRVING BERLIN’S WHITE CHRISTMAS
The stage adaptation of the Irving Berlin classic White Christmas will hit the road again this holiday season with Lorna Luft reprising her role as Martha Watson. The song and dance musical has direction and choreography by Randy Skinner, with a book by David Ives and Paul Blake. The limited tour will launch November 12 in Bloomington, IN, with stops in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Omaha, San Francisco and more planned. Click here for tour dates.

THE KING AND I
The Tony Award-winning revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic was lavishly re-imagined by Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher. The revival, which ended its Broadway run in June, took home the Tony Award for Best Musical. It too will be slightly restructured from its three-quarter thrust Broadway staging (at the Vivian Beaumont) to a traditional proscenium presentation for the tour. The epic staging will launch in Providence, RI, November 1. Also planned are stops in Seattle, Cleveland, Houston, Boston, Miami and Charlotte. Click here for tour dates.

SOMETHING ROTTEN!
The Tony-nominated musical comedy about dueling playwrights (one of them being a rock star-like William Shakespeare) is set to launch its tour January 20, 2017, at Schenectady, NY’s Proctors Theatre. Stops include Boston, St. Louis, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Baltimore, Austin and Nashville. Casting has not been announced. Click here for tour dates.

NON-EQUITY TOURS ON THE ROAD:

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Joan Marcus

ANNIE
A revamped touring production of the Tony Award-winning musical Annie launched in fall 2014. The non-equity tour is directed by Annie lyricist and original director Martin Charnin. Choreography is by Liza Gennaro, who has incorporated selections from her father Peter Gennaro’s 1977 Tony Award-winning choreography. The tour is playing dates through spring 2017, including Chicago, Austin, St. Louis, Memphis, San Jose, Fort Worth, Miami, Key West and Sioux City. Click here for tour dates.

CINDERELLA
The second national tour of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical will relaunch September 27 in Grand Rapids, MI. It features a revamped book by Douglas Carter Beane that gives the fairytale a modern thrust. The non-equity tour recreates the 2013 Broadway staging by Mark Brokaw and Josh Rhodes, and stars Tatyana Lubov as Cinderella and Hayden Stanes as Prince Topher. Click here for tour dates.

ONCE
The intimate Tony-winning musical, inspired by the film of the same title, relaunched a non-equity national tour in January 2016 in Utica, NY. Based on the original Broadway production, and first national tour, the cast of actor-musicians is led by Sam Cieri and Boston Conservatory student Mackenzie Lesser-Roy. Click here for tour dates.

ELF
The musical comedy based on the 2003 film of the same title will return to the road with two separate touring productions this November. In previous seasons, Networks sent out a non-union tour as well as a union tour that played separate markets. The musical has a score by Matthew Sklar (music) and Chad Beguelin. Click here for tour dates.

RENT
The 20th Anniversary national tour of the landmark Broadway musical Rent will launch September 12 in Bloomington, IN. The non-equity production, based on the Broadway original, will feature Danny Kornfeld as Mark Cohen, Kaleb Wells as Roger Davis and Skyler Volpe as Mimi Marquez. Cities on the tour include Nashville, Erie, Fort Lauderdale, Scranton, San Diego, Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston and Washington, D.C. Click here for tour dates through summer 2017.

 
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