APPLAUSE >>>
After reviewing the majority of shows at Tacoma Musical Playhouse this season, I wasn't sure I would be interested in taking on quite as many during the 2012-2013 season. That was until I got the list of their upcoming shows. While I probably won't end up at all of the shows, I am intrigued by the majority and am confident they'll be able to do more than justice to these musicals. Without further ado, here's a preview of TMP's 2012-2013 calendar.
First up is the award-winning Kander & Ebb musical, Chicago. Lovers, husbands, cheats, dupes, murder, broads and dames roar onto stage. Death row murderesses Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly team up "in search of the ‘American Dream' fame, fortune and acquittal." TMP was smart to open their season with a musical that contains so many show stopping numbers.
Growing up I always looked forward to the holiday season. On top of all the food there was movies! Every fall, around Thanksgiving, one of the local television stations would air The Sound of Music. My family would crowd around with popcorn and all six of us kids would be pleasant to each other for the whole evening. If you need something to get you into the holiday spirit or need a way to entertain family, Rogers and Hammerstein's final collaboration can't be beat.
Hoping to catch your favorite Broadway composer? The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) should have you covered. Billed as "exceedingly clever, extremely funny" it is a satire that present the same plot five times, each in a different style. Corn (Rogers and Hammerstein), A Little Complex (Stephen Sondheim), Dear Abby (Jerry Herman), Aspects of Junita (Andrew Lloyd Webber) and Speakeasy (Kander and Ebb) With five musicals within one, there is sure to be at least one that you'll love.
The fourth TMP production was a comedic gem on the silver screen and has turned into a franchise with two sequels and a musical based on the original Legally Blonde. Sorority girl, Elle Woods, has as much brains as pink cashmere (a lot) and heads to Harvard Law to prove that she is serious and win back her boyfriend.
With so much controversy surrounding the pay disparity between working men and women, the "mommy wars" as well as any other commandeering of women's rights, 9 To 5: The Musical may be just the show to get conversations started in a non-threatening way. Of course, with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, it could just be a lot of fun watching three unlikely female friends take on the male dominated company.
TMP saved SHOUT! The Mod Musical for last. Touted as having "its tongue firmly planted in its cheek," SHOUT! recreates England in the '60s. Full of fashion, dances, music, and hair from the era, SHOUT! also boasts "hilarious sound bites" and looks like a fabulous way to end the season.
With such a fantastic line-up, my fellow theatre critics and I may have to arm wrestle to decide which shows we'll be reviewing.