FORT LAUDERDALE – The Broward Center for the Performing Arts today announced an expanded Off Broadway In Broward Season lineup as part of its 2010-11 anniversary season celebrating 20 years of applause that is sure to keep audiences not only applauding but on their feet cheering with nine productions plus three special offerings including: the Tony Award winning Broadway blockbuster Spring Awakening; Off-Broadway hits Forbidden Broadway and Second City; audience favorites Forever Plaid and Steve Solomon’s Home for the Holidays; Chicago’s Improvised Shakespeare Company; interactive theater events Cooking with the Calamari Sisters and Mic’s Night Out; the high energy musical Bare; plus musical tributes to parenting, Ella Fitzgerald and George and Ira Gershwin with Motherhood the Musical, Ella and ‘SWonderful.
“As we kick-off our 20th anniversary celebration season, we are delighted that South Florida audiences will be able to enjoy some of the best in theatre with our Off Broadway In Broward series,” said Broward Center President and CEO Kelley Shanley. “From light-hearted comedy and interactive improv to poignant tributes and musical satire, there is something for everyone to enjoy. A dozen titles will be presented as part of this exciting series – representing productions from New York and regional theaters. Combining long-time favorites with some of today’s up-and-coming productions, we’ve created an anniversary Off Broadway In Broward season that will showcase national stars and regional talents.”
Performances in the series will take place at four venues this year including the Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater as well as the cabaret-style Abdo New River Room, the historic Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale, and the Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center in Davie.
Nine productions, not including Bare, Mic’s Night Out and Improvised Shakespeare, are offered in a subscription series with a discount of 20 percent on each ticket for nine shows, 15 percent discount for six shows and 10 percent discount for four shows.
Single tickets to individual productions will go on sale throughout the season. Tickets to Improvised Shakespeare are currently available and tickets to two other shows will be on sale in July: Mic’s Night Out (July 12) and Motherhood the Musical (July 23).
Subscription packages and single tickets may be purchased through the Broward Center’s box office at 954/462-0222 and BrowardCenter.org.
The 2010-11 Off Broadway In Broward Series is as follows:
Bare *Non-subscription series special
September 9 – 18 in the Abdo New River Room at the Broward Center
Often compared to both Rent and Spring Awakening, this high energy new rock musical follows five Catholic high school seniors struggling with issues of personal and sexual identity as they get ready to graduate and face the world. Bare‘s infectious rock music score electrifies traditional and gay love stories alongside the everyday insecurities of not knowing who we are and where we fit in, laying them all out for scrutiny. This production contains adult themes and subject matter. Performances are: Thursday, September 9 at 8 p.m.; Friday, September 10 at 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, September 11 at 5 and 9 p.m.; Sunday, September 12 at 7 p.m.; Monday, September 13 at 8 p.m.; Friday, September 17 at 8:30 p.m.; and Saturday, September 18 at 5 and 9 p.m. Tickets are $30.
Motherhood the Musical
September 24 – November 3 at the Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center
With the motto “A baby is just the beginning while Motherhood is for life…,” Motherhood the Musical is a joyous journey and loving look at the blessings and perils of being a Mom when three women decide to throw their friend a baby shower. It’s about laughing and crying, craziness and calm, smiles and tears…and all before breakfast. GFour presents this hysterical and poignant musical featuring the hilarious Top 10 Billboard Comedy Hit “The The Kids Are Finally Asleep,” the rousing “Costco Queen” and the tender “I’m Danny’s Mom.” Performance times vary. Tickets are $40.
Mic’s Night Out *Non-subscription series special
September 30 – October 10 in the Abdo New River Room at the Broward Center
Enjoy music, dancing and a happy hour buffet at a great new place that integrates theater with a real karaoke contest as audience members compete with the performers and become an integral part of the show. Performances are: Thursday, September 30 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, October 1 and Saturday, October 2 at 5:30 and 9 p.m.; Sunday, October 3 at 3 and 7:30 p.m.; Wednesday, October 6 and Thursday, October 7 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, October 8 at 5:30 and 9 p.m.; Saturday, October 9 at 8:30 p.m.; and Sunday, October 10 at 3 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $45.
Steve Solomon’s Home for the Holidays
December 17 – 19 in the Amaturo Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Steve Solomon, star and creator of the award-winning smash comedy My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m in Therapy, lightens up the holiday season with more “mishuginah” exploits about spending holidays with his family. Following his most recent success with My Sister’s an Only Child, Solomon continues the chaos and reminds audiences that there is nothing like a family reunion to remind them why they left home in the first place. Performances are Friday, December 17 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, December 18 at 3 and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, December 19 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $25 and $35.
Cooking With The Calamari Sisters
January 6 – 9, 2011 in the Amaturo Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Hilarity, failed dishes and food fights ensue during this live “broadcast” of a public access cable cooking show hosted by two larger-than-life Italian sisters, Delphine and Carmela Calamari. With a little help in the kitchen from audience members, the sisters sing and dance their way through preparing four courses of Italian cuisine with such beloved Italian favorites as “Volare,” “Come On A My House,” “Botcha Me,” “Que Sera Sera,” “That’s Amore,” and of course, “Mambo Italiano!” Performances are: Thursday and Friday, January 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, January 8 at 3 and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, January 9 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $25 and $35.
Forever Plaid
January 16, 2011 at Parker Playhouse
Sung in delicious four-part harmony, the score of this heavenly hit musical includes some of the 1950s greatest hits such as “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “Sixteen Tons,” “Chain Gang,” “Heart and Soul” and “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing,” as four members of an all-male singing group get a second chance to fulfill their dream and perform the concert they never got to in life. Performances are: Sunday, January 16 at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $30.50 and $40.50.
Improvised Shakespeare *Non-subscription series special
February 2, 2011 in the Abdo New River Room at the Broward Center
Based on an audience suggestion, the Improvised Shakespeare Co. creates a fully improvised play in Elizabethan style which might be filled with power struggles, star-crossed lovers, sprites, kings, queens, princesses, sword-play, rhyming couplets, asides, insults, persons in disguise and all that we’ve come to expect from the pen of the great Bard. The completely improvised show is performed Wednesday, February 2 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25.
Ella
February 24 – 27, 2011 at Parker Playhouse
“The First Lady of Song” Ella Fitzgerald jams with her musicians (including famed trumpeter Louis Armstrong) and gets ready to meet the audience for one of the most important concerts of her career while she reflects on her life, her secrets and the love of music that made her soar. The exhilarating theatrical event weaves myth, memory and music with more than a dozen of her most famous hits including “A Tisket, A Tasket,” “How High the Moon,” “That Old Black Magic” and “They Can’t Take that Away from Me.” Performances are: Thursday, February 24 and Friday, February 25 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, February 26 at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, February 27 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $30.50, $40.50 and $50.50.
‘SWonderful
March 10 – 13, 2011 at Parker Playhouse
Like a glorious technicolor movie musical, ‘SWonderful paints a picture of nostalgia and entertainment as it celebrates the lives of George and Ira Gershwin, who created many of the standards now known as the great American Songbook. Incorporating five mini-musicals inspired by real events, this musical illustrates the songwriting team’s impact on the world as it travels back in time to New York City in 1916, Paris in the 1930s, Hollywood in the 1940s, New Orleans in the 1950s and present day. Performances are: Thursday, March 10 and Friday, March 11 at 8 p.m.; and on Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13 at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $29, $39 and $49.
Spring Awakening
March 24 – 27 at Parker Playhouse
The winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Spring Awakening explores the journey from adolescence to adulthood in a celebration of youth and rebellion told by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater through “The most gorgeous Broadway score this decade” (Entertainment Weekly). Performed with poignancy and passion, the landmark musical is an electrifying fusion of morality, sexuality and rock & roll that follows a group of 19th century German students as they navigate teenage self-discovery and coming of age anxiety. Performances are: Thursday, March 24 and Friday, March 25 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 26 at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, March 27 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25, $45, $55, $65 and $75.
The Second City Fair & Unbalanced
March 25, 2011 in the Amaturo Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts
The Second City’s Fair & Unbalanced takes unbridled comic pleasure in the foibles of our politicians, celebrities and even our significant others. No institution escapes the satiric eye of The Second City — from the political bigwigs Washington D.C.‘s Beltway to the Hollywood elite. The show is a hilarious ride through present day America ripped from the stages of Second City’s legendary theaters in Chicago and Toronto. The show is performed Friday, March 25 at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $39.
Forbidden Broadway Dances with the Stars
April 14 – 17, 2011 in the Amaturo Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts
New York’s longest running musical comedy revue features outrageous costumes, silly spoofs of the songs audiences know by heart and madcap impressions by a stellar cast. New spoofs of South Pacific, Patti LuPone in Gypsy and “You’re the One that I Hate” from Grease join parodies of more than 30 Broadway shows from Annie to Phantom of the Opera to Wicked in the latest side-splitting edition. Performances are: Thursday, April 14 through Saturday, April 16 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 17 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $25 and $35.
The Broward Center is located at 201 SW Fifth Avenue in Fort Lauderdale in the Riverwalk Arts & Entertainment District. The Parker Playhouse is located at 707 N.E. Eighth Street in Holiday Park, Fort Lauderdale. The Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center is located at Nova Southeastern University Campus, 3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Boulevard in Davie.
All dates, times, programs and artists are subject to change.
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BRIEF
The Broward Center for the Performing Arts has unveiled its 2010-11 Off Broadway In Broward Season featuring: Bare (Sept. 9 – 18); Motherhood the Musical (Sept. 24 – Nov. 3); Mic’s Night Out (Sept. 30 – Oct. 10); Steve Solomon’s Home for the Holidays (Dec. 17 – 19); Cooking With The Calamari Sisters (Jan. 6 – 9, 2011); Forever Plaid (Jan. 16, 2011 ); Improvised Shakespeare (Feb. 2, 2011); Ella (Feb. 24 – 27, 2011); ‘SWonderful (March 10- 13, 2011); Spring Awakening (March 24 – 27); The Second City Fair & Unbalanced (March 25, 2011); and Forbidden Broadway Dances with the Stars (April 14 – 17, 2011). Productions in the series will take place at the Broward Center, the Parker Playhouse, both in Fort Lauderdale, and the Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center in Davie. Nine productions, not including Bare: The Musical, Mic’s Night Out and Improvised Shakespeare, are offered in a subscription series with a discount of 20 percent on each ticket for nine shows, 15 percent discount for six shows and 10 percent discount for four shows. Single tickets to individual productions will go on sale throughout the season. Subscription packages and single tickets may be purchased through the Broward Center’s box office at 954/462-0222 and BrowardCenter.org.