The season at the Beverly, MA, theatre kicks off April 25 with Damn Yankees, which focuses on a Red Sox fan rather than a Washington Senators devotee. The North Shore version will feature an adapted book by Joe DiPietro based on the original Douglass Wallop-George Abbott text. In the North Shore Yankees, based on a concept by Jon Kimbell, "a die-hard Red Sox fan makes a deal with the devil to help the Sox take the pennant from the dreaded Yankees." The Jerry Ross-Richard Adler musical will play the North Shore through May 14.
The Tony-winning Fats Waller revue Ain't Misbehavin' will follow, playing the theatre-in-the-round May 30-June 18. Kent Gash, who helmed North Shore's Pacific Overtures, will direct and choreograph the production, which features such classics as "Honeysuckle Rose," "The Joint Is Jumpin'" and "I Can't Give You Anything But Love."
Singin' in the Rain — complete with falling rain — will play the North Shore July 4-23, and that musical production will be followed by the return of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, which was forced to cancel its run last season after the devastating fire at the North Shore. Now rebuilt to its former glory, the theatre will present the classic tale of a young woman transformed by a fairy godmother's magic spell Aug. 22-Sept. 10.
While London gears up for the revival of Evita, the North Shore will offer another Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical, Jesus Christ Superstar. The groundbreaking rock opera, which boasts such tunes as "I Don't Know How to Love Him" and "Everything's Alright," will be presented Sept. 19-Oct. 8.
The 2006 season will conclude with the regional premiere of Hairspray, the Tony Award-winning Best Musical that is based on the John Waters film of the same name. The Marc Shaiman-Scott Wittman-Mark O'Donnell-Thomas Meehan musical about "a big girl with big dreams" will play the North Shore Oct. 24-Nov. 12. About the upcoming season, NSMT executive producer and artistic director Jon Kimbell said in a statement, "We all agree, last season's 50th Anniversary Celebration turned out to be very different from what we anticipated. Our 2006 season is one of tremendous optimism. We took great care in choosing musicals that would offer plenty of fun and great entertainment for our loyal audiences. It is also a season that will challenge our staff creatively and artistically."
Executive director Robert Alpaugh added, "The 2006 Musical Season is truly a new beginning for North Shore Music Theatre. After months of refurbishing and rebuilding following last summer's devastating fire, we have a beautiful new stage, comfortable new seating, and a renewed commitment to being a leader, both regionally and nationally, in the art of the American musical."
The North Shore Music Theatre is located at 62 Dunham Road in Beverly, MA. Subscriptions to the upcoming season are now on sale; single tickets for all shows will go on sale March 20 to NSMT donors, March 22 to NSMT subscribers and April 2 to the general public. For more information call (978) 232-7200 or visit www.nsmt.org.
