Joan Marcus
Audio By Carbonatix
Fans of the touring Broadway musicals that the Denver Center for the Performing Arts has brought to town over the years will be happy to know that DCPA Broadway will be rebooting its hit series with Disney’s The Lion King in December. After that, the much-anticipated touring production of Hamilton will return to town in February.
But four other productions originally slated for fall 2021, including My Fair Lady, 1776, Mean Girls and Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations, have all been postponed.
“Our Broadway partners are beginning to plan for the return to live, indoor programming, and we couldn’t be more excited,” says John Ekeberg, executive director of DCPA Broadway. But excitement isn’t quite enough to pull off such massive touring shows.
“Restarting an entire industry takes considerable time and planning,” Ekeberg notes. “Relaunching tours requires months of production work to build sets and costumes, cast and rehearse shows for the road.”
Though Colorado and Denver officials are optimistic about the return of live events over the summer, with plans to welcome Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game and larger-scale concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Broadway shows are a different sort of beast.
“It’s not enough that Denver’s COVID positivity rates have stabilized,” says Ekeberg. “The Broadway touring industry depends on an interconnected network of markets across the country, all of which must be ready to reopen — and stay open — at full capacity.”
If COVID guidelines allow it, The Lion King is slated to run from December 2 to January 2; Hamilton will run through February. The lineup after that includes Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations; Come From Away; Dear Evan Hansen; Hadestown; Jersey Boys; Mean Girls; Moulin Rouge! The Musical; Pretty Woman: The Musical; Riverdance 25th Anniversary Tour; To Kill a Mockingbird and Tootsie.
Go to the DCPA website for evolving information about tickets and the schedule.
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