AVENUE Q, WICKED & More Set For PPAC's 2009/2010 Contemporary Classics Series

J.L. "Lynn" Singleton, President of the Providence Performing Arts Center, is pleased to announce PPAC's 32nd Broadway season, featuring the 2009/2010 Broadway Series and the 2009/2010 Contemporary Classics Series. The Broadway Series includes the North American Touring debut of THE NEW Mel Brooks MUSICAL Young Frankenstein, followed by AVENUE Q, WICKED, XANADU, 101 DALMATIANS THE MUSICAL, and Jersey Boys. The Contemporary Classics Series includes RAIN - A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES, DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and A BRONX TALE.

Singleton said, "We are elated to bring this phenomenal roster of shows to Rhode Island for 2009/2010. In addition to the thrill of opening THE NEW Mel Brooks MUSICAL Young Frankenstein here in the fall, we will have four weeks each of WICKED and Jersey Boys - unprecedented at PPAC!"

Family shows and special engagements will be announced at a later date; visit www.ppacri.org for the most current information. Please note that all dates, programs, and artists are subject to change without notice. For more information about becoming a subscriber and to receive a complimentary brochure in early May, call the Box Office at (401) 421-ARTS; patrons may also contact Sharon Corcoran at (401) 574-3136 or visit www.ppacri.org. Schools, organizations, clubs, churches, families, and friends who wish to obtain more information on group sales of 20 or more, please contact Paul Hiatt at (401) 574-3162 or groups@ppacri.org. Details regarding reception rooms and restaurant packages are available for groups upon request.

2009/2010 BROADWAY SERIES

THE NEW Mel Brooks MUSICAL Young Frankenstein will begin the Broadway Series from September 29 - October 4, 2009, and is also opening its National Tour in Providence! The classic Mel Brooks movie is ALIVE...and it's headed here! You'll have a monstrously good time at this spectacular new production, winner of the 2008 Outer Critics Circle Award and the Broadway.com Audience Award for BEST MUSICAL! Don't miss the sensational cast delivering all your favorite moments from the classic film, plus brand-new show-stopping numbers for the stage, including "Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and "Puttin' on the Ritz." This wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Frankenstein legend follows bright young Dr. Frankenstein (that's Fronkensteen) as he attempts to create a monster--but not without scary and hilarious complications. The brains behind the laughter is mad genius and three-time Tony winner Mel Brooks himself--who wrote the music and lyrics and co-wrote the book- along with his record-breaking team from The Producers: five-time Tony-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman and three-time Tony-winning writer, Thomas Meehan.

AVENUE Q, coming October 20 - 25, 2009, is Broadway's smash-hit 2004 Tony Award® winner for BEST MUSICAL, BEST SCORE and BEST BOOK. A hilarious show full of heart and hummable tunes, AVENUE Q is about trying to make it in NYC with big dreams and a tiny bank account. Called "one of the funniest shows you're ever likely to see" by Entertainment Weekly, AVENUE Q features a cast of people and puppets who tell the story in a smart, risqué and downright entertaining way. The New Yorker calls it "SUBVERSIVE and UPROARIOUS!" Recommended for ages 13 and up. Avenue Q has not been authorized or approved by The Jim Henson Company or Sesame Workshop, which have no responsibility for its content.

Back by "Popular" Demand from December 16, 2009 - January 10, 2010! The New York Times calls WICKED "Broadway's biggest blockbuster," and when it first played Providence in 2007, it broke box office records and sold out in record time. Winner of 20 major awards, including a Grammy and three Tony Awards, WICKED is "a show that's got everything - catchy plot, soaring tunes from Stephen Schwartz, and some spectacular scenic effects from Tony-winning designer, Eugene Lee. But there are also layers of depth and subtlety, as the show takes on issues of diversity, political corruption and the vicissitudes of human nature. It's a show that questions good and evil, right and wrong, and looks at the gray areas in between" (Providence Journal). Long before that girl from Kansas arrives in Munchkinland, two girls meet in the Land of Oz. One - born with emerald green skin - is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch makes for "the most complete and completely satisfying new musical in a long time" (USA Today).

Called "so ridiculously brilliant, so lavish and sublime" by The New Yorker, XANADU skates into Providence February 16 - 21, 2010! Put a bunch of smash hit songs, Tony® Award nominee Douglas Carter Beane, and the cutest couple in town into a Broadway musical comedy blender, and what do you get? "Heaven on Wheels" says The New York Times. Taking audiences back to 1980 California, this hilarious new musical follows the beautiful Kira, who travels to earth to inspire a struggling young artist named Sonny, as she helps this aspiring painter to find his voice, discover true love and build the world's first roller disco (not necessarily in that order).

PPAC becomes a Dalmatian Plantation when 101 DALMATIANS THE MUSICAL comes March 16 - 21, 2010! 101 DALMATIANS THE MUSICAL is an experience for the entire family about what it means to be a family, canine and courageous. More than a simple story about good versus bad, the family bands together to overcome every hurdle and hardship in the most difficult times. Led by the creative team of Jerry Zaks (La Cage Aux Folles, Smokey Joe's Cafe, Everybody Loves Raymond), B.T. McNicholl (Spamalot, Billy Elliot, Cabaret) and Dennis DeYoung (founding member of the rock group Styx, The Hunchback of Notre Dame), 101 DALMATIANS THE MUSICAL will transport audiences to a slightly topsy-turvy, exciting, and altogether fantastic reality that gives grand license for song, dance and spectacle in a one-of-a-kind show that will leave everyone cheering. The KIDS' NIGHT ON BROADWAY performance of 101 DALMATIANS THE MUSICAL will be on the evening of Thursday, March 18; more details to come.

The final show in the Broadway series was called "TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!" by the New York Post. Jersey Boys, the 2006 Tony Award®-winning Best Musical about Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi, is coming to the Ocean State from the Garden State May 12 - June 6, 2010. This is the story of how four blue-collar kids became one of the greatest successes in pop music history. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide - all before they were 30! Jersey Boys, winner of the 2006 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Show Album, features their hit songs "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Rag Doll," "Oh What a Night" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You." "IT WILL RUN FOR CENTURIES!" proclaims Time Magazine. The Jersey Boys creative team comprises two-time Tony Award®-winning director Des McAnuff, book writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, composer Bob Gaudio, lyricist Bob Crewe and choreographer Sergio Trujillo.

2009/2010 CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS SERIES

Get back, Providence! The first performance in the 2009/2010 Contemporary Classics Series, RAIN - A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES, the acclaimed Beatles concert, returns by popular demand November 27 - 29, 2009. They look like them and they sound just like them! "The next best thing to seeing The Beatles," raves The Denver Post. All the music and vocals are performed totally live! RAIN covers The Beatles from the earliest beginnings through the psychedelic late 60s and their long-haired hippie, hard-rocking rooftop days. RAIN is a multi-media, multi-dimensional experience...a fusion of historical footage and hilarious television commercials from the 1960s lights up video screens and live cameras zoom in for close-ups. "A thrilling bit of time-warping nostalgia...Boomer Heaven!" raves The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Uncanny! RAIN are a quartet of fine musicians in their own right...as The Beatles, they triumph!" cheers the Boston Herald. "An adoring Valentine to The Beatles," declares The Washington Post. Sing along with your family and friends to such favorites as "Let It Be," "Hey Jude," "My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Come Together" and "Can't Buy Me Love," and relive Beatlemania from Ed Sullivan to Abbey Road!

The most beautiful love story ever told comes to life! The lush, romantic Broadway musical for all generations! Tale as old as time, true as it can be...DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, the smash hit Broadway musical, is coming back to Providence, February 23 - 28, 2010! Based on the Academy Award-winning animated feature film, this eye-popping spectacle has won the hearts of over 35 million people worldwide. This classic musical love story is filled with unforgettable characters, lavish sets and costumes, and dazzling production numbers including "Be Our Guest" and the beloved title song. DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is the classic story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped in a spell placed by an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed to his former self. But time is running out. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity.

Academy Award®-nominated actor Chazz Palminteri returns to the stage in an unforgettable performance fresh from a successful run on Broadway, where it was praised by the critics and adored by the public. In A BRONX TALE, the celebrated play on which he based the legendary movie, Palminteri vividly depicts a young boy's rough childhood in the 1960s-era Bronx and the unforgettable people he encountered. A classic coming-of-age story about reaching your true potential and trusting your heart, A BRONX TALE is directed by four-time Tony Award®-winner Jerry Zaks and is coming to Providence April 16 - 18, 2010. "A REJUVENATING ACT OF FAITH IN THE POWERS OF ACTING AND STORYTELLING. This memoir has HEART, SPICE and HUMOR." - Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

For more on how to subscribe to the 2009/2010 Broadway Series and the 2009/2010 Contemporary Classics Series, contact the PPAC Box Office at (401) 421-ARTS (2787) from 10A - 5P Monday through Friday and 10A - 2P on Saturdays; patrons may also contact Sharon Corcoran at (401) 574-3136 or visit www.ppacri.org.

For inquiries and information about advertising in the 2009/20010 CenterStage program book, please contact Sharon Corcoran, CenterStage advertising sales representative, at direct@ppacri.org or call (401) 574-3136.

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