5th Avenue Theatre Announces 2014-15 Season - KINKY BOOTS, SOMETHING ROTTEN World Premiere & More!

Standing before a packed house of subscribers, Executive Producer and Artistic Director David Armstrong revealed The 5th Avenue Theatre's 2014/15 season. "Every year we try to choose a season that embodies our mission: to celebrate our great indigenous art form, The Musical - past, present, and future," Armstrong said. "With an array of shows ranging from a hotly-anticipated Broadway tour to a hilarious world premiere, not to mention celebrated contemporary classics and one of the immortal musicals from the Golden Age of Broadway, we believe that this season truly represents the breadth and depth of what musical theater has to offer."

The 2014/15 season opens with one singular sensation, the celebrated Broadway triumph, A Chorus Line(September 3-28, 2014). A Chorus Line is the musical for everyone who's ever had a dream and put it all on the line. Winner of nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this magnificent hit opened on Broadway in 1975 and ran for 15 years, making it one of the longest-running Broadway musicals ever. Now, A Chorus Line returns to The 5th, recreating Michael Bennett's original staging and Bennett andBob Avian's original choreography. The simple story of 17 dancers auditioning for 8 ensemble spots, A Chorus Line broke new Broadway ground as one of the first musicals to be built collaboratively in workshops, telling true stories of true Broadway hopefuls - many of whom never achieved stardom. With a book by James Kirkwoodand Nicholas Dante, an unforgettable score by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, this masterpiece of musical theater features songs including "I Can Do That," "What I Did For Love," "At The Ballet," and "One (Singular Sensation)."

Following on the heels of A Chorus Line is the Seattle debut of the current Broadway sensation, Kinky Boots(October 7-26, 2014). Kinky Boots is the exhilarating Broadway musical that will lift your spirits to new high-heeled heights! Winner of six Tony Awards® including Best Musical, this inspirational story follows a struggling shoe factory owner who works to turn his business around with help from Lola, a fabulous entertainer in need of some sturdy stilettos. Together, this unlikely pair finds that they have more in common than they ever dreamed possible... proving that when you change your mind about someone, you can change your whole world.

Inspired by a true story, Kinky Boots features a joyous, Tony-winning score by Cyndi Lauper, direction and Tony-winning choreography by Jerry Mitchell and a hilarious, uplifting book by four-time Tony winner Harvey Fierstein. Come join the sold-out audiences who've discovered why - sometimes - the best way to fit in is to stand out!

A Christmas Story, The Musical is home for the holidays, returning to The 5th (November 25-December 31, 2014) after one national tour and two wildly successful holiday seasons in New York. This holiday hit debuted at The 5th in 2010 to great acclaim before making its way to Broadway in 2012. Called "a little Christmas miracle" by the Associated Press, the show garnered six Tony Award nominations - a rarity for holiday fare on the Great White Way. Set in 1940s Indiana, a bespectacled boy named Ralphie has a big imagination and one wish for Christmas - a Red Ryder Carbine Action BB Gun. A kooky leg lamp, outrageous pink bunny pajamas, a cranky department store Santa, and a triple-dog-dare to lick a freezing flagpole are just a few of the obstacles that stand between Ralphie and his Christmas dream. Now Ralphie, Randy, his mother, and his old man return to Seattle where the magic began. Featuring a book by Joseph Robinette, and music and lyrics by Benj Pasek andJustin Paul, this delightful Christmas treat is based on the 1983 Miramax film A Christmas Story (written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown, and Bob Clark) and In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash (written by Jean Shepherd.)

Following a long-standing tradition of collaboration with the greater Seattle arts community, The 5th Avenue will kick off 2015 with Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel (February 5-March 1, 2015), a monumental co-production with Spectrum Dance Theater. Directed by 5th Avenue Producing Artistic Director Bill Berry and choreographed by Spectrum Dance Artistic Director Donald Byrd, this fresh new staging of a beloved classic will be truly unforgettable. A tempestuous love story told with heart-breaking tenderness, Carousel follows the passionate romance between carnival barker Billy Bigelow and the sweet mill worker Julie Jordan. After his untimely death, Billy is given one day - a final chance to redeem his life - he returns to the wife and daughter he left behind to make things right. One of Rodgers and Hammerstein's most beautiful and enduring musicals, audiences will be swept away by such cherished songs as "If I Loved You," "June Is Bustin' Out All Over," and "You'll Never Walk Alone." Carousel will mark the fourth time The 5th has collaborated with Spectrum Dance and its remarkable company of dancers.

The 5th Avenue will celebrate its fifth collaboration with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre with the sensational Off-Broadway classic, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well & Living in Paris (March 7-May 17, 2015). In 1968, a musical revue of songs by a little-known Belgian singer/songwriter opened Off-Broadway at the Village Gate, and astounded audiences who came to see it. It would run for four years and go on to be performed around the world. Packed with wit, intelligence, and raw human emotion, Brel's songs radiate stories of love and loss, hope and despair, and humor and pathos. The emotional power of these songs has inspired hundreds of artists (everyone from David Bowie and Neil Diamond to Celine Dion and Nirvana) to cover his work. The poignant, passionate, and profound songs of Jacques Brel are brought to vivid theatrical life in this intense musical experience. Jacques Brel will feature direction by 5th Avenue Artistic Director David Armstrong, and will star some of Seattle's most phenomenal singers.

In the spring, The 5th is pleased to welcome its 17th new musical to its stage with the world premiere of an original musical: Something Rotten! (April 29-May 24, 2015). The Tony Award-winning director and choreographer of The Book of Mormon, The Drowsy Chaperone, and Disney's Aladdin, Casey Nicholawreturns to The 5th to helm this hilarious new show. Nicholaw made his professional debut as choreographer of The 5th Avenue's first new musical, The Prince and the Pauper in 2001, and returned to The 5th in 2011 to direct the world premiere of Disney's Aladdin, which makes its Broadway debut on February 26.

The time is Renaissance England, where two brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom, are desperate to write a hit play. But how can they when the competition is the biggest star of the era, everyone's favorite bard: William Shakespeare? So they seek out the soothsayer Nostradamus. But not the Nostradamus, his nephew Thomas, who gives our heroes a completely original idea from the future - write a play with songs. And thus, the first ever musical is born. But not without much mayhem, madness, and musical mishaps. There is indeed Something Rotten! - and it will have audiences rolling in the aisles.

Something Rotten! is an original musical conceived by and featuring music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrickand Karey Kirkpatrick. Wayne Kirkpatrick is a hit songwriter and record producer based in Nashville. His songs have been recorded by celebrities including (to name a few) Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, Babyface, Amy Grant, Trisha Yearwood, Wynonna Judd, Bonnie Raitt, and Eric Clapton, whose version of Kirkpatrick's "Change the World" won a Grammy for Song of the Year. Karey Kirkpatrick is screenwriter and director, whose films include James and the Giant Peach, Chicken Run, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, among others. Something Rotten! Also includes a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell, the British author, comedy writer, and political campaigner.

The 5th Avenue closes its season with the one that you want! Grease (July 9-August 2, 2015) is rolling in to The 5th Avenue Theatre, complete with the T-Birds, the Pink Ladies, and of course, Greased Lightnin'. Audiences won't soon forget the timeless tale of the students of Rydell High, Danny Zuko, and Sandy Dumbrowski in this original 5th Avenue production. The perennial musical favorite debuted on Broadway in 1972 and played for eight years, not to mention two wildly successful revivals, a number of national tours, and the film that launched John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John to stardom. The show has also played in the West End in London, with dozens of other international productions in over twenty countries. Audiences will be singing and dancing along to Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey's memorable pop hits including "Beauty School Dropout," "Hopelessly Devoted to You," "Greased Lightnin'," and "You're the One that I Want."

More about The 5th Avenue Theatre

The 5th Avenue Theatre is one of the nation's premier incubators for new musical theater. Since 2002, the celebrated company has produced 15 new musicals. To date, eight (including the 2012 hit First Date) have moved on to Broadway premieres, earning a combined 14 Tony Awards, including two for Best Musical (Hairspray and Memphis). A ninth, Disney's Aladdin, will launch its Broadway run on February 26. The 5th Avenue Theatre is also known for its world class, critically acclaimed productions of musicals chosen from both the contemporary canon and the Golden Age of Broadway.

Unique in its Chinese-inspired design, this exquisite theater opened in 1926 as a venue for vaudeville and film. In 1980, the non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre began producing and presenting top-quality live musical theater. Today, under the leadership of Executive Producer and Artistic Director David Armstrong, Managing Director Bernadine C. Griffin and Producing Artistic Director Bill Berry, The 5th Avenue Theatre attracts an annual attendance of more than 287,000 and ranks among the nation's largest and most respected musical theater companies.

In addition to its main stage productions, The 5th Avenue Theatre is also committed to encouraging the next generation of theatergoers through its extensive educational outreach programs which include: The Adventure Musical Theatre Touring Company, The 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theater, the Rising Star Project, Show Talks with Albert Evans, Curtain Up!, the Student Matinee Program, and Spotlight Nights.

For more information about The 5th Avenue Theatre, its season and its programs, please visitwww.5thavenue.org.

Special thanks to The 5th Avenue Theatre 2014/15 season sponsors ArtsFund and U.S. Bank, official airline Delta Air Lines, and media sponsor The Seattle Times.