'Hair,' 'West Side Story,' 'Mary Poppins,' and 'Rock of Ages' Highlight Broadway Across America – Boston's 2010-2011 Season

Broadway Across America/Boston announced today its upcoming 2010-2011 Broadway touring season. The schedule will include six productions at Boston's Colonial Theatre and the Boston Opera House.

A return engagement of the ever-popular Wicked launches the season September 1 through October 17 at The Opera House. The '80s musical Rock of Ages gets things moving at The Colonial October 6-17. Jersey Boys returns for the holidays, filling The Opera House with the music of The Four Seasons December 16 through January 30. Mary Poppins swoops in on the boys' heels February 17 through March 20.

The 2009 Tony® Award-winning Best Musical Revival Hair directed by the A.R.T.'s own Diane Paulus lets the sun shine in at The Colonial March 22 through April 10. The current Broadway revival of West Side Story finishes out the season June 14 through July 9, also at The Colonial.

More than 600 people from around the city celebrated the season announcement including Broadway Across America/Boston Premier Season Ticket holders, group leaders, arts and business leaders, city officials, partners from around the city, sponsors, and the Boston media. Highlights from the day included special live performances from Broadway cast members of Rock of Ages, Mary Poppins, and West Side Story.

The Lexus Broadway Across America/Boston Series is listed below in chronological order:

WICKED
September 1 - October 17, 2010
Boston Opera House

Entertainment Weekly calls Wicked "the best musical of the decade," and when it last played Boston it broke box office records and sold out in record time. Winner of 35 major awards, including a Grammy® and three Tony® Awards, Wicked is Broadway's biggest blockbuster, a cultural phenomenon, and was just named "the defining musical of the decade" by The New York Times.  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 makes for "the most complete and completely satisfying new musical in a long time" (USA Today).

ROCK OF AGES
October 6 - 17, 2010
Boston's Colonial Theatre

In 1987 on the Sunset Strip, a small town girl met a big city rocker, and in LA's most famous rock club they fell in love to the greatest songs of the '80s. Rock of Ages, nominated for 5 Tony Awards in 2009, is an arena-rock love story told through the mind-blowing, face-melting hits of Journey, Night Ranger, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and many more.

JERSEY BOYS
December 16, 2010 - January 30, 2011
Boston's Colonial Theatre

"Too good to be true!" raves the New York Post for 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. 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 and most recently the 2009 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, features their hit songs "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Rag Doll," "Oh, What a Night" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You."

MARY POPPINS
February 17- March 20, 2011
Boston Opera House

Beginning in February 2011, the world's most famous nanny will arrive at the Boston Opera House. Combining the best of the original stories by P. L. Travers and the beloved Walt Disney film, the Tony® Award-winning Mary Poppins is everything you'd hope for in a Broadway musical - and more. Produced by Disney and CameRon Mackintosh, the show includes such memorable songs as "Chim Chim Cher-ee," "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Let's Go Fly a Kite" and, of course, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." The New York Daily News hails Mary Poppins as "a roof-raising, toe-tapping, high-flying extravaganza!"

HAIR
March 22 - April 10, 2011
Boston's Colonial Theatre

The Public Theater's new Tony®-winning production of Hair, directed by Boston's own Diane Paulus, artistic director of the A.R.T., is the most electric celebration on Broadway! This Tony Award-winning musical revival about a group of young Americans searching for peace and love in a turbulent time has struck a resonant chord with audiences young and old. Hair features dozens of unforgettable songs, including "Aquarius," "Let the Sun Shine In," "Good Morning, Starshine" and "Easy to Be Hard." While many find this show suitable for young adults (13 and older), parental discretion is advised. There is a dimly lit 20-second scene with nudity that is non-sexual in nature.

WEST SIDE STORY
June 14- July 9, 2011
Boston's Colonial Theatre

More than 50 years ago one musical changed theater forever. Now it's back on Broadway mesmerizing audiences once again. From the first note to the final breath, West Side Story soars as the greatest love story of all time. Directed by its two-time Tony® Award-winning librettist Arthur Laurents, West Side Story remains as powerful, poignant and timely as ever. The new Broadway cast album of West Side Story recently won the 2010 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Show Album. The Bernstein and Sondheim score is considered to be one of Broadway's finest and features such classics of the American musical theatre as "Something's Coming," "Tonight," "America," "I Feel Pretty" and "Somewhere."

Season Series Tickets are now on sale. To order, visit broadwayacrossamerica.com/boston or call 866-523-7469. For information on Group Sales please call 866-633-0194 or email BostonGroups@broadwayacrossamerica.com.

PHOTOS by Joan Marcus: Hair Broadway revival cast; Josefina Scaglione (Maria) and Matt Cavenaugh (Tony) from the Broadway revival company of West Side Story

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