Des Moines Playhouse Announces 102nd Season Including KINKY BOOTS and More!
By: A.A. Cristi Feb. 24, 2020
The Des Moines Playhouse announced its 102nd year of live theatre at a party Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. The 2020-21 Season includes seven musicals plus drama, comedy, and shows for the entire family. Playhouse season tickets go on sale Mar. 17, 2020, online at dmplayhouse.com and at The Playhouse ticket office.
The 2020-21 John Viars Theatre Season at The Playhouse opens with the killer musical Chicago. The rest of the season includes the smash Broadway musical Kinky Boots; Disney's Beauty and the Beast, a tale as old as time; a new take on the classic mystery Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, and the true story of Calendar Girls. The Kate Goldman Children's Theatre at The Playhouse includes shows adapted from classic and contemporary children's literature as well as a new musical with historical roots. The 26th children's theatre season will delight audiences of all ages with Charlotte's Web; Go, Dog. Go!; Nate the Great The Musical; and Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical. The Children's Theatre season is sponsored by Nationwide. The Playhouse's 2020 Family Holiday Classic is one of the audiences' favorite things: the beloved Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, The Sound of Music.2020-21 Des Moines Playhouse Season Chicago
Sept. 11-Oct. 4, 2020
In Roaring Twenties Chicago, chorine Roxie Hart murders her faithless lover and then convinces her hapless husband, Amos, to take the rap... until he finds out he's been duped. Convicted and sent to death row, Roxie and another "Merry Murderess," Velma Kelly, vie for the spotlight and the headlines, ultimately joining forces in search of the American Dream: fame, fortune, and all that jazz.
The Penguin Project: Annie Jr.
Oct. 9-11, 2020
Everyone's favorite redhead goes on her first adventure in this 60-minute version of the popular Broadway musical. With equal measures of pluck and positivity, Little Orphan Annie is determined to find the parents who left her years ago on the doorstep of an orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan. Annie eventually finds a new home and family with billionaire Daddy Warbucks, his secretary Grace, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.
The Penguin Project features casts of youths with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, learning disabilities, and other neurological and developmental disorders. These artists are joined on stage by their peer mentors, youths of similar age without disabilities who have worked side-by-side with the artists through four months of rehearsals.
Oct. 23-Nov. 15. 2020
Based on E.B. White's endearing children's novel, Charlotte's Web is a beautiful and knowing story of friendship. Wilbur the pig, the runt of the litter, desperately wants to avoid the butcher. Determined to save Wilbur, an extraordinary spider, Charlotte, begins her campaign with the "miracle" of her web in which she writes, "Some pig." It's a victorious campaign which ultimately ends with the now-safe Wilbur doing what is most important to Charlotte.
The Sound of Music
Dec. 4-20, 2020
Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. The scene is Salzburg, Austria, 1938. Maria, a postulant at Nonnberg Abbey, is sent to be the governess in the home of Captain von Trapp. Upon her arrival, the seven von Trapp kids do everything to drive her away. Maria wins them over and re-introduces music back into the household. She also falls in love with the Captain. As the story unfolds, Nazism takes hold of Austria, causing the von Trapp family to flee over the Swiss border. This Tony- and Oscar- winning musical features such classic Rodgers & Hammerstein songs as "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," "Do-Re-Mi," "My Favorite Things," and, of course, "The Sound of Music."
Go, Dog. Go!
Jan. 8-24, 2021
P.D. Eastman's classic children's book comes to the stage! The dogs delve into life with gusto. They snorkel. They howl at the moon. They ride a Ferris wheel. They sing, and dance, and climb trees. This rollicking, free-for-all of doggy fun is a non-stop, pop-up book that comes alive.
Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express
Feb. 5-21, 2021
Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must identify the murderer - in case he or she decides to strike again!
March 5-28, 2021
Nate the Great, the world's greatest boy detective, awakes, hoping that this day will bring a new case. When he gets a call from his good friend, Annie, alerting him that her painting of her dog, Fang, is missing, he rushes over to investigate. To solve this case, Nate is going to need to find some pancakes, learn to think in new ways, and rely on the help of his friends.
Kinky Boots
Apr. 9-May 2, 2021
Charlie Price has reluctantly inherited his father's shoe factory, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. Trying to live up to his father's legacy and save his family business, Charlie finds inspiration in the form of Lola. A fabulous entertainer in need of some sturdy stilettos, Lola turns out to be the one person who can help Charlie become the man that he is meant to be. As they work to turn the factory around, this unlikely pair find that they have more in common than they ever dreamed possible and discover that, when you change your mind about someone, you can change your whole world.
Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical
May 7-23, 2021
Lily Polkadot has just moved to Rockaway, a "Squares only" town. As the first Polkadot in an all Square school, Lily faces an almost impossible task of gaining acceptance from her peers. From daily bullying, to segregated drinking fountains, Lily's quest seems hopeless until she meets Sky, a shy Square boy whose curiosity for her unique polkadots blooms into an unexpected pal-ship. Inspired by Civil Rights pioneers Ruby Bridges and The Little Rock Nine, Polkadots serves as a colorful history lesson for young and old, reminding us that our differences make us awesome, not outcasts.
Calendar Girls
June 4-20, 2021
When Annie's husband, John, dies of leukemia, she and her best friend, Chris, resolve to raise money for a new settee in the local hospital waiting room. They manage to persuade four fellow Women's Institute members to pose nude with them for an "alternative" calendar, with a little help from hospital porter and amateur photographer Lawrence. The news of the women's charitable venture spreads like wildfire, and hordes of press soon descend on their small village of Knapeley in the Yorkshire Dales. The calendar is a success, but Chris and Annie's friendship is put to the test under the strain of their new-found fame.
Disney's Beauty and the Beast
July 9-Aug. 1, 2021
It's a tale as old as time. Belle is a beautiful book-lover in a provincial town. The Beast is actually a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end, and he will be transformed into 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.
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