Music Theatre Wichita Announces 2021 Summer Season - SOMETHING ROTTEN!, KINKY BOOTS, and More!

Music Theatre Wichita announced today that the five shows planned for its 2020 summer season will be presented in the summer of 2021.

Newly created productions of Grease, The Wizard of Oz, Something Rotten!, the Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub Twelfth Night, and Kinky Boots were slated for June-August 2020. Producing Artistic Director Wayne Bryan explains: "Rather than miss out on these excellent titles altogether, we will incorporate the set and costume designs we've already begun, along with as many of the same talented actors and technicians as possible, and proudly present these shows in 2021, during our 50th Anniversary summer. This preserves the artistic integrity of what we do, while protecting the safety of our patrons, performers, musicians, and technical artists."

Incoming Associate Artistic Director Brian J. Marcum will join MTWichita's efforts to provide new artistic and educational content through online platforms, as well as appropriately distanced in-person events as soon as it becomes possible. Marcum's background as a Broadway performer, director/choreographer, and educator brings additional creativity, skill, and capacity as MTWichita staff create new ways to deliver the organization's mission.

MTWichita's high school recognition program, the Jester Awards, premiered online via YouTube Sunday afternoon, May 3. Composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz joined forces with MTWichita alums Kelli O'Hara, Toni Trucks, Julius Thomas III, Taurean Everett, Shina Ann Morris, Kevin Munhall, Javier Ignacio, Erin Clemons, Desi Oakley, and Aimee Dombo Desmond to give greetings and announce the award recipients.

Music Theatre Wichita has earned a reputation for providing uniquely valuable summer opportunities for young upcoming talents. This year's Broadway season has featured nearly forty MTWichita alumni, including cast members of Company, Jagged Little Pill, Moulin Rouge, Mrs. Doubtfire, Diana, Come from Away, Hadestown, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, Frozen, Mean Girls, Tootsie, Disney's Aladdin, The Book of Mormon, Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera, and the off Broadway production of The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Founded in 1972, MTWichita has produced the world premiere of the revised Good News!, the U.S. premiere of Betty Blue Eyes, and the regional premieres of such Disney titles as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and High School Musical. MTWichita has also created cast albums for Honk! and Good News!

Gift certificates and 2021 season tickets are on sale now, online at boxoffice@mtwichita.org. More information, including biographies, histories, and videos, can be found at www.MTWichita.org, and on social media sites Facebook (Music Theatre Wichita), Twitter (@MTWichita) Instagram (MTWichita), and YouTube.