2016-2017 Season, Waco Civic Theatre

By CARL HOOVER choover@wacotrib.com

Waco theater fans may find plenty to sing about in the Waco Civic Theatre’s upcoming 2016-17 lineup, with four musicals — “Beauty and the Beast,” “Rent,” “Million Dollar Quartet” and “Sweeney Todd” — dominating the six-production season.

In addition to that main season, the theater also will feature two children’s productions, two holiday shows, the theater’s annual “Stars!” fundraiser and a student-oriented book adaptation “Jackie & Me.”

Waco Civic Theatre Executive Director Eric Shephard, who announced the season at Friday’s opening night performance of “The Great Gatsby,” said challenge and collaboration characterized the new season — challenge in such musicals as “Rent” and “Sweeney Todd,” and collaborations with the Waco Independent School District’s fine arts department, McLennan Community College’s Professional Music program, the Central Texas Choral Society and, to a lesser extent, Jane Austen Society chapters in Austin and Dallas.

The name-dropping season — all four musicals had successful Broadway runs — isn’t as much about building an extra-desirable season ticket, as it is about adapting to a national trend of theater patrons choosing to support individual shows rather than entire seasons, the theater director noted. Each of the musicals presented have distinctive fan bases, Shephard said.

The theater has offered four-musical seasons before, but scheduling to accommodate summer offerings will shift the times of other annual productions with the first fall show arriving in mid-October and a summer fundraiser moving to November.

The new season opens with several children’s or family-oriented productions this summer, starting with the annual Missoula Children’s Theatre Tour July 5-9.

Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” a WISD co-production staged at Waco High’s Richfield Performing Arts Center, will run July 22-24 and 29-31. The musical not only will feature student actors but will include an arts management and marketing component for interested high school students, Shephard said.

 

A child-driven “Annie Jr.” takes up early August — Aug. 4-6 and 11-13.

“Sweeney Todd,” Stephen Sondheim’s musical about a vengeful, murderous London barber, will run Oct. 21-24, 27-30 and Nov. 3-6.

That musical will feature the participation of the Central Texas Choral Society, led by director David Guess, given the musical complexity of a Sondheim score, Shephard said.

The musical “Million Dollar Quartet,” which features the early rock ’n’ roll of Sun Records’ Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins, will follow Dec. 2-4 and 8-11 with MCC’s Professional Music students and faculty aiding that production.

December at the Waco Civic Theatre also will feature the holiday shows “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” Dec. 12-13 and “The Story of Scrooge” Dec. 17.

“Almost, Maine,” a slightly offbeat romantic comedy, opens the new year Jan. 27-29 and Feb. 2-5. “Jackie & Me,” a young adult book adaptation about black baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson, runs March 2-5, while the stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” will take place March 31-April 2 and April 6-9, 2017.

Closing the season with a bang is the Broadway hit “Rent,” a 1996 Tony Award winner, which will camp out at the theater May 5-7, 11-14 and 18-21.

Season tickets are now on sale, starting at $85. Call 776-1591 for information or go to www.wacocivic theatre.org.

Waco Civic Theatre 2016-2017 season

Missoula Children’s Theatre Tour, July 5-9

“Beauty and the Beast,” July 22-24 and 29-31

“Annie Jr.” Aug. 4-6, 11-13

“Sweeney Todd,” Oct. 21-23 and 27-30, Nov. 3-6

“Million Dollar Quartet,” Dec. 2-4, 8-11

 

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” Dec. 12-13