Miller Auditorium announces its 2011-12 Broadway season
by Tonya Durlach
June 14, 2011 | WMU News
"Jersey Boys"
KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University's Miller Auditorium has announced its 2011-12 Broadway season lineup. Six hit musicals will take the stage of the 3,423-seat performance venue this year, including the 2006 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, "Jersey Boys."
Season subscription packages are on sale now and start at $94. Flex Pass subscriptions, which allow patrons to combine four or more events from the entire season and save $5 off each ticket, are also on sale. Single-show tickets will go on sale several weeks before each performance.
For more information about individual performances or subscription options, visit millerauditorium.com or call the Miller Auditorium Ticket Office at (269) 387-2300 or (800) 228-9858.
2011–12 PNC Broadway and Broadway Plus shows
- "My Fair Lady" is based on George Bernard Shaw's play and Gabriel Pascal's movie, "Pygmalion." Professor Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train the unkempt Eliza Doolittle to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of sophistication. The romantic comedy parodies the rigid British class system of the day and makes a statement on women's independence.
- Tuesday, Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m.
- "Cirque Dreams Holidaze"--Come in from the cold, forget the holiday stresses, and rediscover the magic of the season with Neil Goldberg's "Cirque Dreams Holidaze." An international cast of more than 30 brilliantly costumed artists comes to life to perform astonishing feats of disbelief. Experience gingerbread men flipping mid-air, toy soldiers marching on thin wires, snowmen balancing, icemen sculpting, penguins spinning, puppets dancing and reindeer soaring high above a landscape of holiday wonderment. An original music score and some seasonal favorites accompany hundreds of spectacular costumes and holiday dreams in a setting of gigantic gifts, colossal candy canes and 30-foot towering soldiers.
- Tuesday, Nov. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 7:30 p.m.
- "Rock of Ages"--The five-time Tony-nominated hit musical "Rock of Ages" is set in 1987 on the Sunset Strip. When a small-town girl meets a big-city rocker in Los Angeles' most famous rock club, they fall in love to the greatest songs of the 80s. The arena-rock love story is told through the hits of Journey, Night Ranger, STYX, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia and Whitesnake.
- Tuesday, Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m.
- "In the Heights"--Winner of four 2008 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, "In the Heights" takes an exhilarating journey into a vibrant Manhattan community--a place where the coffee is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. Experience the next chapter of the classic American story by finding out what it takes to make a living, what it costs to have a dream, and what it means to be home "In the Heights."
- "Jersey Boys" is the 2006 Tony Award-winning Best Musical about Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famers Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi--the Four Seasons. 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. Winner of the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album and the 2009 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, "Jersey Boys" features such hit songs as "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Rag Doll," "Oh What a Night" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You."
- Tuesday, March 20, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 21, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 22, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 23, 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 24, 2 p.m.
Saturday, March 24, 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 25, 1 p.m.
Sunday, March 25, 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 27, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 28, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 29, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 30, 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 31, 2 p.m.
Saturday, March 31, 8 p.m.
Sunday, April 1, 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 1, 6:30 p.m.
- "Young Frankenstein"--A wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Frankenstein legend based on Mel Brooks' classic comedy masterpiece, "Young Frankenstein" follows the bright young Dr. Frankenstein as he attempts to complete his grandfather's masterwork and bring a corpse to life. Together with his oddly shaped and endearing helper Igor, his curvaceous lab assistant Inga, and in spite of his self-involved madcap fiancée Elizabeth, Frankenstein succeeds in creating a monster--but not without complications. With such memorable tunes as "The Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and "Puttin' On The Ritz," "Young Frankenstein" is the only place to witness a singing and dancing laboratory experiment in the largest tuxedo ever made.
- Tuesday, April 24, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 25, 7:30 p.m.
2011–12 Lake Michigan Mailers Spotlight Series
- "Girls Night: The Musical"
Friday, Sept. 23, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 24, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 24, 8 p.m.
- "Master's of Illusion Live"
Friday, Oct. 14, 8 p.m.
- Bob Newhart
Sunday, Oct. 23, 3 p.m.
- "The Rocky Horror Show"
Friday, Oct. 28, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 29, 8 p.m.
- Jazz Masters
Thursday, Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m.
- Rennie Harris "Puremovement"
Tuesday, Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m.
- An Evening with Buddy Valastro: The Cake Boss
Thursday, Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m.
- Kenny Rogers "Christmas and Hits"
Saturday, Nov. 26, 8 p.m.
- "Celtic Thunder"
Friday, Dec. 9, 8 p.m.
- "Fairytale Fantasy"
Sunday, Jan. 22, 2 p.m.
- Harlem Gospel Choir
Friday, Jan. 27, 8 p.m.
- "Gold Company Salutes the Oscars"
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 11, 8 p.m.
- "Blast"
Thursday, Feb. 23, 7:30 p.m.
- The Acting Company "Comedy of Errors"
Tuesday, March 13, 7:30 p.m.
For more information, visit millerauditorium.com or contact Tracey Lawie at tracey.lawie@wmich.edu or (269) 387-2309.