CINCINNATI, OH – Cincinnati Music Theatre (CMT), a resident company of the Aronoff Center for the Arts, is pleased to announce its 2018-19 Season, including two full-scale musical productions in the intimate Jarson-Kaplan Theater, two cabaret-style studio shows in the Fifth Third Bank Theater, and a master class with a Drama Desk Award-nominated Cincinnati native.
Season tickets and single tickets are on sale now for the mainstage productions and the master class at www.CincinnatiArts.org, (513) 621-ARTS [2787], and the Aronoff Center Ticket Office. On sale dates for the Studio Cabaret Series will be announced.
After wrapping a successful mainstage season of Sister Act and Camelot, and two sold-out runs of its premiere Studio Cabaret Series, including Love is Love and Nothing Like a Dame, CMT continues to build on its achievements at the Aronoff Center. From two large-scale musicals based on hit movies to a musical parody about musicals to an original work of musical theatre created by a local Cincinnatian, CMT continues to excite audiences with popular musical theatre and fabulous local talent, and to delight them with new and original works.
2018-19 MAINSTAGE SEASON
MY FAVORITE YEAR
Book by Joseph Dougherty, music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Aherns
November 9-17, 2018
Aronoff Center – Jarson-Kaplan Theater
A classic musical comedy with a heart of gold, My Favorite Year features a tuneful score by the incomparable Tony-winning songwriters, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and is based on the hit Peter O’Toole film of the same name. It’s 1954, and Benjy Stone, writers’ assistant on TV’s ‘King Kaiser Comedy Cavalcade’, is assigned the daunting task of babysitting the veteran Hollywood swashbuckler, Alan Swann. The reckless Swann is in town to do a live guest appearance on the show and his antics and alcoholism nearly get Benjy fired. When Benjy is given an unexpected glimpse into Swann’s broken heart, though, he begins to discover a thing or two about life and love. Directed by Douglas Berlon.
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, Book by Peter Parnell
May 10-18, 2019
Aronoff Center – Jarson-Kaplan Theater
From the Academy Award-winning team of Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz comes a lushly scored retelling of Victor Hugo’s epic story. Set in 15th century Paris, this powerful musical focuses on Quasimodo, the misshapen but gentle-souled bell ringer of Notre Dame, who is held captive in the bell tower by his devious caretaker. On the day of the Feast of Fools, Quasimodo manages to escape and join the boisterous crowd of revelers. He is treated cruelly by all except the beautiful and free-spirited gypsy, Esmeralda. During his one day “Out There,” Quasimodo must strive to find love, acceptance, and what it means to be a hero. Directed by Skip Fenker.
2019 STUDIO CABARET SERIES
THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS (THE MUSICAL!)
By Joanne Bogart and Eric Rockwell
February 8, 9, 15 & 16, 2019
Aronoff Center – Fifth Third Bank Theater
THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS (THE MUSICAL!) is a musical about musicals! In this hilarious satire of musical theatre, one story becomes five delightful musicals, each written in the distinctive style of a different master of the form, from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim. The basic plot: June is an ingénue who can’t pay the rent and is threatened by her evil landlord. Will the handsome leading man come to the rescue? The variations are: a Rodgers & Hammerstein version, set in Kansas in August, complete with a dream ballet; a Sondheim version, featuring the landlord as a tortured artistic genius who slashes the throats of his tenants in revenge for not appreciating his work; a Jerry Herman version, as a splashy star vehicle; an Andrew Lloyd Webber version, a rock musical with themes borrowed from Puccini; and a Kander & Ebb version, set in a speakeasy in Chicago. Directed by Dennis Murphy.
HOME
Conceived and written by CMT board member Mark D. Motz
June 7, 8, 14 & 15, 2019
Aronoff Center – Fifth Third Bank Theater
Home explores many facets of the title location through song. Featuring 20-plus tunes from Broadway, movies, pop culture, and more, we welcome audiences into our home at the Fifth Third Bank Theatre for an evening of music. Home is more than just four walls and a street number, it’s a place imprinted on hearts and minds. We will look at home at different times in our lives and what home can mean. How it’s both welcoming and a place to which many want to escape. Home is sweet nostalgia. Home is painful. Home is a goal. Home is traditional. Home is unconventional. Home is a launching point. Home is an anchor. Home is what you make it, where you make it, when you make it. We’ll go from the places we grew up to the places we still seek. Directed by Michele Mascari.
2018-19 SEASON EXTRA
Master Class with Richard Oberacker
October 12, 2018 – 7:30 PM
Aronoff Center – Fifth Third Bank Theater
Join us for an intimate master class with Broadway’s Richard Oberacker, composer and co-lyricist/librettist of the Tony Award-winning musical Bandstand, and the musical conductor Cirque Du Soleil’s KA at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. This unique experience is open to the public and will offer a rare view inside the process of performing, dissecting, analyzing, and directing a musical theater song at the professional level. In traditional master class format, individual singers will present a song and work one-on-one with Cincinnati-native Richard Oberacker. All proceeds from the master class will benefit the Cincinnati Music Theatre Scholarship Fund. The master class will be accompanied by Steve Goers.
TICKETS & INFORMATION – Mainstage Series and Master Class on sale now. Studio Cabaret Series on sale dates to be announced.
- www.CincinnatiArts.org
- (513) 621-ARTS [2787]
- Aronoff Center Ticket Office
- Group Discount Tickets (15 or more): (513) 977-4157
*Additional ticketing fees may apply. Ticket prices and fees subject to change.
Aronoff Center Ticket Office Hours
- Monday-Friday: 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM
- Saturday: 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
- Through intermission of the last show on performance days
Cincinnati Music Theatre
One of Cincinnati’s oldest and most successful community theaters, CMT is proud of its long history of presenting popular, large scale, award-winning musicals to enthusiastic audiences from across the Greater Cincinnati area. For more information, visit www.cincinnatimusictheatre.org, LIKE us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cincinnatimusictheatre, and follow us on Instagram @cincinnatimusictheatre.
My Favorite Year and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019 www.MTIShows.com.
The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
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MY FAVORITE YEAR the Musical
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 