The District Series 2019-2020 includes:
ROCK OF AGES
September 26 – October 13, 2019
Book by Chris D’Arienzo; Music arranged by Ethan Popp; Music orchestrated by Ethan Popp; Original arrangements by David Gibbs; Musical Director, Henry Aronson.
It’s the end of the big, bad 80’s and the party has been raging hard. Aqua Net, Lycra, lace, and liquor flow freely at one of the Sunset Strip’s last venues – a place where sexy Stacee Jaxx reigns and scantily clad groupies line up to turn their fantasies into reality. Amidst the madness, aspiring rock star (and resident toilet cleaner) Drew longs to take the stage while he longs for small-town girl Sherri. But the decade’s rock and roll fairy-tale is about to end. Can Drew, Sherri, and the gang save the 80’s? With monster hits songs like, “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”, “Wanted Dead or Alive” and “Don’t Stop Believing”, ROCK of AGES lets the party go on forever! Nominated for five Tony Awards including Best Musical.
HAND TO GOD
January 23 – Feb. 9, 2020
By Robert Askins
After the death of his father, meek Jason finds an outlet for his anxiety at the Christian Puppet Ministry, in the devoutly religious, relatively quiet small town of Cypress, Texas. Jason’s complicated relationship with the town pastor, the school bully, the girl next door, and – most especially – his mother are thrown into upheaval when Jason’s puppet, Tyrone, takes on a shocking and dangerously irreverent personality all its own. HAND TO GOD explores the startlingly fragile nature of faith, mortality, and the ties that bind us.
THE LAST FIVE YEARS
March 12 – March 29, 2020
Written and Composed by JASON ROBERT BROWN; Originally Produced for the New York stage by Arielle Tepper and Marty Bell; Originally Produced by Northlight Theatre Chicago, IL
An emotionally powerful and intimate musical about two New Yorkers in their twenties who fall in and out of love over the course of five years, the show’s unconventional structure consists of Cathy, the woman, telling her story backwards while Jamie, the man, tells his story chronologically; the two characters only meet once, at their wedding in the middle of the show.
The Covedale Center’s Marquee Season 2019-2020:
DRIVING MISS DAISY
September 5 – 29, 2019
By Alfred Uhry
The Deep South, 1948 – just prior to the civil rights movement… Having demolished another car, Daisy Werthan, a rich, sharp-tongued widow of seventy-two, is informed by her son that she must now rely on a chauffeur. The son hires a thoughtful black man, Hoke, whom Miss Daisy immediately regards with disdain. Over the next twenty-five years, the two grow close and more dependent on each other. Steadily the dignified Hoke breaks down the stern defenses of the old lady. She teaches him to read and write, and eventually invites him to join her at a banquet in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. At the end, Hoke has a final visit with Miss Daisy, now in a nursing home, where it is movingly clear that they have both have more in common than they ever believed possible—and that the times would ever allow them to publicly admit. Winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize, this is a great American play with heart, humor and humanity.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY
Oct. 17 – Nov. 10, 2019
Book: Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice; Music and Lyrics: Andrew Lippa
It’s creepy and it’s kooky!! It’s a hilarious musical! It’s every father’s nightmare! Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family – a man her parents have never met. And worse, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before – keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia! Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s ‘normal’ boyfriend and his parents. All the lovable characters (and the musical theme) from the classic TV show are here, along with great songs like, ““When You’re an Addams”, “Where Did We Go Wrong?”, “Just Around the Corner”, “Live Before We Die” and “Tango de Amor”!
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET The Musical
Dec, 5 – Dec. 29, 2019
Book by Meredith Willson; Music and Lyrics by Meredith Willson Based on the 20th Century Fox film, with story by Valentine Davies and screenplay by George Seaton
A holiday classic from Meredith Willson, the writer of the musical classic, The Music Man! Single mother, Doris Walker, doesn’t want her six-year-old Susan’s head filled with romantic notions. Their neighbor, Fred Gailey, tries to woo Doris by taking Susan to see Santa Claus at Macy’s, where Doris works. Doris is not impressed, but when it turns out that Macy’s Santa may, in fact, be the real Kris Kringle, a wave of love spreads across New York City that melts even the most cynical hearts. Filled with humor, spectacle and such beloved songs as “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” “Pinecones and Hollyberries,” and “My State, My Kansas,” this joyous, heartwarming musical is pure family entertainment for the holidays!
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS
February 13 – March 8, 2020
Book/Songs: Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane; Based on “The Kensington Stories” by Sally Benson & MGM film
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS is a rare treasure in the musical theatre; a delightful portrait of a turn-of-the-century American family. It is the summer of 1903, and the Smith family eagerly anticipates the opening of the 1904 World’s Fair. As they mark each holiday over the course of the year, the family’s love, zest for life and good-natured humor, helps them through each romance, opportunity, escapade and heartbreak. The musical has all the best-loved songs from the film,
including “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “The Boy Next Door” and “The Trolley Song” !
THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE
April 2 – April 26, 2020
Book By Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan; New Music by Jeanine Tesori; New Lyrics by Dick Scanlan; Story and Screenplay by Richard Morris for the Universal Pictures film.
The winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie was the 2002 season’s most awarded new show on Broadway! Set in New York City in 1922, Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of young Millie Dillmount from Kansas, who comes to New York in search of a new life for herself. Her grand plan is to find a job as a secretary for a wealthy man and then marry him. However, her plan goes awry as the owner of her dingy hotel kidnaps young girls to sell to the Far East, her wealthy boss is slow in proposing marriage and the man she actually falls in love with doesn’t have a dime to his name! Filled with frisky flappers, dashing leading men and a dragon lady of a villainess that audiences will love to hate, Thoroughly Modern Millie is a perfectly constructed evening of musical merriment featuring explosive tap numbers and big Broadway songs like “Gimme, Gimme”, “Forget About The Boy”, “What Do I Need With Love” and the title song, “Thoroughly Modern Millie”!!
THE GRADUATE
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 