Photo: Tuacahn Amphitheatre

Theater of the Stars 61st season will feature Disney’s The Little Mermaid, the latest version of Anything Goes, first produced by New York’s Roundabout Theatre, and a number of shows that have had at least nine lives in Atlanta.

The season begins July 9 with Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story and ends in January 2014 with another return by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s irrepressible Cats. Stomp returns in September as a special event, not part of the subscription package.

Season tickets, ranging from $129 to $429, are available HERE or at 404.252.8690. Groups of 10 or more should call 404.881.2000. The lineup:

Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. July 9-14. A musical celebration of the legendary singer-songwriter and early rock ‘n’ roller who died at age 22 in an airplane crash. This tuneful bio, which has been staged several times by Roswell’s Georgia Ensemble Theatre, features the hits “That’ll Be the Day,” “Peggy Sue,” “Oh Boy” and more. TOTS is producing this 25th anniversary tour of the show, first introduced to audiences in 1988.

HOLLIDAY

Dreamgirls. Aug. 2-11. Is it or is it not the story of the Supremes? Almost everyone who sees it has an opinion. Nevertheless, this 1982 musical — Michael Bennett’s first notable follow-up to the epic A Chorus Line — follows a 1960s’ all-girl trio in its quest for success. Jennifer Holliday, a 1982 Tony Award winner for her star-making turn as Effie Melody White, reprises the role for TOTS as she has previously.

Anything Goes. Aug. 20-25. Cole Porter’s ocean-going romp features an evangelist turned nightclub singer, a public enemy on the lam, a lord, angels, sailors and any number of mishaps and romances. The score: “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top,” “Friendship,” “Easy to Love,” “It’s De-Lovely,” “All Through the Night” and “Blow Gabriel Blow.”

The Little Mermaid. Sept. 5-15. Go under this sea with Disney to a magical kingdom in which a mermaid named Ariel longs for human legs. Inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story with a score (“Part of Your World,” “Under the Sea,” “Positoovity,” “Kiss the Girl”) by Academy Award winner Alan Menken. TOTS is producing this show as well as presenting it.

Stomp. Sept. 23-29. This worldwide phenomenon features an eight-member cast making music and jokes with all sorts of found objects, from Zippo lighters to the kitchen sink. (Not part of the subscription series, but subscribers will have the first chance at tickets when they go on sale.)

Cats. January 2014. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1982 mega-hit is back for another visit to the litter box and/or the heaviside layer. This incarnation will feature Atlanta children as kittens, according to TOTS.

 

About Kathy Janich

Kathy Janich is a longtime arts journalist who has been seeing, working in or writing about the performing arts for most of her life. She's a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, Americans for the Arts and the National Arts Marketing Project. Full disclosure: She’s also an artistic associate at Synchronicity Theatre.

View all posts by Kathy Janich