Two powerhouse ''jukebox'' musicals, the people-and-puppets musical Avenue Q, the recent revival of A Chorus Line, the fanciful Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and a new show from the not-quite-family-friendly Dame Edna will make up the 2008-2009 Broadway Across America season at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts and the Parker Playhouse.
Jersey Boys, the Tony Award-winning show woven around the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, is the season's hottest offering. Still doing sellout business on Broadway, the biographical show about the rise of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group plays the Broward Center April 8-May 3, 2009.
The other jukebox musical set for next season has been in South Florida before. Mamma Mia!, which has been made into a movie starring Meryl Streep (it comes out in July), brings the music of ABBA back to the Broward Center Jan. 20-Feb. 1, 2009.
Avenue Q, the Tony-winning, Sesame Street-style musical about young New Yorkers trying to figure out love and life, makes its first visit to the region next month at Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. It will return to the Broward Center Dec. 30-Jan. 11.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the musical about an eccentric inventor and his magical flying car, kicks off the season Nov. 18-30. The revival of Broadway's longest-running musical, the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Chorus Line, brings its story of dancers and their dreams to the Broward Center Feb. 17-March 1. And the incomparable lilac-haired, tart-tongued Australian beauty, Dame Edna Everage, brings a show titled My First Last Tour to the Parker Playhouse March 10-29.
Three other touring Broadway shows will also play short runs at the Broward Center and the Parker next season, though not as part of the Broadway Across America subscription series. Hairspray, the Tony-winning musical based on John Waters' movie (later made into a movie musical itself), plays the Broward Center Oct. 14-19. Actor Chazz Palminteri brings A Bronx Tale, his 18-character solo show, to the Parker Feb. 10-15. And Stomp, the flashy show that makes music out of garbage cans and more, plays the Broward Center June 23-28, 2009.
Tickets for the six-show Broward Center/Parker lineup go on sale Friday. Prices range from $131 to $487. Call 1-800-764-0700 or visit www.broadwayacrossamerica.com.
