The 2023 Broadway Across Canada shows were just announced and it's an eclectic mix of classics and new shows.
Before 2022 ends, theatre fans can still look forward to Come From Away in August and Jesus Christ Superstar in November, and Anastasia will arrive in March of 2023. All of those shows were originally part of the 2021-2022 lineup that had to be rescheduled due to COVID. Now there are five additional shows to add to the 2023 calendar.
The new show roster starts off with a revival of the nine Tony award-winning Fiddler on the Roof. This iconic 1964 musical by Joseph Stein and Pulitzer-winners Jerry Brock and Sheldon Harnick was the first musical theatre run in history to surpass 3,000 performances. It centres on life among a Jewish community in a pre-revolutionary Russian village and tells the story of a poor milkman who is trying to find husbands for his five daughters. You won't be able to get “If I Were A Rich Man,” for a week after watching this. It's already stuck in mine just thinking about it.
This show will take place from January 17 to 22, 2023 and Anastasia will happen after it, followed closely by Pretty Woman: The Musical (yes, like the movie with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere). It has been reimagined for the stage with music by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance and book by the original writers Garry Marshall and J.F. Lawton. It's also being directed and choreographed by the team behind Hairspray, Kinky Boots, and Legally Blonde. The musical first debuted on Broadway in 2018 with powerhouse Samantha Barks stepping into Vivian's thigh-high boots.
Next up will be another classic that has gotten a lot of attention for better or worse over the last few years, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, which plays from May 23 to 28, 2023.
In July 2023, Disney's Aladdin is coming to town. The show's staging is spectacular and immersive, coming from the same producers as The Lion King so that gives you an idea of what you're in for. All of the music from the 1992 movie is accounted for plus a few new songs that were written for the film but never used. The musical debuted in 2011 but didn't hit Broadway until 2014 but has been produced globally ever since.
The final show of the 2022-2023 season from September 19 to 24, 2023 is the musical Ain't Too Proud, about the life and times of American vocal group The Temptations. The quintet from Detroit released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s, including "My Girl." This jukebox musical chronicles their journey to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame against the backdrop of civil unrest in the States with all of their greatest hits punctuating the story, one that still lands today.
The full 2022-2023 Broadway Across Canada lineup for Vancouver
Come From Away - August 16 - 28, 2022
Jesus Christ Superstar - November 15 - 20, 2022
Fiddler on the Roof - January 17 - 22, 2023
Anastasia - March 7 - 12, 2023
Pretty Woman: The Musical - March 29 - April 2, 2023
Cats - May 23 - 28, 2023
Aladdin - July 25 - 30, 2023
Ain't Too Proud - September 12 - 17, 2023