ASU Gammage 2017-18 Season Features ‘Hamilton,’ Much More

The Tony Award winning smash hit “Hamilton” will anchor the 2017-18 ASU Gammage Desert Schools Federal Credit Union Broadway Across America – Arizona season.
The schedule includes the past two Tony Award winners for Best Musical, “Hamilton” and “Fun Home,” as well as Best Revival winners “The Color Purple” and “The King and I.” The season will also include the 2016 Tony Award winner for best play, “The Humans,” along with musicals “The Bodyguard,” “Something Rotten” and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “School of Rock.”
The season also includes two special engagements with favorites Rodgers + Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” and “Les Misérables.”
“We have a winning combination of shows on our biggest season ever,” says Colleen Jennings-Roggensack executive director of ASU Gammage and ASU vice president for cultural affairs. “It’s a season of firsts – with it being the largest season subscription in ASU Gammage history and the honor of bringing ‘Hamilton’ to the Valley for its first engagement on a college campus. We pride ourselves in being innovative by presenting something for everyone.This season is an embarrassment of riches, and we’re loving every minute of it.”
Current season ticket holders can renew their subscription now. New season subscriptions go on sale Monday, May 15 and start at $190 available at asugammage.com and ticketmaster.com. Subscribers who renew their subscription for the 2017-2018 season will be able to guarantee their seats for the premiere Tempe engagement of “Hamilton” before tickets become available to the general public.
The 2017-2018 season includes (all information provided by ASU Gammage):
“Fun Home” (September 5-10, 2017)
The winner of five 2015 Tony Awards® including Best Musical, FUN HOME is based on Alison Bechdel’s best-selling graphic memoir. This groundbreaking production introduces us to Alison at three different ages, revealing memories of her uniquely dysfunctional family that connect with her in surprising new ways. “Heart-gripping and cathartic, ‘Fun Home’ occupies the place where we all grew up.” (The New York Times).
“Something Rotten!” (October 31-November 5, 2017)
Direct from Broadway, Something Rotten! is a “big, fat hit!” (New York Post). Set in the ‘90s – the 1590s – this hilarious smash tells the story of Nick and Nigel Bottom (Tony® nominee Rob McClure and Broadway’s Josh Grisetti), two brothers who are desperate to write their own hit play while the “rock star” Shakespeare (Tony® nominee Adam Pascal) keeps getting all the hits. When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing and acting at the same time, Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first MUSICAL! With its heart on its ruffled sleeve and sequins in its soul, “Something Rotten!” is “The Producers + Spamalot + The Book of Mormon. Squared!” (New York Magazine).
“The Bodyguard” (November 28-December 3, 2017)
Based on the smash hit film, the award-winning musical tells the story of former Secret Service agent turned bodyguard, Frank Farmer, who is hired to protect superstar Rachel Marron from an unknown stalker. Each expects to be in charge; what they don’t expect is to fall in love. A breathtakingly romantic thriller, “The Bodyguard” features a host of irresistible classics including “Queen of the Night,” “So Emotional,” “One Moment in Time,” “Saving All My Love,” “Run to You,” “I Have Nothing,” “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” and one of the biggest selling songs of all time – “I Will Always Love You.”
“Hamilton” (January 30-February 25, 2018)
“Hamilton” is the story of America’s Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became George Washington’s right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and was the new nation’s first Treasury Secretary. Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B, and Broadway, “Hamilton” is the story of America then, as told by America now.  The musical is produced by Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs, Jill Furman and The Public Theater.
“The King and I” (March 20-25)
One of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s finest works, “The King and I” boasts a score which features such beloved classics as “Getting To Know You,” “Hello Young Lovers,” “Shall We Dance,” “I Have Dreamed,” and “Something Wonderful.” Set in 1860’s Bangkok, the musical tells the story of the unconventional and tempestuous relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher, whom the modernist King, in an imperialistic world, brings to Siam to teach his many wives and children.
“The Color Purple” (April 17-22, 2018)
“The Color Purple: is the 2016 Tony Award winner for Best Musical Revival! Hailed as “a direct hit to the heart” (The Hollywood Reporter), this joyous American classic has conquered Broadway in an all-new “ravishingly reconceived production that is a glory to behold” (The New York Times) directed by Tony winner John Doyle. With a soul-raising score of jazz, gospel, ragtime and blues, “The Color Purple” gives an exhilarating new spirit to this Pulitzer Prize-winning story. Don’t miss this stunning re-imagining of an epic story about a young woman’s journey to love and triumph in the American South. It’s the musical sensation that New York Magazine calls “one of the greatest revivals ever.”
“The Humans” (May 29-June 3, 2018)
Stephen Karam’s “The Humans” is an uproarious, hopeful, and heart-breaking play that takes place over the course of a family dinner on Thanksgiving. Breaking with tradition, Erik Blake has brought his Pennsylvania family to celebrate and give thanks at his daughter’s apartment in lower Manhattan. As darkness falls outside the ramshackle pre-war duplex, and eerie things start to go bump in the night, the Blake clan’s deepest fears and greatest follies are laid bare. Our modern age of anxiety is keenly observed, with humor and compassion, in this new American classic that won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play.
“School of Rock” (June 19-24, 2018)
“School of Rock” is a New York Times Critics’ Pick and “AN INSPIRING JOLT OF ENERGY, JOY AND MAD SKILLZ!” (Entertainment Weekly). Based on the hit film, this hilarious new musical follows Dewey Finn, a wannabe rock star turned substitute teacher who transforms a class of straight-A students into grade-A rockers. It features 14 new songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber, all the original songs from the movie and musical theater’s first-ever live kids rock band.
SEASON SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS
“Cinderella” (December 19-24, 2017)
Rodgers + Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” is the Tony Award- winning Broadway musical from the creators of “The Sound of Music” and “South Pacific” that’s delighting audiences with its contemporary take on the classic tale. This lush production features an incredible orchestra, jaw-dropping transformations and all the moments you love—the pumpkin, the glass slipper, the masked ball and more—plus some surprising new twists! Be transported back to your childhood as you rediscover some of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s most beloved songs, including “In My Own Little Corner,” “Impossible/It’s Possible” and “Ten Minutes Ago,” in this hilarious and romantic Broadway experience for anyone who’s ever had a wish, a dream… or a really great pair of shoes.
“Les Misérables” (May 15-20, 2018)
Cameron Mackintosh presents a brand new 25th anniversary production of Boublil & Schönberg’s legendary musical, “Les Misérables,” with glorious new staging and dazzlingly reimagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo. This new production has been acclaimed by critics, fans and new audiences and is breaking box office records wherever it goes. The New York Times calls this “Les Misérables” “an unquestionably spectacular production from start to finish.” The London Times hails the new show “a five star hit, astonishingly powerful.”