Jump in the car and blast those showtunes, because Broadway.com is hitting the road! We’re on a cross-country search for the best regional theater offerings and tour stops all across the country. This week, we’re showcasing a reimagined Phantom, a Christmas extravaganza with Dolly Parton and more. Check out our picks below!
NEW HAVEN, CT
Phylicia Rashad Swings for the Fences
After starring in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean on Broadway, Phylicia Rashad first got her feet wet as a director in 2007 when she helmed the first installment of Wilson’s moving Century Cycle in Seattle. Now the Tony winner and Cosby Show favorite is heading east to direct Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Fences at the Long Wharf Theatre. See former baseball star Troy (played by Esau Pritchett) struggle with his ambitious son in the celebrated drama, playing November 27 through December 22 on the Claire Tow Stage.
PROVIDENCE, RI
Phantom Gets a Makeover
The Phantom and Christine have a cooler stocked with soda, sandwiches and jerky, and Raoul’s iPod is packed with awesome driving tunes. Why? Andrew Lloyd Webber’s mega-musical The Phantom of the Opera is hitting the road! The reimagined production has a new look, so now is the time to revisit the long-running musical. With Mark Campbell in the title role Phantom premieres at the Providence Performing Arts Center November 27 through December 7 before bringing “The Music of the Night” to cities across the U.S.
PIGEON FORGE, TN
Have a Holly Dolly Christmas
A Christmas Carol is a tried-and-true holiday classic, but we always felt there was something missing from the festive tale—namely, a pint-sized country singer. Well folks, the wait is over. That’s right, Dolly Parton will make a cameo appearance (via cutting-edge new hologram technology) as The Ghost of Christmas Past in the new production of A Christmas Carol at Dollywood. Catch Dolly (uh, sorta) in this new, 45-minute adaptation of the Christmas favorite.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN
A Comedy Is Re-Born
‘Tis the season for a hilarious screwball comedy! Take a trip down memory lane with a revival of Garson Kanin’s 1946 play Born Yesterday at the Guthrie Theater. The new production stars August: Osage County alum Jeff Still as junk dealer Harry Brock and Alexis Bronkovic as his dim-witted (but secretly wise) showgirl girlfriend Billie Dawn. See the wacky pair run amok in our nation’s capital from November 23 through January 5.
MEDIA, PA
Kyle Lowder Gets Biblical
Emmy nominee Kyle Lowder would look great in anything, but he’s especially dapper in a dreamcoat! The soap star is playing the title role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat through January 5 at Pennsylvania's Media Theatre. He may have been Brady Black on Days of Our Lives, but now he’s red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and peach and ruby and olive and violet and fawn and oh, you get the idea.