Norm Lewis to Star in The Music Man at The Kennedy Center; Little Shop & Tommy Also on Deck

Super-talented Tony nominee Norm Lewis (Once On This Island) will take on the role of suave conman Harold Hill in a 2019 production of The Music Man in Washington, D.C. The newly announced mounting is among three musicals in The Kennedy Center's 2018-2019 Broadway Center Stage season, which will also include new stagings of Little Shop of Horrors and The Who's Tommy.

First up in the season will be the new mounting of Little Shop, which features a book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken. Based on the 1960s cult horror film, the musical follows meek floral assistant Seymour Krelborn, who stumbles across a new breed of plant which he soon learns feeds solely on blood. Little Shop will run in the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater from October 24-28, 2018.

The new mounting of Tony-winning musical The Music Man will appear next in the series. The show follows traveling salesman Harold Hill (to be played by Lewis) as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys' band that he vows to organize, despite the fact that he doesn't know a trombone from a treble clef. The tuner with a book, music and lyrics by Meredith Willson will play an engagement in the Eisenhower from February 6-10, 2019.

Concluding the musical lineup in the Broadway Center Stage series will be a mounting of The Who's Tommy. Based on the iconic 1969 rock concept album, The Who's Tommy features music and lyrics by Pete Townshend and a book by Des McAnuff and Townshend, with additional music and lyrics by John Entwistle and Keith Moon. The show tells the story of a pinball-playing, deaf, dumb and blind boy who triumphs over his adversities. The Who's Tommy will run from April 24-28, 2019 in the Kennedy Center's Opera House.

The Kennedy Center's new Broadway Center Stage lineup follows the current season, which included star-packed productions of Chess and In the Heights along with the upcoming How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (running June 6-10, 2018).

Creative teams and additional casting for the Kennedy Center's 2018-2019 Broadway Center Stage series will be announced at a later date.