The Shubert Theatre in New Haven announced its 2024-2025 Broadway series this week, becoming the first of the Connecticut theaters that make Broadway tour bookings to announce its lineup.
There are five shows in the Shubert Broadway series: “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” about the pop/R&B legend, Oct. 24-27, 2024; “Dear Evan Hansen,” the Broadway hit about a high school deception, Nov. 22-24, 2024; “Clue,” a play based on the movie adaptation of the well-known board game, March 20-23, 2025; “Mean Girls,” the musical version of the Tina Fey movie, May 8-11, 2025; and another musical bio, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life & Times of the Temptations” June 12-15, 2025.
Four of the five shows have already played Connecticut. “Tina” and “Ain’t Too Proud” were at The Bushnell during its 2022-23 season. “Mean Girls” played there in October of 2022 after being postponed from the COVID-affected 2020-21 season. “Dear Evan Hansen” was at The Bushnell in March 2022. “Mean Girls” also played at the Waterbury Palace this year.
Only “Clue” is new to Connecticut. The production originated at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, where it premiered in January 2022. This version, with a script by Sandy Rustin (based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn), additional material by Clue Hunter Foster and Eric Price and original music by Michael Holland, is different from a musical version of the same board game that’s been around for 20 years.
As far as the Shubert is concerned, none of these shows have played that theater before. This is no small trick since it’s the Shubert’s 110th season and the venue has a long history of world-premiering new musicals (“Oklahoma” and “My Fair Lady” among them) and, in recent years, being the launching pad for national tours of recent Broadway hits. The Shubert often books national tours of revivals of musicals that have played the theater in previous years, such as the recent return of “Annie.”
In some cases, the upcoming Shubert shows have been refreshed by events since they began touring years ago. “Tina” has a book by Katori Hall, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning drama/comedy “The Hot Wing King” has just had its first Connecticut production at Hartford Stage. The movie version of the “Mean Girls” musical was released since the show played Hartford.
The Bushnell plans to announce its 2024-25 season on March 25, and the Waterbury Palace will announce sometime after that.
Shubert subscribers will receive renewal mailings from the theater or can call or visit the Shubert box office. For more information, including purchasing new subscriptions, go to shubert.com/.
