5th Avenue Announces 21/22 Season With Beauty & The Beast and The Prom As Highlights

After a long hibernation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Seattle’s acclaimed musical theater company THE 5TH AVENUE THEATRE announced their return to live performances today. They’ll return to in-person shows starting in January of 2022 with a brand new production of DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

They’ll follow up with two new musicals; the world premiere of AFTERWORDS which was produced as a musical radio play last year, and a new collaboration with ACT Theatre, the Pacific Northwest premiere of the new musical AND SO THAT HAPPENED…

They’ll close out their 2021/2022 season with two touring company productions including the Seattle premiere of the popular LGBTQ themed THE PROM which was filmed for Netflix in 2019 starring Meryl Streep and James Corden. And, the season closer will be the return of the award winning sensation, COME FROM AWAY, the Broadway hit musical about the effects of 9/11 on a small town in Canada. Come From Away has Seattle roots; it was workshopped here very early in its development and was a major stop on the show’s pre-Broadway tryout.

More from the press release:

“I could not be more thrilled with the collection of musicals we’ll be creating for and sharing with Seattle this season,” said The 5th Avenue Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director Bill Berry. “After a year of isolation, sharing in a season of live musical theater with other theater lovers is a gift to nourish the soul. A night out at The 5th is an amazing. Getting lost in the magic of great storytelling is something I know that I am very much looking forward to experiencing again—and our audiences are too.”

The 5th returns to the stage with a spectacular new production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, playing January 22 – February 6, 2022. Featuring music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and book by Linda Wolverton this is a tale as old as time: a brilliant young woman in search of something more than her small town has to offer and a Beast—who is really a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end. But time is running out. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity. This marks The 5th’s first original production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and will be directed by Jay Woods.

Following Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is the world premiere of Afterwords, a breathtaking story about the power of art to heal. Playing April 29 – May 21, 2022, Afterwords is a captivating new musical featuring a rhythmic and soulful score that fuses pop, rock, and modern indie-folk, featuring music and lyrics by Zoe Sarnak and book by Emily Kaczmarek with direction by Adrienne Campbell-Holt. Reeling from the loss of their mother, Kali and Simone are at odds as to whether to sell their costly childhood home. They compromise by renting out the attic, and into their lives walks Jo, a woman whose reasons for moving in are more complex than the sisters know. Haunted by the death of her beloved mentor, Jo is hellbent on untangling the mysteries contained in his journals…whose pages point straight to Kali and Simone. As entanglements deepen and past collides with present, Kali, Simone, and Jo relay three sides of the same story in song, spoken word, and visual art. A recent radio play-style podcast that was produced for The 5th Avenue Theatre’s 2020/21 Essential 5th Digital Collection, this musical will be brought to stunning and vivid life onstage.

Next is a brand new production of the original musical And So That Happened…, being created by Pacific Northwest musical theatre artists for the Pacific Northwest. Playing May 17 – June 26, 2022 and presented at ACT – A Contemporary Theatre, And So That Happened… is a brand-new musical imbued with joy and threaded with the resilience of human spirit, locally crafted to carry us forward from this collective moment in our cultural experience. It is a show that will explore the hopes, dreams, and acts of will that take us forward in the aftermath of cataclysmic events in our lives. Three masterful storytellers will each spin a captivating thirty-minute musical story about how we move forward in the wake of seismic transformation and radical change. Written by a local creative team to be announced, these stories will be woven into a 90-minute theatrical tour de force of song and story, laced with humor, passion, and personality.

Come summer, The 5th will welcome the first national tour of Tony Award-nominated musical The Prom, playing May 31 – June 19, 2022. You’re invited to the joyous Broadway hit that New York Magazine calls “smart and big-hearted” and The New York Times declares it “makes you believe in musical comedy again!” The Prom is a new musical comedy about big Broadway stars on a mission to change the world and the love they discover that unites them all. Variety raves, “It’s so full of happiness that you think your heart is about to burst.” And The Hollywood Reporter cheers, “It’s comic gold!” The Prom is directed and choreographed by Tony Winner and 2019 Tony nominee Casey Nicholaw, with a book by Tony winner and 2019 Tony nominee Bob Martin and 2019 Tony nominee Chad Beguelin, with music by 2019 Tony nominee Matthew Sklar and lyrics Chad Beguelin.

The season will close with the triumphant return of the national tour of Come From Away, playing July 20 – August 7, 2022. Broadway’s Come From Away is a Best Musical winner all across North America! Don’t miss the return engagement of this breathtaking new musical Newsweek cheers, “It takes you to a place you never want to leave!” This New York Times Critics’ Pick takes you into the heart of the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. Cultures clashed and nerves ran high, but uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night, and gratitude grew into enduring friendships. On 9/11, the world stopped. On 9/12, their stories moved us all. Come From Away is directed by Tony Award winner Christopher Ashley and features a book and lyrics by Tony nominees Irene Sankoff and David Hein.

Subscribers will also have access to a yet-to-be announced radio play-style musical podcast in the spring. With performances beginning in January 2022, current subscribers can renew now at www.5thavenue.org<http://www.5thavenue.org>. New subscription packages will go on sale at the end of September.