Slow Burn Theatre Company has announced its 2024/2025 Season. Slow Burn Theatre Artistic Director Patrick Fitzwater wrote on browardcenter.org, “We have put together an exciting and eclectic season that is tied together with the common element of each musical delivering highly theatrical, dramatic, and engaging experiences.”
Just in time for Halloween, the company opens the season with “The Witches of Eastwick” on Oct. 19. The original West End production was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Musical and is based on the 1984 novel of the same name by John Updike which was the basis for the 1987 film starring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer.
The season unwraps the holidays with “Anastasia The Musical” opening Dec. 21, with a book by celebrated playwright Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. Inspired by beloved films, the musical transports audiences from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the euphoria of Paris in the 1920s, as a brave young woman sets out to discover the mystery of her past.
“Parade” follows a newlywed Jewish couple, Leo and Lucille Frank, who are struggling to make a life in the old red hills of Georgia. When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion. Winner of the 1999 Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Book of a Musical as well as the 2023 Tony for Best Revival of a Musical, it reminds us that to love, we must truly see one another.
Not content with just one day, Slow Burn Theatre delivers two weeks of April foolishness with “Something Rotten!” opening on March 29. This hilarious smash journeys back to 1595 as brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom compete to write a hit play against the popularity of the insufferable superstar Shakespeare. When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing, and acting at the same time, they set out to write the world’s first musical.
The season culminates with a summer production of the West End hit “The Bodyguard The Musical,” opening June 7. Adapted from the movie starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, it 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.