https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhUekOm_YwY
Singing, dancing, laughing, drama, and a whole lot of theater will be making its way to Broadway Grand Rapids for the theater’s new season! Five shows are lined up to start in September and finish up in June of 2016 and the positivity and excitement has been overwhelming.
“This season we’re offering a custom ‘4-pack’ of shows for those who don’t want to purchase all five,” explained Meghan Distel, the Director of Marketing for Broadway Grand Rapids, “but we have sold very little of the 4-packs as most people are choosing all five shows. That shows the excitement for all the shows we’re bringing in!”
What’s all the excitement about? Well, Broadway Grand Rapids is bringing in a lineup of award winning shows to Grand Rapids. 
- Newsies (September 22-27)
- Pippin (November 3-8)
- Riverdance 20th Anniversary Tour (April 12-17, 2016)
- The Phantom of the Opera (May 18-29, 2016)
- The Book of Mormon (June 21-26, 2016)
Getting together a lineup of shows of that caliber takes some work. Broadway Grand Rapids works on putting the shows together for around 12-18 months before dates are finalized. There is a lot of back and forth that occurs with the timing and use of the Devos Performance Hall and how they line up with the shows themselves and their tour dates.
Sometimes, there can even be structural barriers to overcome.
Broadway Grand Rapids had a massive hurdle to clear in order to bring The Phantom of the Opera to DeVos Performance Hall. Phantom uses very large set pieces that need space in the back to work during the show. The DeVos Performance Hall doesn’t have that necessary space right now, but it will be by the time Phantom rolls into town!
The backstage area will be expanded, and certain aspects of the floor and ceiling are to be reconfigured as well, in order to accommodate the show. As they say, the show must go on! It will all be worth it when show time is here. The city is already buzzing with excitement about the new lineup.
If you’re interested in purchasing tickets for the upcoming season, visit broadwaygrandrapids.com.
