Farmers Alley Theatre is starting its season with its fastest-ever selling production, Come From Away. Cara Lieurance is joined by managing artistic director Jeremy Koch and executive director Robert Weiner about the highly-anticipated musical and the six other shows that will be mounted during the 18th season. "We're now an adult," jokes Weiner.
Come From Away is the Tony Award-winning musical about 9/11 passengers stranded in Newfoundland. Koch calls it "probably one of my favorite musicals, definitely one of my favorite musicals of the last 20 years.” Eight additional performances have been added to the original 12-show run, and more are likely.
The holiday offering, A Very Kalamazoo Christmas, pokes fun at holiday movie clichés with local references woven throughout. "It's very much a satire of those cloying Hallmark Christmas movies," Koch explains, noting the show will feature projections of local landmarks like Bronson Park.
January brings the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama "Primary Trust" by Eboni Booth, directed by Jerry Dixon, whose Broadway career began in Kalamazoo. The play follows Kenneth, a lonely bookstore employee who tries to adapt to a new position in the corporate banking world after losing his job.
Stephen King's psychological thriller "Misery" arrives in March, adapted for the stage by William Goldman. The two-character play features the return of Paul Stroili as the captive author Paul Sheldon. His new play A Jukebox for the Algonquin, which he directed, was featured in Farmers Alley Theatre’s 17th season.
April's Goodnight, Oscar marks another collaboration with the Gilmore Piano Festival, focusing on pianist-raconteur Oscar Levant's 1958 appearance on "The Tonight Show." "He would have fit right in at the Algonquin Round Table," Koch notes of Levant's sharp humor.
Farmers Alley Theatre will stage its first full musical by Stephen Sondheim in late May-early June. "This is probably the most accessible of Sondheim's pieces because it's based on the fairy tales that we all know," Koch says.
A bonus seventh show, Dear Evan Hansen, closes the season in July A Broadway smash and star-making vehicle for Benjamin Pratt, it stood out among all of the jukebox musicals and film-to-stage adaptations when it premiered in 2016. "This is an original story, an original score," Koch emphasizes, highlighting the work by University of Michigan graduates Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
Season subscriptions are now available at the Farmers Alley Theatre website with individual show tickets releasing as each production opens. All performances take place at the intimate 110-seat theater at 221 Farmers Alley in downtown Kalamazoo.
This article was summarized by Claude AI and edited by the author.
