Broadway in Chicago announced its next subscription season this morning, and there are a few different ways you can slice it: It's 50% Andrew Lloyd Webber; 50% directed by Joe Mantello; 25% non-musical; and 50% shows Chicago has seen before.
The lineup is bookended by Lloyd Webber’s most recent Broadway outing, the well-received adaptation of the Jack Black screen comedy School of Rock (Nov 1–19 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre), and another Lloyd Webber production, the Phantom of the Opera sequel Love Never Dies (Feb 14–Mar 4 at the Cadillac Palace), which has not played Broadway but is launching a U.S. tour.
In between those shows comes a previously announced seven-week return visit of Wicked (Dec 6–Jan 21 at the Oriental Theatre), the Stephen Schwartz–Winnie Holzman Oz prequel that had a four-year run at the Oriental from 2005 to 2009 and has returned on tour on several occasions since. The non-musical is The Humans (Jan 30–Feb 11 at the Cadillac Palace), Stephen Karam’s family drama that won the 2016 Tony Award for best play but was first seen in 2014 at Chicago’s American Theater Company. Both Wicked and the Broadway production of The Humans were directed by Mantello. The season goes on sale March 29, but current subscribers can renew now.
Also on tap as "off-season specials" are a return engagement of Motown the Musical (Sept 25–Oct 8 at the Cadillac Palace) and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Nov 21–Dec 3 at the Cadillac Palace).
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