2018: New Hits, Classics & Magic
Starlight Theatre’s 2018 Broadway season will feature a wide selection of shows to satisfy the varied entertainment tastes of Kansas City audiences.
Newly sponsored by Shawnee Mission Health, next summer’s core Broadway season will include five Broadway musicals with weeklong runs. And, to again give patrons the ability to customize their ticket packages, Starlight has added three Broadway weekend specials.
Starlight season ticket holders began renewing their five-show subscriptions in late September, and new season tickets orders are being accepted now, too. Season subscribers may add one, two or all three weekend specials at the discounted subscriber price at the time they renew or purchase. If they prefer to swap one or two season shows for weekend specials, they will be able to do so in the spring. Tickets for individual Starlight shows will go on sale April 2, 2018.
Seven of the eight shows coming to Starlight are national touring productions, including the all-new tour of ON YOUR FEET, which just closed on Broadway in August after a nearly two-year run. Also touring for the first time and making its Kansas City debut at Starlight is Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, set 10 years after the events at the Paris Opera House. Starlight’s self-production of the 2018 season will be Broadway’s bouffant-high hit, Hairspray. Top choices for families are sure to be classics The King and I, Cinderella and the season-ending magic spectacular, THE ILLUSIONISTS. Finally, for summer nights that sizzle, Starlight turns up the heat on stage with Dirty Dancing and CHICAGO!
The 2018 Shawnee Mission Health Broadway Series at Starlight will feature:
ON YOUR FEET The Emilio & Gloria Estefan Broadway Musical
May 22-27
From humble beginnings in Cuba, Emilio and Gloria Estefan came to America and broke through all barriers to become a crossover sensation atop the pop music world. ON YOUR FEET! takes audiences behind the music and inside the real story of this record-making and groundbreaking couple who, in the face of adversity, found a way to end up on their feet.
Dirty Dancing
June 5-10
The classic story of Baby, Johnny and Dirty Dancing on stage is a live theatrical experience that explodes with heart-pounding music, passionate romance, sensational dancing and favorite songs including “Hungry Eyes,” “Hey Baby, Do You Love Me?” and the heart-stopping “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.” Starlight audiences will have the time of their lives!
The King and I
June 12-17
One of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s finest works, The King and I tells the story of the unconventional relationship between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, the British schoolteacher who he brings to Siam to teach his many wives and children. The score features beloved classics like “Getting To Know You,” “I Whistle a Happy Tune,” “Hello Young Lovers,” “Shall We Dance” and “Something Wonderful.”
CHICAGO
June 22-24
Broadway’s razzle-dazzle CHICAGO is a triumphant hit musical and the recipient of six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, a Grammy and thousands of standing ovations. Still playing on Broadway, it now holds the title of No. 1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history.
Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
June 29-July 1
The Tony Award-winning musical from the creators of The Sound of Music and South Pacific delights audiences with its contemporary take on the classic tale. The lush production features an incredible orchestra, jaw-dropping transformations, all the moments audiences love – plus some surprising new twists!
Hairspray
July 27-August 2
Another Tony Award winner, Hairspray is the musical-comedy phenomenon that takes audiences back to 1962 Baltimore where 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad sets out to dance her way onto TV’s most popular show. Can a big girl with big dreams (and even bigger hair!) change the world – and still have time to win the boy she loves?
Love Never Dies
August 14-19
The love story continues in Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s spellbinding sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. Ten years after the Phantom’s disappearance from the Paris Opera House, he has escaped to a new life in New York where he lives among the joy rides and freak shows of Coney Island. While he has finally found a place for his music to soar, the Phantom has never stopped yearning for his one true love and musical protegee, Christine Daae.
THE ILLUSIONISTS™
September 28-30
Direct from Broadway comes the world’s best-selling magic show. The mind-blowing spectacular of THE ILLUSIONISTS™ showcases the jaw-dropping performances of five of the most talented Illusionists on Earth.
“Our 2018 Broadway lineup at Starlight again offers Kansas City audiences the chance to choose the types of shows they most want to see,” said Rich Baker, Starlight president and CEO. “While I, of course, hope everyone wants to see all eight, I know that isn’t always possible. So, if you want to build a season package with Broadway classics and Tony Award winners, we have them. If you want shows that haven’t been in town before, we’ve got those, too. And, if you want to make the summer literally magical, then, presto, add THE ILLUSIONISTS!”
Five-show season ticket packages for 2018 start at just $60 in Starlight’s Side and Rear Terrace seating sections. Renewals, advance orders or gift certificates for new season tickets are available online, by calling 816.363.STAR (7827) or by visiting the Starlight box office on weekdays.
Reservations for discount group tickets are available by calling 816.997.1137 or emailing groups@kcstarlight.com. Single tickets to Starlight’s 2018 shows go on sale April 2.