Hocus Pocus, An Evening With Starlight and The Color Purple

The Sanderson Sisters may return to put a spell on all of us if Kenny Ortega has anything to say about it. The filmmaker, director and choreographer recently alluded to the fact that he would love to bring the original hit film to Broadway. Ortega has had a hand in a number of musical film credits in addition to Hocus Pocus, including Newsies, Dirty Dancing and, perhaps most famously the High School Musical trilogy. Hocus Pocus tells the story of a trio of witches who are resurrected on Halloween night. Teenager Max, his sister Dani and their new friend Allison must figure out how to stop them from becoming immortal. The film has reached cult-status, so we’re sure a Broadway run would be a hit, too.

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On Saturday, October 10, Starlight will premiere a free, one-hour online event with performances and stories to raise awareness and funding to support Starlight. All rehearsed and filmed at a safe social distance, An Evening With Starlight will feature Broadway and Concert artists who have shared the Starlight stage as well as an all Kansas-City company of professional and student talent. If viewers are so inclined, we invite them to donate to Starlight during the event. Ticket sales only cover part of Starlight’s operating costs each year, and the pandemic has put an additional financial strain on our nonprofit organization this year. We hope to see you Saturday, October 10 to hear more about what makes Starlight so special in Kansas City!

The Color Purple returned to Broadway in 2015, earning two Tony Awards - including Best Revival of a Musical. Now, producers have announced that a musical film version, based on the most recent Broadway revival, will hit the big screen soon. The Color Purple follows the lives of African-American women in the American south in the 1930s and was originally published as a book by Alice Walker in 1982. It’s been remade a number of times, all to critical acclaim. The newest incarnation places Blitz Bazawule, who most recently directed Beyonce’s Disney Plus visual album feature “Black is King,” at the helm of the project as director. While a release date hasn’t been set, we’ll bring you updates on this iconic production as we have them!

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