Blumenthal reveals new Broadway season: ‘Some Like it Hot,’ ‘Life of Pi’ head to Charlotte

One is a tap-dance lovers’ dream. One will have you singing along to “Sweet Caroline.” One boasts some of the most stunning puppets you’ll ever see. One’s seriously somber, one’s fantastically funny, one’s incredibly inspiring. Then there’s one that’s still up in the air.

All together, they’re the seven shows that make up 2024-25 PNC Broadway Lights Series.

And whereas the current season is packed with musicals inspired by beloved movies — including “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” (now playing at Belk Theater) and upcoming shows “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Back to the Future: The Musical” — the next season isn’t quite as easy to put a single overarching label on.

“I’m not sure I could identify a theme so much,” Blumenthal Arts president Tom Gabbard says of the season ahead, which was announced Tuesday morning. The closest he can get is this: “These are first national tours. In many cases, they’re coming here to Charlotte very early in their tour. So people here will have a chance to see these shows well before their family and friends in other cities.”

If that whets your appetite enough, then let’s get on with the reveal of the full schedule for next season, with insight from Gabbard on each of the marquee shows.

PNC Broadway Lights Series

What it is: Generally, it’s where shows enjoying their first engagement in Charlotte will be found.

“Some Like It Hot,” Nov. 26-Dec. 1 at Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.: Well, well, what do we have here? It’s a musical inspired by a beloved movie! But while the others just mentioned above hark to the ’80s and ’90s, this one reaches all the way back to 1959, to the iconic Billy Wilder comedy of the same name starring Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon as male musicians posing as women. The 2022 musical that re-imagines it scored a Tony nomination for Best Musical and also won the Best Leading Actor in a Musical award for Fayetteville’s J. Harrison Ghee in Curtis’s role (although FYI, it’s unlikely Ghee will be on the tour coming to Charlotte). “It has the qualities of a good old-fashioned musical, with lots of tap-dancing, big songs,” Gabbard says. “But there are elements of it that have a contemporary sensibility — these guys in drag, which is a contemporary political issue — and they manage to shape it in a way that is thoroughly entertaining. It’s really a joy.”

“A Beautiful Noise,” Feb. 25-March 2, 2025, at Belk Theater: It’s been a minute since Blumenthal hosted a major new jukebox musical. This one centers on the life and music of Neil Diamond, creator of pop-rock standards like “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “Forever in Blue Jeans” and, of course, “Sweet Caroline” (Ba! Ba! Baaa!). “I was there opening night when he was there as well,” Gabbard says of the show and its real-life hero. “That character is out there with his mistakes, with his troubled marriages, with his willingness to admit that he was not a perfect man, and yet he accomplished things musically that we all love.”

“Parade,” March 25-30, 2025, at Belk Theater: This musical is based on the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish man living in Georgia who finds himself on trial in 1913 after being falsely accused of raping and murdering a 13-year-old girl. And Gabbard will be the first to admit that “it definitely represents a communications challenge.” That’s because the subject matter, which also deals with antisemitism — “an incredibly timely issue right now” — is so grim. “So we try to be crystal-clear, as best we can, as to what that show is,” he says of this revival of the critically acclaimed 1998 show that returned in updated form to win two Tonys last year. “To explain what it is, and then let consumers make a choice. We know that there are folks who can’t get enough dramatic stories, that want something substantial, and then other people who just want light fare.” It’s among the reasons, Gabbard adds, why Blumenthal offers subscribers the option to customize their season-ticket packages by swapping shows. (More on that program in a minute, for those who don’t know how that works.)

“Kimberly Akimbo,” April 15-27, 2025, at Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St.: The show that beat out “Some Like It Hot” for Best Musical last year centers around the titular teenage girl, her dysfunctional family, her first crush and her rare genetic condition — one that causes her to age so rapidly that she looks like an elderly woman before even turning 16. Gabbard refers to it as “one of the very sweet moments of this last Broadway season, a musical that nobody knew before it opened on Broadway because it originated there. There’s no razzle-dazzle with chandeliers crashing and all of that. It’s just a very human story. It has its dramatic moments. But it ends in a very, very uplifting way that people just leave feeling renewed by it. And we’re playing it in the Knight Theater, where there’s going to be an intimacy to it that really will benefit that show.”

“Shucked,” May 27-June 1, 2025, at Belk Theater: Yet another show that was up for Best Musical at the Tonys last year, this one is definitely the — ahem — corniest. That’s a pun, not a dig; the story is set in the fictional rural town in Cob County, which is bordered naturally by stalks of corn that serve as the town’s livelihood until the crop starts to falter and farm girl Maizy has to set out to find help in the big city. “The jokes just fly as fast as you can imagine,” Gabbard says, with “lively music” written by Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark, who’ve penned songs for country-music stars including Kacey Musgraves, Reba McEntire and Miranda Lambert. Oh, and also: “One of the fascinating things in New York this last season was that it generated all this cosplay stuff, people dressed up like corn. So I can’t wait to play it here and see what kind of cosplay happens.”

“Life of Pi,” July 29-Aug. 3, 2025, at Belk Theater: Right now this is the sole play (i.e. non-musical) on the Broadway Lights schedule for ’24-’25, and it’s an eye-popping visual spectacle. Based on the 2001 bestselling novel that became a 2012 box-office-hit of a movie, the story follows a 16-year-old boy who’s been shipwrecked on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific with a tiger, a zebra, a hyena and an orangutan. At last year’s Tonys, it cleaned up in technical categories, winning awards including Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design. “To create the look of being out on the high seas, and to actually see these animals — these life-size puppets that have anywhere from one to four people manipulating them — just the artistry of watching that in and of itself is worth the evening,” Gabbard notes. “But then you add a moving story that takes you in different directions and leaves you wondering, So, what exactly did happen?”

The seventh and final show in the series will be announced at a later date.

Equitable Bravo Series

What it is: A “secondary” series, named “Bravo” because these are all shows that have already been to Charlotte at least once, sometimes multiple times. With one exception.

“Girl From the North Country,” Oct. 1-6 at Belk Theater: This is the exception, a musical — set along the shores of Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota, and to the music of Bob Dylan — that has never before been performed in Charlotte.

“Hamilton,” Jan. 7-Feb. 2, 2025, at Belk Theater: The hip-hop-heavy history lesson/cultural touchstone following the rise of the “10-Dollar Founding Father,” Alexander Hamilton, is back for a four-week-long run.

“Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” June 10-15, 2025, at Belk Theater: A fact-based jukebox musical built around the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s songs to show how she became one of the best-selling recording artists ever, it will take on an even greater resonance this time around — given her passing at the age of 83 last year.

“Wicked,” Sept. 24-Oct. 26, 2025, at Belk Theater: The twist on “The Wizard of Oz” that shows “Wicked Witch” Elphaba’s perspective will return just two months ahead of the release of “Wicked Part Two,” the sequel to the movie franchise that launches in theaters this fall.

“Six” at Belk Theater (dates to be announced): A huge hit here last summer, the comic musical features the six wives of King Henry VIII and a reality-TV-style pop-singing competition to determine who will be lead singer of their girl group.

Broadway Extras

What it is: The third tier of shows coming to Charlotte.

“Elf The Musical,” Dec. 26-29 at Belk Theater: Buddy the Elf sings his way from the North Pole to Manhattan.

“Shrek the Musical,” Feb. 14-16, 2025, at Ovens Auditorium, 2700 E. Independence Blvd.: A revised, updated version of the 2008 Broadway musical inspired by the 2001 film.

“Les Misérables,” May 20-25, 2025, at Belk Theater: The Broadway-favorite epic set against the backdrop of 19th-century France.

“Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Time of The Temptations,” July 18-20, 2025, at Belk Theater: Jukebox musical about the beloved Motown group.

“Austen’s Pride: A New Musical of Pride and Prejudice” at Knight Theater (dates to be announced): Jane Austen’s most famous love story comes to life in this pre-Broadway tour.

How the series subscriptions work

Season subscriptions are on sale now, with Broadway Lights Series packages ranging from $249-$821 for the seven-show slate (with a 12-month payment-plan option) and Bravo Series packages starting at $224 (with a six-month payment-plan option).

For more information or to make a purchase, visit BlumenthalArts.org/Broadway or call 704-335-1010.

As for swapping shows: Subscribers of either series may choose to exchanges some of their season tickets for Broadway Extras — or for any additional special attractions added during the year. Broadway Lights Series season ticket holders have the ability to swap up to four shows for anything coming the following season, while Equitable Bravo season ticket holders can swap up to two shows for anything else coming to Blumenthal theaters, including for Broadway Lights Series shows.

Details about sales for tickets to individual shows will be announced at a later date.

More arts coverage

Want to see more stories like this? Sign up here for our free “Inside Charlotte Arts” newsletter: charlotteobserver.com/newsletters. And you can join our Facebook group, “Inside Charlotte Arts,” by going here: facebook.com/groups/insidecharlottearts.