Sweeney Todd” and “Angels in America” banner Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group’s 2019 season, which also celebrates its 20th anniversary.
The banner year includes a dramatic play, two musicals, an expanded workshop series, a new theatrical division and the launch of a one-of-a-kind coffee-table book, titled “Atlantis Twenty,” which encapsulates Atlantis’ 20-year journey in theatrical production.
Kicking off the year in March is “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches,” the first part of Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer, Tony and Olivier Award-winning work.
In the first part of this epic, set in 1980s New York City, a gay man is abandoned by his lover after he contracts the AIDS virus, and a closet-gay Mormon lawyer’s marriage to his pill-popping wife stalls.
Other characters include the infamous McCarthy-ite lawyer Roy Cohn, Ethel Rosenberg, a former drag queen who works as nurse, and an angel.
Among the 20th century’s defining works of dramatic art, “Angels in America” remains as transcendent, potent and timely in its concerns as when it premiered on Broadway over 25 years ago. It now has the biggest number of Tony Award nominations in Broadway history, and is a winner of 10 Tony Awards, including Best Play and Best Revival of a Play.
New York Times chief critic Ben Brantley has said of “Angels in America”: “‘Angels’ brought theater back into the national conversation, in a way that hasn’t happened again until ‘Hamilton.’”
It opens in March at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati.
In June, Atlantis will stage the Broadway hit “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” “Beautiful” was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
With a book by Douglas McGrath, “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” is the inspiring true story of one woman’s remarkable journey from teenage songwriter to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
From the string of pop classics she wrote for the biggest acts in music to her own life-changing, chart-busting success with “Tapestry,” “Beautiful” takes the audience on the ride of a lifetime.
It features such unforgettable classics as “You’ve Got a Friend,” “One Fine Day,” “So Far Away,” “Take Good Care of My Baby,” “Up on the Roof,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “Natural Woman.” This Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical opens in June at Meralco Theater.
The final musical for the year is the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical masterpiece “Sweeney Todd.”
It has become a bloody, worldwide success since being awarded eight Tony Awards (including Best Musical) for its Broadway premiere, as well as the Olivier Award for Best New Musical.
Sondheim and Wheeler’s thrilling theatrical treat has shocked, awed and delighted audiences across the world.
This radically different production of “Sweeney Todd” also celebrates the show’s 40th anniversary—it opened on Broadway in 1979. It will run in October at The Theatre at Solaire.
Atlantis will also have a year-round musical theater workshop series starting in January, and has created a new division titled Atlantis Imaginarium Young Theatre (AIYT), its new arm for theater for young audiences and family shows.
AIYT will be headed by Steven Conde and Sarah Facuri.
Atlantis will also publish “Atlantis Twenty,” which captures the journey of the company over 20 years, with photos of its various productions and articles by luminaries of its shows. The book records the hard work and dedication put into producing theater, from rehearsals to opening night.
It has never-before-seen photos, backstage stories from different points of view. The book will be launched in May.
Atlantis artistic director Bobby Garcia says, “On behalf of everyone at Atlantis, we thank you for supporting us for 20 years. We have lined up a terrific 20th season that we are very excited about. We have a bit of something for everyone. We hope to see you at the theater in 2019.”
A full cast for each production will be announced soon, as well as additional 20th-anniversary events.
For information on show buying and group sales for all shows, contact Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group/Ten Bridges at 6505144, or e-mail shows@atlantistheatrical.com.