Tuesday, August 09, 2005

NJPAC Season to Include King, Evita, Cats, Chicago, Millie and More

Several award-winning musicals will be presented this season at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

The Center's 'Broadway' season begins Nov. 8 with the Tony-winning musical The King and I. Stefanie Powers stars as Anna Leonowens in the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, which will play NJPAC through Nov. 13.

Another Tony-winning musical, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita will follow, playing Dec. 19-24. Evita, which follows the life and untimely death of Eva Peron, features such tunes as 'Buenos Aires,' 'I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You,' 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina,' 'Rainbow High' and 'High Flying Adored.'

The 25th anniversary tour of Cats will make its way to the Newark venue, playing Jan. 31, 2006-Feb. 5. The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, based on the poems of T.S. Eliot, remains the longest-running show in Broadway history, although another Lloyd Webber musical, The Phantom of the Opera, will soon break that record.

John Kander and Fred Ebb's Chicago will follow Cats, playing March 28-April 2 at the Center's Prudential Hall. The revival of Chicago won six 1997 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and features such show-stoppers as 'All That Jazz,' 'Cell Block Tango,' 'Nowadays' and 'Hot Honey Rag.'

The Broadway musical season at NJPAC concludes with the 2002 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie. Millie Dillamount will tap her way onto the Prudential stage June 6-11.

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center is located at One Center Street in Newark, NJ. Tickets are available by calling (888) 466 5722. Visit www.njpac.org for more information.

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