As June ends, Playhouse on the Square and The Orpheum Theatre roll out their schedules of the fall seasons.
The Orpheum starts with a production of "Les Miserables," the first weekend of July. Touted as "the world's most popular musical," and featuring a collision of lives during the French Revolution, it is the last chance to see the show in Memphis.
The entire line-up at the Orpheum rests on musicals as it has done in the past.
Conversely, POTS, which also encompasses The Circuit Playhouse, is heavy with regional premiers, more dramas and one production, "The Full Monty," with an "explicit theatre advisory."
"The Full Monty" runs from August to September. Based on the movie, six male ex-factory workers star in their own strip show, and on the way, gain some perspective on life and themselves.
It is also a musical.
But first, Circuit starts the season July 28 with "I Am My Own Wife," a hit on Broadway and both a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner. Through the performance, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite tells of her survival through Nazi Germany, the war and the building of the Berlin Wall.
"I just read that in class," said Aaron Jones, senior theater performance major. "I prefer the dramatic stuff, although I have been getting more into musicals."
For more musicals, two Disney musicals are up for grabs this season. "Beauty and the Beast" returns to the Orpheum in August. But POTS answers with a regional premiere of the stage version of "Aladdin." It runs through November and most of December.
Both the movies and the plays have generated a large fanbase.
"You're kidding? Aladdin's coming?" said Mohsin Siddiqui, senior electrical engineering major. "Hell yeah, I want to see that."
The Orpheum also added two musical revues to the bill. "STOMP" comes first in July, and "The Rat Pack, The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey and Dean" arrives in September.
In "STOMP," a group of musicians deliver thumping percussion using items you would find in the street-trash cans, brooms, matchboxes and, of course, stomping feet.
"The Rat Pack" recreates the performances of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Dean Martin.
The other musicals at the Orpheum are "Annie" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," a collaboration between Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
For an opportunity to see a drama, both Circuit and POTS have adaptations for the stage.
"Medea" lends from the Greek myth about a golden fleece, a woman scorned and revenge. Spreading darkness and deception to POTS, a detective named Miss Marple investigates a death where the entire village is a suspect in "Murder at the Vicarage," an adaptation from an Agatha Christie novel.
Looking further ahead, during the winter holidays only Circuit is running a Christmas-themed play.
It continues the tradition of "The Santaland Diaries," a one-man comedy about a cynic working as an elf in the Christmas village of Macy's. And, like always, POTS will show "Peter Pan."
However, there are still two new shows in December.
"It's a Wonderful Life" opens at POTS, but in an unusual format. The audience will see the film acted out as a 1940s radio show.
But, "Wonderful Town" takes the Orpheum's stage.
"'Wonderful Town' is the only show I'm going to go see (at the Orpheum)," said Ryan Scott, junior theater performance major. "It's an old Leonard Bernstein comedy that just had a huge revival. It's a great comedy and it's not dated. It's uncommonly funny."
Tickets to any POTS or Circuit production are free to U of M students through the information office in The University Center and have "Pay What You Can" nights.
The Orpheum lists a "Student Rush" night before each show. For "Les Miserables," students can get two tickets for $20 each at 7:15 p.m. on July 5.
For a complete listing of dates and show times visit www.orpheum-memphis.com and www.playhouseonthesquare.org.
