Center Theatre Group has announced new dates for its 54th season at Los Angeles, California's Ahmanson Theatre, the company's first since COVID-19 shut down live theatre last year. Along with the previously-announced titles A Christmas Carol, Oklahoma!, The Lehman Trilogy, The Prom, Hadestown, Dear Evan Hansen, and Come From Away, the shifted season will now also include the North American premiere of West End musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie.
Based on a 2011 BBC documentary, ...Jamie centers on its titular teenage character who overcomes prejudice and homophobia to become a drag queen and schoolyard legend. Written by Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae, the work premiered in London's West End in 2017, quickly becoming a fan favorite. A filmed stage performance was shown in movie theatres internationally in 2018, and a full feature film adaptation is completed and expected to premiere later this year following several postponed release dates. West End director Jonathan Butterell will be back to helm the North American premiere.
Diane Paulus' new production of 1776, originally scheduled to play a pre-Broadway run in CTG's 2019-2020 season before being postponed in the wake of COVID-19, will now be further postponed to a future season.
Initially scheduled to begin in September, CTG's season will now begin November 30, 2021, with A Christmas Carol, directed by Matthew Warchus and adapted by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child playwright Jack Thorne, playing through January 2, 2022. The holiday favorite will be followed by Everybody's Talking About Jamie (January 16–February 20), The Lehman Trilogy (March 3–April 10), Hadestown (April 26–May 29), Come From Away (May 31–June 12), Dear Evan Hansen (June 29–July 31), The Prom (August 9–September 11), and Oklahoma! (September 13–October 16).
Though most of these productions were previously announced, several dates have been newly shifted. Most notably, Daniel Fish's Tony-winning revival production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, originally slated to open the California theatre's season in August of last year, will now close out CTG's season in 2022.