For almost 100 years, Austin has eased through each summer with stage musicals.
Cameron Le Brie and Taylor Bini play the leads in "The Robber Bridgroom," produced by The Alchemy Theatre at The Whisenhunt at Zach Theater.
During the 1930s, Austin parks folks held hootenannies on a hillside near Barton Springs. By the 1950s, the local theatrical community had matured enough to stage Broadway-style shows at Zilker Hillside Theater.
The first such musical, appropriately, was “Seventeen,” based on Booth Tarkington’s humorously nostalgic sketches, “Seventeen: A Tale of Youth and Summer Time and the Baxter Family Especially William.”
The summer musical trend grew. Last year — in a numerical coincidence — 17 of them could be seen across the Austin area. This year, I count 15, a slight decline.
Which will you see this year?
The Alchemy Theatre: ‘Robber Bridegroom’
The Alchemy Theatre has refined its magical formula for reducing the spectacle of Broadway musicals to instead foreground the humanity of their stories and characters. The troupe has delivered small but excellent versions of “The Baker’s Wife,” “Mack and Mabel,” “King of Hearts” and “Grand Hotel: The Musical.” Now director Michael Cooper takes on “The Robber Bridegroom,” based on a 1942 Eudora Welty novella about eccentric, sometimes grotesque Southern characters on the Natchez Trace during the 18th century. May 29-June 14, The Whisenhunt at Zach Theatre, thealchemytheatre.org.
Summer Stage Austin: ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Newsies’
Impact Arts combines students and alumni of its training programs to make any musical shine at its still-new home on the University of Texas campus. “Cinderella” (July 23-Aug. 9) is the sweet Rodgers and Hammerstein take on the reliable fairy tale, while “Newsies” (July 31-Aug.9) is a Disney product about a newsboy strike against unfair publishers. Both have been revived recently, and why not? These crowd pleasers are just right for Summer Stock at the McCullough Theatre, texasperformingarts.org.
Zach Theater: ‘Annie’ and ‘Come from Away’
Every cast of "Come From Away," including this 2021 Broadway revival, has been rousing and moving. Zach Theater in Austin will open its version this summer.
No local producer does big, beloved musicals like Zach Theatre, our top resident company. “Annie” (June 24-Aug. 2) and “Come from Away” (Aug. 19–Sept. 27) have proven favorites with Austin audiences of late. Can’t wait to see what Zach’s creative team does with these upbeat musicals, one based on a Depression era comic strip, the other on the small-town Canadian miracle — with an Austin angle — that followed the tragedy of 9/11. The Topfer at Zach Theater, zachtheater.org.
Zilker Summer Musical: ‘Singin’ in the Rain’
What an inspired choice for the venerable Zilker Summer Musical! First seen as a classic 1952 movie musical about the advent of the talkies, then as a spectacular 1983 London stage hit, “Singin’ in the Rain” comes with enough exuberance and comedy to fill the outdoor stage above Barton Springs. Bewitching question: How will they make it rain outdoors? July 10–Aug. 15, Zilker Hillside Theater, zilker.org.
Texas Performing Arts: ‘& Juliet’
The national touring production of "& Juliet" arrives at Bass Concert Hall this summer.
One striking trend in Broadway musicals these days is the emergence of a reliable youth audience already attached to familiar pop hits through the jukebox format. For a storyline, “& Juliet” asks what might have happened if Shakespeare’s Juliet didn’t die, and instead steered the course of her future. It definitely strikes a chord with Broadway in Austin fans. July 14-19, Bass Concert Hall, texasperformingarts.org.
Gilbert and Sullivan Austin: ‘Patience’
Austin has been producing the witty works of dramatist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan since the days when O. Henry performed them here during the 19th century. As a veteran company, Gilbert and Sullivan Austin has experienced the requisite ups and downs that all troupes experience. It should stand tall with “Patience.” June 12-21, MacTheatre at McCallum Fine Arts Academy, gilbertsullivan.org.
TexArts: ‘Rock of Ages’
A breakout jukebox musical, “Rock of Ages” brings together classic rock and metal hits around an aspirational coming-of-age story. Premiering in 2009, it ran on Broadway for more than 2,000 performances, then was adapted into a 2012 movie. It has toured everywhere. Now TexArts, which puts a good deal of emphasis on training, revives it July 10-Aug. 9, TexArts in Lakeway, tex-arts.org.
Magnolia Musical Theatre: ‘The Addams Family’
One of the musicals presented most often by high schools during the past 10 or so years, “The Addams Family” is based on the ghoulish characters from Charles Addams’ comics. It opened on Broadway in 2010 and began touring North American in 2011. Although not a Tony Award favorite, it remains popular with theatergoers. Magnolia Musical Theatre artistic director Andrew Cannata is an Austin musical theater veteran. Plays outdoors July 15-Aug. 15, Hill Country Galleria, Bee Cave, magnoliamt.org.
Georgetown Palace Theater: ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’
Produced last summer by Summer Stock Austin, this rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice about the last days of Jesus has never been out of vogue since the score was introduced as a somewhat controversial concept album in 1970. May 29-July 25, Georgetown Palace Theater, georgetownpalace.org.
Bastrop Opera House: ‘Anything Goes’
Such a delight that Cole Porter’s 1934 classic “Anything Goes” remains toe-tappingly fun more than 90 years after it premiered. The play about shenanigans aboard an ocean liner requires refreshing every 10 years or so and at least six writers have tried their hand at it, but the songs and dances, sometimes recalibrated with other Porter hits, are immortal. July 17-Aug. 2, Bastrop Opera House, bastropoperahouse.org.
Lake Travis Music Theatre: ‘Into the Woods’
Established in 2007, Lake Travis Music Theatre is one of three summer musical providers planted near the shores of Lake Travis. This year, the group presents “Into the Woods,” the most frequently produced Stephen Sondheim musical, with a play of fractured fairy tales by James Lapine. June 19-28, Lago Vista ISD Performing Arts Center, ltmt.org
AISD Summer Theatre Series: ‘Frozen: The Broadway Musical’
Once Disney released junior versions of “Frozen” for school performances in 2019, the glaciers melted, and what most adults might have recognized only through Idina Menzel’s soaring 2013 performance of “Let It Go” had already become a veritable “Frozen” franchise. The 2018 stage musical is more than just a live version of the movie, and who better to perform it than Austin school district students? July 23-26, Austin ISD Performing Arts Center, austinisd.org/arts/pac.
