When announcing their upcoming season, Washington’s National Theatre also announced a Hamilton tie-in. As with The Kennedy Center’s offer, subscribers to the National Theatre’s 2016-2017 season get first choice of seats to the National’s 2017-2018 season. Those subscribers will have priority access to tickets for Hamilton’s 14 week run at The Kennedy Center mid-June to mid-September, 2018 before single tickets go on sale to the public.
In the upcoming season, The National Theatre will offer a three-play subscription through its “Broadway at the National” program which will include five-time Tony-winning musical Fun Home and two other classic musicals. In addition, Once, which will have a three-day run in November, will be available at an extra charge.
Once, Enda Walsh’s tale of an Irish musician ready to throw in the towel and the woman who saves his art, will run from November 25 to 27. The musical, with songs and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (who played the parts in the movie), won eight Tony Awards. Once played at the Kennedy Center last year. Susan Galbraith, writing for DCTS, notes that the musical “convinces us in so many ways that there is life and hope in Ireland still and that ‘on a rock in the middle of the ocean’ the miracle continues of birthing many of the world’s greatest writers.”
“There is something very pure about the work,” she concludes. John Tiffany directs the tour.
The regular National Broadway program will start with Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Mel Marvin – Timothy Mason musical adaptation of Theodore Geisel’s immortal story of the mean old Grinch’s plot to deprive the Whos of their holiday pleasures. Washington stage luminary Patrick Page played the original Grinch, but there’s no word on who’s in the cast for this show. Commenting on the latest version of How the Grinch, the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Jones observed, “the short running time and the early curtains mean that young fans of Cindy Lou…can be to bed not too late, and their parents can be home with an adult beverage instead of fending off demands for intermission concessions.” How the Grinch Stole Christmas will run from December 13 to 31 of this year.
On April 18, 2017, the National will begin its run of the Lisa Kron–Jeannie Tesori’s musical adaptation of Allison Bechdel’s graphic memoir, Fun Home. This is the story of how Bechdel discovered and came to grips with the fact that she was a lesbian, and announced it to her family, including to her tightly-wound, controlling father who was himself in-the-closet gay, and prone to sex with underage boys. “[T] this extraordinary musical,” said the New York Times’ Ben Brantley, “pumps oxygenating fresh air into the cultural recycling center that is Broadway.” Fun Home, which won five Tony Awards, will run until May 13. Sam Gold, who directed the Broadway production, directs the tour.
The National wraps up its season with a short run of the Jonathan Larson musical Rent. Loosely based on Puccini’s La Boheme, Rent follows the lives of a band of artists imperiled by poverty and AIDS. But “Puccini’s ravishingly melancholy work seemed, like many operas of its time, to romance death; Mr. Larson’s spirited score and lyrics defy it,” Brantley said. Rent, which Michael Greif will direct, will run from June 20 to 25.
Season subscriptions are not yet available online [when they are you can find them here], but you may buy a subscription (which does not include Once) by calling 855.486.2516.
