The Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre has announced its 2022-23 season.
Civic’s season will begin with Rent. Set in the East Village of New York City, Rent is about falling in love, finding your voice, and living for today. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Rent has become a pop cultural phenomenon with songs that rock and a story that resonates with audiences of all ages. Rent will run Oct. 7 to 22.
New to the Knebel stage for the holiday season is A Christmas Story. This musical, which received rave reviews on its Broadway run, is based on the movie classic that runs round-the-clock on television every Christmas. Set in the 1940s in the fictional town of Hohman, Ind., the musical follows nine-year-old Ralphie Parker and his quest for the Holy Grail of Christmas gifts – an Official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. A Christmas Story will run Dec. 2 to 24.
The first play of 2023 will be The Diary of Anne Frank. Published long afterwards by her father, the only family survivor, this play records the 25 months that two Jewish families spent in hiding from the Gestapo in an Amsterdam warehouse attic. The constant secrecy, growing hunger and friction of living in such cramped conditions could not dull Anne’s vibrant personality or her passion for living. The Diary of Anne Frank will also include student matinees and will run Feb. 10 to 25.
The second play will be Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed eight times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on detective Hercule Poirot to identify the murderer – in case he or she decides to strike again. Murder on the Orient Express will run March 10 to 25.
Ending the season will be The Sound of Music. The inspirational story, based on the memoir of Maria Augusta Trapp, follows an ebullient postulate who serves as governess to the seven children of the imperious Captain von Trapp, bringing music and joy to the household. But as the forces of Nazism take hold of Austria, Maria and the entire von Trapp family must make a moral decision. The Sound of Music will run April 28 to May 13.
Alongside the mainstage productions, Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat will also return in February. The Jr. Civic musical will be Newsies Jr., and the Young Artist’s Program will perform Revue! and Legally Blonde.
Subscriptions will be available beginning April 29, and single tickets will go on sale at the end of July. To learn more about each show, visit civictheatre.org.
About the Civic Theatre
Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre is the largest of more than 70 community theaters in Indiana and is one of the 10 largest active community theatres in the United States. Civic has been avital part of the cultural landscape throughout central Indiana for over 100 years. Civic is the principal resident company of the Tarkington at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel.