Musical chestnuts and a ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ set for Drury Lane

The Drury Lane Theatre in Oak Brook Terrace — which racked up an impressive 19 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations last week for its productions of the past season — has today announced its plans for the 2018-19 season. And the lineup might best be described this way: Four musical chestnuts plus a dramatic sizzler courtesy of Tennessee Williams.

The season will begin with the ever-timely Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, “South Pacific” (April 5 – June 17, 2018). Next up will be the non-musical offering that has become part of each Drury Lane season, and this time around it will be a bold choice — Williams’ sexually-charged classic, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” running July 5-Aug. 26, 2018. The play (for adults audiences) will be directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, who recently staged an impressive version of the revue “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” at Drury Lane.

Taking hold of the stage next Fall will be “Little Shop of Horrors,” the zany mock-horror musical by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, running Sept. 6 – Oct. 28, 2018. It will be followed by “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” (Nov. 9, 2018 – Jan. 27, 2019), to be directed by Alan Souza, and the ABBA-driven musical,”Mamma Mia!” (Feb. 7 – April 14, 2019), to be directed by William Osetek.

Subscriptions for the 2018 -2019 season ($157 – $187) will go on sale beginning in November 2017. For additional more information, visit www.DruryLaneTheatre.com.