One of the first musicals ever produced at Gateway Theatre is returning to the Minoru Park playhouse next season.
Meredith Willson’s The Music Man will come to life on the MainStage in December as the Richmond theatre’s popular holiday musical. Announced at the theatre Friday, the show is one of six plays featured in Gateway’s 2016-2017 season.
Gateway first produced the Broadway classic about a charming con man and his 76 trombones in 1985 — the theatre’s second year.
Gateway artistic director Jovanni Sy was on stage in Vancouver Friday, but said in a news release he’s bringing together some of the best theatre artists in Metro Vancouver and from across the country for the upcoming season.
“The plays we are presenting are not only riveting entertainment, they also examine timely issues from a multitude of viewpoints. Each of these productions showcases diverse voices with something relevant to say about the interconnected world in which we live,” said Sy.
Among the six plays announced are two world premieres and one Canadian premiere.
First to be featured on the MainStage is King of the Yees, a Canadian premiere for a play that explores the history of America’s largest Chinatown through the eyes of a new generation. That’s followed by the popular Tony Award winningThe Music Man. The new year will begin withYou Will Remember Me, a drama that explores the heartbreak of dementia. Closing the season is The Watershed, a story of a theatre artist who investigates the forces shaping the future of our natural resources.
In Studio B, Gateway will feature the world premiere of Long Division, a physical theatre piece about the mathematics of human connection, focusing on seven characters linked by a sequence of ultimately tragic events.
Another world premiere is planned with The Pipeline Project — a new work that focuses on the issues of peak oil, First Nations land claims and climate change.
