'Hamilton' to kick off Twin Cities Broadway season — if all goes well with pandemic

Broadway presenters in Minneapolis are banking on a raft of high-wattage shows to bring apprehensive patrons back to the theater after a 16-month shutdown forced by the pandemic.

"Hamilton," Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony-winning juggernaut, is slated to kick off the 2021-22 touring Broadway season July 27-Aug. 29 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis.

It leads off a year-long schedule of a dozen productions announced Thursday by the Hennepin Theatre Trust, which presents shows at the restored theaters in downtown Minneapolis. Nearly all were postponed from the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, save for "Tootsie," which has been replaced by "Pretty Woman: The Musical."

But after so many postponements, will the schedule stick this time?

That remains to be seen. Officials at the Hennepin Theatre Trust, which presents shows at the Orpheum and State Theatres, said that they will continue to follow health safety protocols. But they are hopeful.

"Throughout the pandemic, we've come to understand and appreciate how deeply shared experiences impact us as people," said trust president and CEO Mark Nerenhausen.

After "Hamilton," the other titles are "Come From Away," set in the Canadian town of Gander that welcomed fliers stranded by the 9/11 terrorist attacks (Sept. 7-19); "Disney's Frozen," headlined by local-star-made-good Caroline Innerbichler (Oct. 7-24, 2021), and director Daniel Fish's Tony-winning revival of "Oklahoma!" (Nov. 9-14).

"Anastasia," the musical about a surviving Russian royal, fills the all-important holiday slot (Dec. 7-19) before short engagements of the ever-popular "Jersey Boys" (Jan. 4-9, 2022), "Cats," (Jan. 25-30, 2022) and "Pretty Woman: The Musical," (Feb. 22-27, 2022).

"Hadestown," Anaïs Mitchell's eight-time Tony-winning show that retells Greek myths, also has a short engagement (March 15-20, 2022), as does "The Prom," which is based on a Mississippi town's bigoted reaction to a girl bringing her girlfriend to the prom, (April 12-17, 2022).

The final shows on the roster are "Moulin Rouge!" the jukebox musical that incorporates contemporary songs such as Beyonce's "Single Ladies" and Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" (May 18-June 5, 2022) and the Motown show "Ain't Too Proud — The Life and Time of the Temptations (June 28-July 10, 2022).

Season ticket packages, which range from $255 to $980, are available for purchase at HennepinTheatreTrust and by phone at 1-800-859-7469.

Rohan Preston • 612-673-4390

@rohanpreston