Shoals Theatre Presents Their Patron Party & 2019-2020 Season Announcement

September 12-15, 2019

Rated M for Mature

Next to Normal, with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt, explores how one suburban household copes with crisis and mental illness. Winner of three 2009 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Score and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, Next to Normal was also chosen as “one of the year’s ten best shows” by critics around the country, including The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone and The New York Times.

Dad’s an architect; Mom rushes to pack lunches and pour cereal; their daughter and son are bright, wise-cracking teens, appearing to be a typical American family. And yet their lives are anything but normal because the mother has been battling manic depression for 16 years. Next to Normal takes audiences into the minds and hearts of each character, presenting their family’s story with love, sympathy and heart.

October 24-27, 2019

Rated E

Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel gets an adventurous update as this tale of friendship and romance follows young D’Artagnan as he arrives in Paris in seek of fame, fortune, and a place among the King’s Musketeers. He is quickly taken under the wing of Athos, Aramis, and Porthos, and D’Artagnan soon finds himself helping the Queen hide an affair with a British Duke and making enemies with the Cardinal Richelieu. When D’Artagnan’s love, Constance Bonacieux, is kidnapped out of revenge, D’Artagnan and the rest of the Musketeers must work together to rescue Constance and restore honor in the kingdom.

November 21-24, 2019

Rated E

The ’Wordspinner’ and the rhythmic beat of the tom-toms open and close this charming musical adventure for all age groups. Pocahontas is the daughter of the mighty Algonquin Chief Powhatan. The princess delights in playing with Raven, Wolf, and Squirrel. Pocahontas has also made friends with the English settlers of Jamestown, a community struggling with starvation and sickness. This enchanting musical is graced with a wonderful cast of characters: Little Running Rabbit, Brave Eagle, Aunt Morning Star, Forest Spirits, Mother Earth, and, of course, the people of Jamestown. Filled with Native American lore and beautiful music, this play is true to the original legend.

January 16-19, 2020

Rated T for Teen

At a large, tastefully-appointed Sneden’s Landing townhouse, the Deputy Mayor of New York has just shot himself. Though only a flesh wound, four couples are about to experience a severe attack of Farce. Gathering for their tenth wedding anniversary, the host lies bleeding in the other room, and his wife is nowhere in sight. His lawyer, Ken, and wife, Chris, must get “the story” straight before the other guests arrive. As the confusions and mis-communications mount, the evening spins off into classic farcical hilarity.

February 21-23, 2020

Rated T

One of the most powerful dramas in Western literature, King Lear is both an intimate family drama and an explosive political epic. Beginning with a monarch’s division of his kingdom amongst his three daughters, Lear explores the most basic questions of human existence: love and duty, power and loss, good and evil.

March 19-22, 2020

Rated E

In merry ol’ England, the townspeople are overtaxed and overwhelmed. Luckily, the mysterious outlaw Robin Hood is giving them hope by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. With many clever disguises, Robin continually tricks the greedy sheriff of Nottingham, his nasty daughter, Luciana, and the evil Prince John. Among the disguises is a minstrel costume to steal Prince John’s silver plates and excellent cook. Robin also dresses as an old man and enters the archery contest to win the golden arrow. When a young girl from Nottingham joins Robin’s band of outlaws, she discovers Robin’s secret: Robin Hood is actually a woman. Eventually, Robin needs her merry band of outlaws and her childhood friend, the brave Maid Marian, to use all of their quarterstaffs, swords, arrows and wits to save her from the gallows.

April 2 & 3, 2020

Rated E

Set in a modern courtroom, Pontius Pilate stands trial for ordering the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The verdict is left in the hands of the jurors who are chosen from the audience. The events are reexamined as if they happened only yesterday with every attempt being made to present both sides of the case as accurately as possible. We see faith, greed, and hope, as they come into conflict in the people most involved in history’s greatest story. We hear the facts—the truths and the half-truths—and then your own jury decides!

April 30 – May 3, 2020

Rated T

The epic struggle between good and evil comes to life on stage in the musical phenomenon, Jekyll & Hyde. Based on the classic story by Robert Louis Stevenson and featuring a thrilling score of pop rock hits from multi-Grammy- and Tony-nominated Frank Wildhorn and double-Oscar- and Grammy-winning Leslie Bricusse, Jekyll & Hyde has mesmerized audiences the world over.

An evocative tale of two men – one, a doctor, passionate and romantic; the other, a terrifying madman – and two women – one, beautiful and trusting; the other, beautiful and trusting only herself– both women in love with the same man and both unaware of his dark secret. A devoted man of science, Dr. Henry Jekyll is driven to find a chemical breakthrough that can solve some of mankind’s most challenging medical dilemmas. Rebuffed by the powers that be, he decides to make himself the subject of his own experimental treatments, accidentally unleashing his inner demons along with the man that the world would come to know as Mr. Hyde.

June 4-7 & 12-13, 2020

Rated T

Inspired by the “twisted” genius of Roald Dahl, the Tony Award-winning Matilda The Musical is the captivating masterpiece from the Royal Shakespeare Company that revels in the anarchy of childhood, the power of imagination and the inspiring story of a girl who dreams of a better life. With book by Dennis Kelly and original songs by Tim Minchin, Matilda has won 90 international awards and continues to thrill sold-out audiences of all ages around the world.

Matilda is a little girl with astonishing wit, intelligence and psychokinetic powers. She’s unloved by her cruel parents but impresses her schoolteacher, the highly loveable Miss Honey. Over the course of her first term at school, Matilda and Miss Honey have a profound effect on each other’s lives, as Miss Honey begins not only to recognize but also appreciate Matilda’s extraordinary personality. Matilda’s school life isn’t completely smooth sailing, however – the school’s mean headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, hates children and just loves thinking up new punishments for those who don’t abide by her rules. But Matilda has courage and cleverness in equal amounts, and could be the school pupils’ saving grace!

Packed with high-energy dance numbers, catchy songs and an unforgettable star turn for a young actress, Matilda is a joyous girl power romp. Children and adults alike will be thrilled and delighted by the story of the special little girl with an extraordinary imagination.