Moonlight Stage Productions Announces 40th Anniversary Season

For the first-time ever, Moonlight Stage Productions will produce five musicals as part of its 40th anniversary season in 2020. The season's expansion of an additional show celebrates The Moonlight's landmark record of 40 continuous years of producing award-winning and critically acclaimed musicals at the Moonlight Amphitheatre.

"Our ruby anniversary season is a milestone for The Moonlight," said Producing Artistic Director Steven Glaudini. "Never before have we produced five musicals on the Moonlight stage in the same season. We're producing five shows to celebrate forty summers and to give audiences the opportunity to experience three San Diego Regional premiere productions, one San Diego premiere, and one extraordinary revival. The 2020 season is a great mix of contemporary and traditional musicals, each one telling compelling stories of the human spirit, from the humorous, the dramatic, to the inspiring."

"Our five show fortieth anniversary season in 2020 is a testament to the great support and loyalty of our audiences, donors and sponsors, and the City of Vista," noted Managing Director Colleen Kollar Smith. "It's thrilling and gratifying to be able to offer audiences a fifth show to mark our anniversary and to celebrate the Moonlight. For 40 years, the Moonlight has been a special place to spend summers and make memories and we are excited to continue the tradition to the next fortieth and beyond."

Opening the 40th anniversary season May 13 - 20, 2020 is the San Diego Regional Premiere production of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. Inspired by the Academy Award winning 1951 film, this recent Broadway musical features music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin and a book by Tony Award nominee Craig Lucas. Set in Paris in the aftermath of World War II, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS tells the romantic story of a young American soldier, a beautiful French girl, and an indomitable European city - each yearning for a new beginning in the aftermath of international conflict. The 2015 Broadway production earned four Tony Awards and includes such classic Gershwin songs including "I Got Rhythm," "Liza," "'S Wonderful," "But Not for Me," and "Stairway to Paradise."

From June 10 - 27, 2020, The Moonlight presents the San Diego Premiere production of the hilarious new Broadway musical SOMETHING ROTTEN!. Created by Grammy Award-winning songwriter Wayne Kirkpatrick, and screenwriters Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell, SOMETHING ROTTEN! was lauded by audience members and critics alike, receiving several Best Musical nominations and a Grammy for its original cast recording. SOMETHING ROTTEN! is an over the top farce set in 1595 featuring large song and dance numbers telling the story of the Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel, who struggle to find success in the theatrical world, as they compete with the wild popularity of their contemporary William Shakespeare.

Until 2013, Broadway had never seen Rodgers & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA, and Moonlight presents the San Diego Regional Premiere production July 15 - August 1, 2020. If you think you know the classic tale born as a TV special in 1957, this new version will offer plenty of new music and surprises. This contemporary take on the classic tale features Rodgers & Hammerstein's most beloved songs, including "In My Own Little Corner," "Impossible/It's Possible" and "Ten Minutes Ago," alongside a hilarious and romantic libretto by Tony Award nominee Douglas Carter Beane. The lush production features an incredible orchestra, jaw-dropping transformations and all of the moments audiences love, plus some surprising new twists. The musical adds new songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein catalog.

Returning to The Moonlight's stage after 18 years is the sweeping musical portrait of early 20th century America. RAGTIME will run August 12 - 29, 2020. Written by the award-winning composer/lyricist team of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, noted playwright Terrence McNally, and based on E.L. Doctorow's distinguished novel, RAGTIME is the winner of the 1998 Tony Awards for Best Score, Book and Orchestrations, and both the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical and Best Score. Moonlight Stage Productions offered the regional premiere in 2002 and this will be its first revival since. Three distinctly American tales are woven together - that of a stifled upper-class wife, a determined Jewish immigrant and a daring young Harlem musician - united by their courage, compassion and belief in the promise of the future. Together, they confront history's timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and what it means to live in America.

To close its 40th anniversary season, September 9 - 26, 2020 is the San Diego Regional Premiere production of KINKY BOOTS, winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. KINKY BOOTS features a joyous, Tony-winning score by Cyndi Lauper, and a hilarious, uplifting book by four-time Tony winner, Harvey Fierstein. Inspired by true events, KINKY BOOTS takes audiences from a gentlemen's shoe factory in Northampton to the glamorous catwalks of Milan. Charlie Price is struggling to live up to his father's expectations and continue the family business of Price & Son. With the factory's future hanging in the balance, help arrives in the unlikely but spectacular form of Lola, a fabulous performer in need of some sturdy new stilettos. KINKY BOOTS was Cyndi Lauper's first foray as a Broadway composer and for her work she was honored with a Tony Award for Best Score, the first woman to win solo in that category.

Subscriptions for the 2020 season will go on sale in January, with single tickets going on sale in March. For more information, call (760) 724-2110 or visit moonlightstage.com.

The 2020 season announcement comes at the beginning of its current 39th season where Moonlight Stage Productions is producing Mel Brooks' THE PRODUCERS (June 12 - 29, 2019), the San Diego Regional Premiere of MATILDA THE MUSICAL (July 17 - August 3, 2019), WEST SIDE STORY (August 14 - 31, 2019), and the San Diego Regional Premiere of VICTOR/VICTORIA (September 11 - 28, 2019).

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
May 13 - 30, 2020
San Diego Regional Premiere Production
Romance is in the air and youthful optimism reigns in the San Diego Regional Premiere production of "An American in Paris." George Gershwin's soaring melodies are matched by gravity-defying dance and the romantic story of a young American soldier, a beautiful French girl, and an indomitable European city each yearning for a new start following World War II. Hoping to start a new life, veteran Jerry Mulligan chooses newly-liberated Paris as the place to make a name for himself as a painter. But Jerry's life becomes complicated when he meets Lise, a young Parisian shop girl with her own secret and realizes he is not her only suitor. "An American in Paris" features music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin and a book by Tony nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist Craig Lucas. Winner of four Tony Awards and inspired by the Academy Award-winning film, this exquisite musical features treasured Gershwin songs including, "I Got Rhythm," "Liza," "'S Wonderful," "But Not for Me," and "Stairway to Paradise."

SOMETHING ROTTEN!
June 10 - 27, 2020
San Diego Premiere Production
Welcome to the Renaissance, where the Black Plague has ceded power to the Puritans, farthingales and codpieces are the latest fashion trend, and the biggest celebrity in England is a playwright named William Shakespeare. Moonlight presents the San Diego Regional Premiere of "Something Rotten!," the hilarious new musical comedy that tells the story of brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom, two playwrights stuck in the shadow of that rock star playwright Shakespeare. When a soothsayer foretells the next big thing in theatre involves singing, dancing, and acting at the same time, the Bottom brothers set out to write the world's very first MUSICAL! With its heart on its ruffled sleeve and sequins in its soul, "Something Rotten!" is an uproarious dose of pure Broadway fun and an irresistible ode to musicals, those dazzling creations that entertain, inspire, and remind us that everything's better with an exclamation point!

RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA
July 15 - August 1, 2020
San Diego Regional Premiere Production
The timeless enchantment of a magical fairy tale is reborn and refreshed with the new Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella." The 2013 production marked the first time the classic tale born in 1957 as a TV movie starring Julie Andrews was produced on Broadway where it ran for two years starting in 2013. Douglas Carter Beane's revamped book introduces new characters and surprising twists giving today's audiences a fresh look at the tale while keeping in the elements that generations of fans of the show remember: the pumpkin, the glass slipper, the marked ball, and others. Lush orchestrations accompany the familiar songs of the original ("In My Own Little Corner," "Ten Minutes Ago," "The Prince is Giving a Ball" among others) and adds new ones from the R&H catalog. No matter one's age, when the slipper fits, the heart will soar.

RAGTIME
August 12 - 29, 2020
Moonlight Revival
The 2020 season heralds the revival of one of Moonlight's most requested and popular shows: "Ragtime." After 18 years, Moonlight Stage Productions presents the sweeping musical portrait of early-twentieth-century America telling the story of three families in the pursuit of the American Dream. At the dawn of a new century, everything is changing and anything is possible. The musical focuses on an upper-class wife, a determined Jewish immigrant, and a daring young Harlem musician at the turn-of-the-century New York. All three are united by their desire and belief in a brighter tomorrow. Their compelling stories are set to one theatre's richest Tony Award-winning scores by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. 'Bloomberg News' calls the show, "Explosive and thrilling! Theater-shaking intensity...a vibrant production. "Ragtime" is nothing short of a masterpiece."

KINKY BOOTS
September 9 - 26, 2020
San Diego Regional Premiere
With a score by pop icon Cindi Lauper and a book by Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein, Moonlight closes its season with the San Diego Regional Premiere of "Kinky Boots." Capturing six Tony Awards in 2013 and winning every major Best Musical Award that season, "Kinky Boots" is inspired by true events. The show takes audiences from a gentlemen's shoe factory in England's Northampton to the glamorous catwalks of Milan. Charlie Price is struggling to live up to his father's expectations and continue the family business of Price & Son. With the factory's future hanging in the balance, help arrives in the unlikely but spectacular form of Lola, a fabulous performer in need of some sturdy new stilettos. "Kinky Boots" has won every major Best Musical Award. The musical scored 13 Tony Award nominations, winning six including Best Musical and Best Score (Cindi Lauper's first Broadway score and the first woman to win solo in that category). After more than 2,000 performances, the Broadway production closed on April 7, 2019 making it one of Broadway's huge-hearted hits.