Earlier this evening, Walton Arts Center announced via Facebook Live the 2020-21 Procter & Gamble Broadway Series, including five Arkansas premieres (and the chance to see one show before it goes to Broadway, how exciting!).

Broadway subscriptions are on sale now and include My Fair Lady, Mean Girls, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Come From Away, Freestyle Love Supreme and An Officer and a Gentleman. The best way to guarantee tickets to Hamilton in early 2022 is to purchase a season subscription for the 2020-21 season. Subscribers who renew their subscription for the 2021-22 season will be able to guarantee their tickets for the premiere Fayetteville engagement of Hamilton before tickets become available to the general public.

“Walton Arts Center loves being Northwest Arkansas’ home for Broadway, and we look forward to seeing our community at the theater again soon,” said Scott Galbraith, vice president of programming and executive producer for Walton Arts Center. “Five of the six shows in the 2020-21 season are completely new to the state, and two shows give Arkansans unique opportunities. An Officer and a Gentleman is touring in preparation for going to Broadway and Freestyle Love Supreme is on a very limited tour of a handful of major cities and Northwest Arkansas.”

Subscribers get the best seats for the best price to Broadway shows and discounts on most other shows during the season, free ticket exchange and replacement and priority access to new shows added to the season. Patrons who subscribe now can also be the first to purchase tickets to Broadway’s Next Hit Musical, An Evening with Herb Alpert & Lani Hall, Cirque Mechanics Birdhouse Factory and Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s The Nutcracker. No-interest payment plan options are available for subscribers.

Six-show Broadway subscription packages range from $278 to $412 for Tuesday and Wednesday evening and Thursday matinees, and $312 to $474 for Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening, and Saturday and Sunday matinees. Package prices vary depending on performance selected and include all fees. Dates, programs and prices are subject to change, according to a press release.

Subscriptions can be renewed or new subscriptions can be purchased now online at waltonartscenter.org or by calling the subscriber hotline at 479-571-2785. Single tickets to all Broadway and regular season shows will be available this summer.

2020-21 P&G BROADWAY SERIES

My Fair Lady

Tuesday, Sept. 15 – Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020

From Lincoln Center Theater that brought you The King & I and South Pacific, comes “a sumptuous new production of the most perfect musical of all time” (Entertainment Weekly), Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady. Director Bartlett Sher’s glowing production is “thrilling, glorious and better than it ever was” (New York Times).  “Every so often a revival comes along that reminds you how indispensable great theater can be” (NY1).

Boasting such classic songs as “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “The Rain in Spain,” “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” and “On the Street Where You Live,” My Fair Lady tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flower seller, and Henry Higgins, a linguistics professor who is determined to transform her into his idea of a “proper lady.” But who is really being transformed?

Mean Girls

Tuesday, Nov. 3 – Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020

Arkansas Premiere

Direct from Broadway, Mean Girls is the hilarious hit musical from an award-winning creative team, including book writer Tina Fey (“30 Rock”), composer Jeff Richmond (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), lyricist Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde) and director Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon).

Cady Heron may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. Soon, this naïve newbie falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. But when Cady devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a Queen Bee without getting stung. New York Magazine cheers, “Mean Girls delivers with immense energy, a wicked sense of humor and joyful inside-jokery.”

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Tuesday, Dec. 15 – Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020

Arkansas Premiere

Willy Wonka is opening his marvelous and mysterious chocolate factory… to a lucky few. That includes Charlie Bucket, whose bland life is about to burst with color and confection beyond his wildest dreams. He and four other golden ticket winners will embark on a mesmerizing joyride through a world of pure imagination. Now’s your chance to experience the wonders of Wonka like never before – get ready for Oompa-Loompas, incredible inventions, the great glass elevator and more, more, more.

This production features songs from the original film, including “Pure Imagination,” “The Candy Man” and “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket,” alongside a toe-tapping and ear-tickling new score from the songwriters of Hairspray.

An Officer and a Gentleman

Tuesday, March 9 – Sunday, March 14, 2021

Arkansas Premiere

Based on the Oscar®-winning film starring Richard Gere, this breathtaking production celebrates triumph over adversity and includes one of the most iconic and romantic endings ever portrayed on screen. Featuring the Grammy Award®-winning, No.1 hit single “Up Where We Belong,” and a score based on the 1980’s catalogue of music that gave voice to a generation, the live stage production is a new adaptation by multiple Tony-nominee Dick Scanlan (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Everyday Rapture), based on the original screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart. The musical is directed by Scanlan with choreography by Patricia Wilcox (Motown, A Night with Janis Joplin).

Zack Mayo’s got smarts and a body built for U.S. Navy pilot boot camp, but he also has too much swagger, until he meets a drill sergeant who’s determined to drill his arrogance out of him. Zack finds comfort in the arms of a local factory girl. But it isn’t until tragedy befalls a fellow candidate that Zack learns the importance of love and friendship, finds the courage to be his best self and wins the heart of the woman he loves.

Come From Away

Tuesday, May 11 – Sunday, May 16, 2021

Arkansas Premiere

On 9/11, the world stopped.

On 9/12, their stories moved us all.

This New York Times Critics’ Pick takes you into the heart of the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. Cultures clashed and nerves ran high, but uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night and gratitude grew into enduring friendships.

Don’t miss this breathtaking new musical written by Tony-nominees Irene Sankoff and David Hein helmed by 2017’s Tony-winning Best Director Christopher Ashley. Newsweek cheers, “It takes you to a place you never want to leave!”

Freestyle Love Supreme

Tuesday, June 1 – Sunday, June 6, 2021

Arkansas Premiere

Before Hamilton, before In the Heights, there was Freestyle Love Supreme. Now, more than 15 years after its inception and direct from a limited engagement on Broadway, the original hip-hop musical phenomenon from Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Anthony Veneziale comes to Northwest Arkansas.

Every performance, the crew takes the crowd on a freestyle, hip-hop, improvisational, never-before-seen comedy ride. See it for the first time every time as the performers take suggestions from the audience and spin them into instantaneous riffs and full-length musical numbers.

The show is “fast, furious, funny and wildly entertaining” (The Hollywood Reporter). “It’s a delightfully wit-laced evening of comedy rap for a wide range of ages” (The Washington Post). “Modern, brilliant, experimental and sets a template for a new mode of comedy. You have to be there. So be there” (Observer).