Madison Theatre launches 'Signature' musical series
Freda Payne will star as Ella Fitzgerald at Madison Theatre this summer. Credit: Getty Images / Alberto E. Rodriguez
Roller skates, "Blue Suede Shoes" and stage and screen talents putting their best feet forward will all take the stage this summer at Molloy College's Madison Theatre in Rockville Centre.
The theater will launch its Signature Series this summer featuring Broadway and screen talents in productions of "In the Heights," "Xanadu," "All Shook Up" and two musical premieres.
Up first on May 21 and 22 will be a concert version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Carousel" featuring the South Shore Symphony. Lin-Manuel Miranda's "In the Heights" (June 3-12) is the first full-fledged production and will be directed and choreographed by Stephanie Klemons, the associate choreographer of the Broadway smash "Hamilton."
Premiering June 16 in the downstairs Hays Theatre will be "Squirrel Screams and Other Dating Sounds" starring Kaitlyn Black of TV's "Hart of Dixie" and Josephine Rose Roberts from Broadway's "Rock of Ages." The show about dating in the age of apps and social media runs through July 9.
The roller skating musical "Xanadu," based on the 1980 film starring Olivia Newton-John, takes over from June 24 to July 3 and features a score by Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra and John Farrar, who wrote and produced many of Newton-John's pop hits.
Up then from July 15 to 31 is "All Shook Up," a hip-swiveling reworking of William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" featuring the music of Elvis Presley, including "Don't Be Cruel," "Hound Dog" and "Heartbreak Hotel."
Rounding out the schedule (Aug. 18-Sept. 11) is the New York premiere of "Ella, First Lady of Song" starring Freda Payne as Ella Fitzgerald. The show stars the "Band of Gold" hitmaker as the legendary songstress and uses her music to trace her life from homeless teenager to jazz legend.
Tickets for all productions are $40-$65 and can be purchased at madisontheatreny.org.
