New London Barn Playhouse Announces 2019 Summer Season

Press release

The award-winning New London Barn Playhouse is thrilled to announce the line-up for their 2019 Summer Season. The 87th Season is jam-packed with Broadway hits, and when the Barn opens for the season in June they’ll be continuing a legacy of award-winning theater that audiences have come to expect and love.

The 2019 Summer Season follows the record-breaking 2018 Season. In 2018 over 100 guest artists, designers, staff, and Acting Interns helped the Barn soar past ticket sales records (Camelot, Sylvia, Newsies); introduced audiences to New Hampshire premieres (Newsies); and provided over 100 packed houses with laughter, superb singing, and thrilling dancing over the course of the summer.

The Main Stage series of the 2019 Summer Season opens with a brassy Golden Age musical: The Pajama Game. This hilarious musical comedy follows employees at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory, where new superintendent Sid Sorokin and union head Babe Williams are at loggerheads over a pay increase; everything changes, though, when their fiery disdain grows into passionate love. This Tony Award-winning (1955, Best Musical; 2006, Best Revival of a Musical) gem runs June 12-23.

Following The Pajama Game is another Tony Award-winner, this time an ingenious retelling of a timeless classic: Peter and the Starcatcher, based on J.M. Barrie’s beloved Peter Pan. Peter and the Starcatcher follows orphaned Peter, as he’s shipped off to a distant island ruled by a wicked king, but on the journey discovers a powerful secret hidden on the ship. Peter is joined by Starcatcher-in-training Molly and a cast of over 100 characters as he fights to protect their precious cargo and defeat the fearsome pirate Black Stache. This five-time Tony Award-winning play with music is perfect for the whole family, and will bring you on an adventure as limitless as your imagination. Peter and the Starcatcher runs June 26 – July 7.

The first play of the 2019 Summer Season comes from the enduring king of comedy, Neil Simon. The Odd Couple last played the Barn in 2007, and the Barn is thrilled to bring back this witty, hilarious comedy that’s inspired film adaptations, TV shows, and even a cartoon series. Come meet the uptight Felix Ungar and the disheveled Oscar Madison, and see what happens when two polar opposites are forced to share a home and a life together. The Odd Couple runs July 10-14.

What’s the coolest musical out there, full of T-Birds and Pink Ladies, drive-in movies, and Poodle Skirts? Grease is the word, July 17 – August 4! The Barn will be turned into Rydell High, where greasers and cool chicks rule the school, and the star-crossed Danny and Sandy try to find a place for their forbidden love. Featuring the hits “Greased Lightnin’”, “Summer Nights”, “You’re The One That I Want”, and more, Grease will have you hand jivin’ all the way down the aisles!

From the cool ’50’s we head to the swinging ’60’s. Catch Me If You Can is the hit musical from the team that brought you Hairspray and based on the movie starring Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio. Catch Me If You Can tells the real life story of Frank Abagnale Jr., who conned millions of dollars and posed as a Pan Am pilot, a doctor and a legal prosecutor, all before the age of 19! This high-flying, stylish musical features a score from Marc Shaiman and Scott Whittman (Hairspray), book by Terrence McNally (Anastasia, The Full Monty), and will take off at the Barn August 7-18.

To close out the Main Stage season, the Barn would like to introduce you to a group of women with big hair, big voices, and bigger personalities: The Marvelous Wonderettes! It’s Prom Night 1958 at Springfield High, and the Wonderettes fight for the Prom Queen crown and perform the day’s biggest hits. Ten years later, as they gather for their high school year reunion, this zany girl group comes together for one last concert and to settle old scores. With voices as big as their bouffants, and harmonies tighter than The Plaids from Forever Plaid, the Wonderettes wow with hits like “It’s My Party”, “Son of a Preacher Man”, “You Don’t Own Me”, “RESPECT”, and so many more! The Marvelous Wonderettes runs August 21 – September 1.

A summer at the Barn wouldn’t be complete without the historic 62nd Annual Straw Hat Revue, your first introduction to the 2019 Acting Intern Company and running June 6-9. Audiences will also be excited to know the popular Spotlight Series of Monday night cabarets is also returning, with one-of-a-kind, one-night-only cabarets from the 2019 Acting Interns and Barn Alumni, created exclusively for Barn patrons.

Running concurrently with the Main Stage season, audiences can also expect to enjoy the popular Children’s Series, performed by the outstandingly talented Junior Interns. The full Children’s Series will be announced at a later date, along with details on Junior Intern auditions.

In addition to the Children’s Series, the Barn’s Education wing will continue to offer the full range of Summer Camps that have brought exceptional theater education to hundreds of families in our region. And so that no family wishing to bring the joy of theater into their children’s lives is turned away, the Barn is proud to offer tuition forgiveness for qualifying households. Full programming will be announced later this winter.

For details on the upcoming season, including Season Subscriptions, FlexPasses, and Holiday Gift Certificates, visit www.nlbarn.org. For Group Sales materials, contact Director of Marketing and Sales Mitch Marois at marketing@nullnlbarn.org. Single Tickets will go on sale March 15, 2019, and the Box Office will officially open May 25, 2019.

We’ll see you on the Porch…in 2019!