Ssssh… The Shubert’s announced its 2014-15 season

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I’ve heard of soft openings. You know, like when a restaurant has customers in before its grand opening, with little fanfare.
But I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a soft theater season announcement.
The Shubert knows four of the five main shows in its 2014-15 season. There are posters touting these shows in the theater’s lobby. But no press release has gone out, no official announcements have been made, and there’s nothing on the website.
Anthony Lupinacci, the Shubert’s longtime marketing director, says it’s due to quirky timing. One final show is being negotiated, and that should be known soon. But the current Shubert season ends this weekend with We Will Rock You, and then the theater’s dark for the entire summer while it undergoes renovations in time for the 100th anniversary celebrations it has planned. So it was decided that something ought to be done, even if it’s just posters in the lobby.

One of the shows has already been announced: Matilda, which is having its first national tour built and rehearsed in New Haven. The Shubert performances, May 16-23, 2015, will technically be tech rehearsals, since the official start of the tour is in California

The other shows, which you’re hearing about first here at Theater Jerk unless you happened to be looking up at the walls of the Shubert lobby earlier this evening:

• Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Dec. 30, 2014, through Jan. 4, 2015. Those dates fall after Christmas, but Irving Berlin shows apparently aren’t bound by the seasons implied by their titles. Another Berlin-based show, Holiday Inn, which features the song “Easter Parade,” is at the Goodspeed Opera House this September.
• Peter and the Star Catchers, Jan. 29 through Feb. 1, 2105. This family-friendly Peter Pan update has been touring since last year and came to the Bushnell in Hartford this past February.
• Beauty & the Beast, March 5-8, 2015. The Disney musical that magically transformed Times Square has been on tour for decades. It’s in Hartford next month, and was last at the Shubert in 2012.
Wow, that’s a whole lot of endangered children—dodging pirates, held prisoner in a furry guy’s castle, cowering from evil British schoolteachers… but hey, Christmas.
So that’s the firmly booked four. A fifth, as I’ve said, is imminent, plus other shows which will be subscription options, plus outright surprises. The Shubert’s turning 100! Expect further announcements. Heck, maybe they’ll even announce these shows officially sometime.