"Billy Elliot" again will leap onstage in the Twin Cities.
The blockbuster musical, a hit at Minneapolis' Orpheum Theatre a couple of seasons ago, is part of the Ordway Center's upcoming lineup, announced Monday in St. Paul. The 2012-13 roster is full of classics and standards, and features an expanded menu of international dance and music.
"Chicago," the Kander and Ebb classic about sexy killers, kicks off the season this summer (Aug. 7-12) followed by "Billy Elliot" (Oct. 9-14), which won 10 Tonys. Ordway officials said bringing back "Billy," about a working-class boy who becomes a dancer, was a no-brainer.
"We've found that there's less than a 10 percent overlap between audiences for [the Broadway seasons in] Minneapolis and St. Paul," said Patricia Mitchell, Ordway Center president and CEO. "It's new to this side of the river."
The Ordway's lineup also includes the musical adaptation of the 2003 Jon Favreau movie "Elf," (Dec. 5-30); the revival of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" (May 7-12, 2013), which won three Tonys last year; and the return of "Buddy -- The Buddy Holly Story," a musical that the Ordway helped originate (June 18-23, 2013).
Last year's experimental Broadway-songbook series has been expanded to explore the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein and Hart (Sept. 21-30); Stephen Sondheim (Jan 18-27, 2013); and Cole Porter (April 19-28, 2013).
The St. Paul venue also will have its "Sing-a-long Sound of Music" for two performances (May 18, 2013).
The dance and music offerings have an international flavor. The Ordway's dance card features the Mexican company Delfos Danza Contemporanea, led by choreographers/dancers Claudia Lavista and Victor Manuel Ruiz (Oct. 20); New Zealand's Black Grace Contemporary Dance (March 19, 2013); and high-flying dance company Pilobolus (May 4, 2013).
