Season Announcement
The Firehouse Theatre steps up safety and releases 2021 musical season
Six months after a wave of COVID-related scandal hit The Firehouse Theatre, the Farmers Branch performing arts company has announced its new season — and more concrete health and safety protocols.
"With the help of generous donations and a variety of support grants, our theater has made quite a transformation in preparation for this new season," says executive director David Moore (artistic director Derek Whitener resigned earlier this year).
"In addition to our safety measures, we've added new chairs, outdoor socially distanced patio seating, new sound and lighting equipment, and a beautiful mural on the west side of the theater commissioned by the City of Farmers Branch Arts and Culture Committee. We're so grateful to everyone who has made reopening a reality."
An outdoor show starts it all off: Cotton Patch Gospel, written by Tom Key, Russell Treyz, and Harry Chapin. It will be performed in Firehouse's back lot, and directed by Joey Folsom with music direction by Sonny Franks (both starred in the show when Theatre Three produced it in 2015). It runs May 6-23, 2021.
Next up on the main indoor stage is Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and book by Dennis Kelley. Matthew Silar directs, and it runs July 14-August 8, 2021.
A concert version of Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's musical Bright Star ushers in autumn on the main stage, with a creative team that's yet to be announced. If that sounds familiar, it's because Firehouse presented a full production of the show in 2019. This one runs September 9-26, 2021.
A few month after its film adaptation premieres, Firehouse is staging In The Heights. The musical was Lin-Manuel Miranda's first big hit before Hamilton, and features a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. Nick Hill directs with choreography by Jamie Perrin, and it runs October 7-17, 2021, outdoors at The Sound at Cypress Waters.
Another cinematic-stage hybrid is next, with Legally Blonde taking over the main stage. With music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe & Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hack, the musical will run November 4-21, 2021.
The season concludes with Elf the Musical, outdoors at The Sound at Cypress Waters. This family-friendly show has a book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, music by Matthew Sklar, and lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and runs December 1-12, 2021.
Firehouse states that the 2021 season will be produced in accordance with the theater's Risk Mitigation and Code of Conduct, based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and city and county health and public safety authorities. More information about these protocols, as well as ticket sales, can be found on the theater's website.
