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Broadway San Diego season reveal: ‘Mrs. Doubtfire,’ the Michael Jackson musical ‘MJ,’ ‘Les Miz’ and more

Rob McClure in the Broadway musical "Mrs. Doubtfire."
Rob McClure in the Broadway musical “Mrs. Doubtfire.” A touring production will visit San Diego June 4-9, 2024.
(Courtesy of Broadway San Diego)

The locally based producer of national touring musicals at the San Diego Civic Theatre unveiled its 46th season Tuesday morning

By Pam Kragen
San Diego Union-Tribune
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Touring Broadway musicals based on the film “Mrs. Doubtfire” and the mid-career years of Michael Jackson will highlight Broadway San Diego’s 46th season, announced Tuesday morning, March 14.

The newly unveiled season lineup also includes a new production of “The Wiz” and the return of perennial favorites, including “Les Misérables,” “Chicago,” “Peter Pan” and “Mamma Mia!” Also being presented as added season events are “The Book of Mormon” in September and “Disney’s Aladdin” in April 2024.

"MJ," the Broadway musical about Michael Jackson, will visit San Diego March 5-10, 2024.
(Courtesy of Matthew Murphy)

“This is just the season we wanted to share with San Diego,” Broadway San Diego General Manager Vanessa Davis said in a statement. “It’s family-friendly, with a mix of new hit shows and fan favorites with iconic musical numbers, story-telling, and memories to create for seasoned and new audiences.”

Meanwhile, BSD’s 45th season continues with five more shows through August: “1776, the Musical,” May 9-14; “Six, the Musical,” June 27-July 9; “Tina, The Tina Turner Musical,” July 25-July 30; and “Beetlejuice, The Musical,” Aug. 15-20. Also featured as an added 45th season event is “Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show,” April 11-13.

Season tickets are now on sale at broadwaysd.com. Here’s the full season 46 lineup:

‘Les Misérables’

"Les Misérables" returns to the San Diego Civic Theatre Oct. 3-15.
(Evan Zimmerman)

Billed as the world’s most popular musical, this 1985 classic piece by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg was adapted from Victor Hugo’s epic novel about an ex-prisoner’s effort to rehabilitate his life in the aftermath of the French Revolution in early 19th century France. Oct. 3-15.

‘Mamma Mia!’

The ABBA jukebox musical "Mamma Mia!" returns to the San Diego Civic Theatre Nov. 7-12.
(Brinkhoff-Moegenburg)

This ABBA jukebox musical uses the Swedish quartet’s beloved songbook to tell the story of a young bride on a Greek island who wants her dad to walk her down the aisle. But because she has never met her father, and her mother has never shared the details, she invites the three strangers her mother slept with in the year before she was born. Nov. 7-12.

‘The Wiz’

"The Wiz" will visit San Diego in a pre-Broadway tryout January 9-14, 2024.
(Broadway San Diego)

Coming up on its 50th anniversary, this all-new production celebrates the Tony-winning musical adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz.” Producers Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Brian Anthony Moreland and Ambassador Theatre Group are presenting a pre-Broadway tour that will kick off in Baltimore, the city where the musical premiered in 1974, and will conclude in New York City. The musical, featuring an all-Black cast, features a book by William F. Brown and a score by Charlie Smalls and others that mixes soul, gospel, rock and funk music. Jan. 9-14, 2024.

‘Chicago’

The national touring production of "Chicago" returns to the San Diego Civic Theatre February 13-18, 2024.
(Courtesy of Jeremy Daniel)

This classic 1975 musical by composers John Kander and Fred Ebb, with book by Ebb and Bob Fosse, who created the show’s iconic choreography, is a cynical take on the media glorification of crime figures during Chicago’s jazz age in the 1920s. Feb. 13-18, 2024.

‘MJ’

Myles Frost in the Broadway production of "MJ," a musical biography of Michael Jackson.
Myles Frost in the Broadway production of “MJ,” a musical biography of Michael Jackson. “MJ” will make its first visit to the San Diego Civic Theatre March 5-10, 2024.
(Courtesy of Matthew Murphy)

This 2022 Broadway musical about pop icon Michael Jackson has launched its first national tour. With a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and direction and choreography by Christopher Wheeldon, “MJ” finds Jackson on the eve of his 1992 Dangerous World Tour, when Jackson’s fame as an international superstar reached its peak. March 5-10, 2024.

‘Mrs. Doubtfire’

A scene from the Broadway production of "Mrs. Doubtfire."
(Joan Marcus)

This 2019 Broadway musical’s first U.S. tour is based on the 1987 Anne Fine book and 1993 Robin Williams film about a divorced dad who loses custody of his children and disguises himself as an elderly Scottish nanny to trick his ex-wife into hiring him as their children’s caregiver. The musical features a score by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick and book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell. June 4-9, 2024.

‘Peter Pan’

Head and shoulders photograph of Larissa FastHorse.
Larissa FastHorse has written the book for a new touring production of “Peter Pan” that plays July 30-Aug. 4, 2024, at the San Diego Civic Theatre.
(Conor Horgan)

Flying high since 1954, this family-friend musical is a stage adaptation of the 1904 J.M. Barrie novel about a trio of London siblings who fly away to Neverland with the help of Peter Pan, a runaway boy who never grew up. This new production features a book by playwright Larissa FastHorse and direction by Emmy winner Lonny Price. July 30-Aug. 4, 2024.

Added 46th season events:

‘The Book of Mormon’

"The Book of Mormon" national tour will visit San Diego Civic Theatre Sept. 19-24, 2023.
“The Book of Mormon” national tour has been added as an extra season event Sept. 19-24, 2023.
(Courtesy of Julieta Cervantes)

This 2011 musical from “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and composer Robert Lopez is an audacious comedy about a group of Mormon missionaries who find their true calling on a highly challenging mission posting in war-torn Africa. Contains explicit language. Sept. 19-24, 2023.

‘Disney’s Aladdin’

"Disney's Aladdin" on Broadway.
The national touring production of “Disney’s Aladdin,” seen here on Broadway, will visit San Diego Civic Theatre April 3-7, 2024, as an added Broadway San Diego event.
(Courtesy of Deen van Meer)

Based on the 1992 Disney animated film, this musical is the story of Aladdin from the book “One Thousand and One Nights.” It’s about a poor boy who rubs a magic lamp and gets three wishes from a genie, one of which is to become a prince so he can marry the local kingdom’s princess. The musical features a book by Chad Beguelin and score by composers Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Beguelin. April 3-7, 2024.

ArtTheatre
Pam Kragen

Pam Kragen is the arts and entertainment editor, as well as the chief theater, dining and opera critic, for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She joined the Union-Tribune staff in October 2012 after 27 years at the North County Times, where she served as the Arts & Features Editor, as well as the paper’s longtime arts writer and theater and opera critic. She is the co-founder of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from San Diego State University and completed fellowships in theater criticism at the University of Southern California and opera-classical music criticism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. And in 2022, she was chosen as one of the fellows in the prestigious National Critics Institute, run by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterf, Conn.