The Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center is gearing up for its 2022/2023 season, with shows ranging from homages to musicians Tina Turner and Carole King to a retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Next season’s slate of productions includes:

“We are thrilled to offer our dedicated patrons and subscribers another fantastic year of musical theatre jam-packed with exciting new Broadway productions,” Ron Legler, president of the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, said in a statement. “It has been a joy to welcome audiences back to our home this past year. We are grateful to our loyal supporters for their flexibility and cooperation as we’ve continually navigated life’s recent changes and look forward to stepping into a new era of live performance together.”

Subscribers can renew their subscriptions for their current seats through April 22, 2022.

The Hippodrome Theatre will announce dates that tickets for each production go on sale throughout the year. Patrons will be able to purchase tickets on the Hippodrome’s website, by phone at 800-343-3103, or in person at the theatre’s box office.

Kicking things off will be “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” about a girl named Anna Mae Bullock from Nutbush, Tennessee, and how she became the musical powerhouse Tina Turner. The jukebox musical features some of Turner’s most popular songs, like “Proud Mary,” “River Deep Mountain High,” Disco Inferno,” and more, woven together with pivotal moments in her life.

From Alanis Morissette’s album of the same name, the “Jagged Little Pill” jukebox musical follows a family trying to hold itself together and appear like everything is alright despite disagreements and challenges that could tear them apart. Morissette wrote several of her biggest hits for the album the musical is based on, including songs like “Ironic,” “You Oughta Know,” and “Hand in My Pocket.”

Based on George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion,” the musical “My Fair Lady” is about a woman with a thick Cockney accent who takes speech lessons from a linguistics professor, determined to make her appear more eloquent and ladylike in his eyes.

The Broadway classic “Les Misérables” will return to the Hippodrome Theatre. The musical weaves the stories of a man on the run after already serving 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread, who seeks to make a better life for himself and others; a police inspector who won’t let him go; and the revolutionaries seeking to bring justice to Paris.

Another jukebox musical, “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” follows the life and career of Carole King, from a 16-year-old selling a song to a music publisher, to a performance at Carnegie Hall later in her career. With songs like “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” audiences may be surprised how many songs King had a hand in creating.

The stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” again follows lawyer Atticus Finch’s defense of Tom Robinson, a Black man falsely accused of raping a white woman, in 1930s Alabama. Meanwhile, Atticus’s daughter Jean Louise, nicknamed “Scout, and son Jeremy, nicknamed “Jem,” befriend a boy named Dill and the three are intrigued by their reclusive neighbor Arthur “Boo” Radley.

“Hadestown” tells the story based on the Greek myth of Orpheus, who ventures to the underworld to rescue his love, Eurydice. The musical features the songs of Vermont-based singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell. Baltimore native André De Shields originated the role of the Greek god Hermes in “Hadestown,” which earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical in 2019.

In “Six,” the six wives of Henry VIII compete to become the lead singer of a modern pop music group – but first they must determine who had the worst experience as Henry’s wife. From being forced into a nunnery to being beheaded, the women musically spar over their misfortunes.

The storm of devotion to Disney’s “Frozen” may have cooled off a bit since the film’s release in 2013, but the pop culture phenomenon left a lasting mark for many. For those who don’t remember, Elsa flees her kingdom after accidentally casting it into perpetual winter with her magical freezing powers, and her sister Anna tails her to try to persuade her to return. With the musical’s stage adaptation coming to the Hippodrome Theatre in summer 2023, audiences will not have to let it go.

Marcus Dieterle is the managing editor of Baltimore Fishbowl. He helped lead the team to win a Best of Show award for Website of General Excellence from the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association in...

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