New Line Theatre, “the bad boy of musical theatre,” announces its 32nd season of adult, alternative musical theatre, including the wild musical comedy JESUS & JOHNNY APPLEWEED’S HOLY ROLLIN’ FAMILY CHRISTMAS, at the Grandel Theatre, Nov. 30-Dec. 16, 2023; followed by the deliciously outrageous SWEET POTATO QUEENS, at the Marcelle Theater, Feb. 29-March 23, 2024; and the season closes with the epic Gothic romance DRACULA, at the Marcelle Theater, May 30-June 22, 2024.

Auditions for the 2023-24 season will be held June 12 and 19, 2023, at the Marcelle Theater. For more info, click here.

SEASON TICKETS

Season tickets are on sale now, and single tickets will go on sale in September. New Line’s fall show will be at the Grandel Theatre, and the other two shows will be in the company’s home, the Marcelle Theater, in Grand Center, St. Louis’ arts district.

To order season tickets for the three mainstage shows, Jesus & Johnny Appleweed’s Holy Rollin’ Family Christmas, Sweet Potato Queens, and Dracula, go to http://www.newlinetheatre.com/purchase/index.php.

There are three kinds of subscriptions. The First Look Subscription contains tickets for only the Thursday preview for each show. These tickets cannot be exchanged for other dates. Each Regular Subscription includes one ticket for each show in the season. You can use each ticket for any performance date during the run of that show. Each Flex Subscription includes three Flex tickets that you can use at any time for any show during the entire season — use all three tickets for one show or spread them out over the season, however you want! The deadline for ordering season tickets is October 30, 2023.

THE 2023-2024 SEASON

JESUS & JOHNNY APPLEWEED’S
HOLY ROLLIN’ FAMILY CHRISTMAS
World Premiere
Nov. 30-Dec. 16, 2023
Grandel Theatre

What happens when a family’s secrets are all revealed on one outrageous, pot-fueled Christmas Eve in 1959?

Poor Harry Goodson is about to find out, as he’s visited overnight by his dead twin brother Gerald, Jesus Christ, Sandra Dee, and Johnny Appleweed, and he finally learns what his family already knows, that the answer to all his problems is marijuana!

A wacky companion piece to the unintentionally hilarious 1936 scare film Reefer Madness, this new musical is a tongue-in-cheek response to the War on Drugs, a comic look at what a little pot and a little truth can do to a normal, average, Midwestern, American family at mid-century, just as America plunges into the chaos of the 1960s.

The New Line production will be directed by Scott Miller and Chris Kernan, with music direction by Brett Kristofferson, costume design by Sarah Porter, scenic design by Rob Lippert, lighting design by Matt Stuckel, and sound design by Ryan Day.

For more info, click here.

SWEET POTATO QUEENS^®
Regional Premiere
Feb. 29-March 23, 2024
Marcelle Theater

What’s the best medicine for feeling beat up by the world?

Get ready for the outrageous, high-powered, Southern rock musical that tells the true story of “Boss Queen” Jill and her closest friends in Mississippi, and how they learn to grab life by the sequins, feathers and tiaras to live their lives out loud, on their own terms.

This new musical is based on the wildly successful Sweet Potato Queens books by New York Times bestselling author Jill Conner Browne, with music by pop icon Melissa Manchester, lyrics by hit country songwriter Sharon Vaughan, and a book by Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood).

A New Line subscriber saw the show in L.A. and brought it to the attention of New Line Artistic Director Scott Miller, who decided it was a perfect fit for New Line. There are currently six thousand registered Sweet Potato Queens chapters in over twenty countries around the world.

The New Line production will be directed by Chris Kernan and Scott Miller, with choreography by Kernan, costume design by Sarah Porter, scenic design by Rob Lippert, lighting design by Matt Stuckel, and sound design by Ryan Day.

Produced by arrangement with Theatrical Rights Worldwide, New York.

For more info, click here.

DRACULA
Regional Premiere
May 30-June 22, 2024
Marcelle Theater

How much would you give up for love?

Broadway songwriter Frank Wildhorn (Bonnie & Clyde, Wonderland, Jekyll & Hyde) delivers his most epic score for this riveting, fast-paced, Gothic rock opera, faithful to the iconic novel but with some unexpected twists and turns.

As much a tragic love story as a thriller, this terrifying and passionate retelling of the famous story dives deep into the powerful, shattering emotions of these characters and these complicated relationships, as only musical theatre can. For Dracula, Wildhorn reunites with his Bonnie & Clyde lyricist Don Black, for one of the wildest and most emotional rides you’ve had in the theatre in a long time.

Once again, New Line will take a show that was badly served in New York and savaged by the critics, strip it down, take it seriously, and prove what a powerful piece of theatre it can be when it’s focused on human emotions instead of flashy special effects. Since its debut, the show has become an international sensation in productions around the world.

The New Line production will be directed by Scott Miller and Chris Kernan, with music direction by Dr. Jenna Lee Moore, choreography by Kernan, costume design by Sarah Porter, scenic and lighting design by Rob Lippert, and sound design by Ryan Day.

Produced by arrangement with Music Theatre International, New York.

For more info, click here.

ABOUT NEW LINE THEATRE

New Line Theatre is a professional company dedicated to involving the people of the St. Louis region in the exploration and creation of daring, provocative, socially and politically relevant works of musical theatre. New Line was created back in 1991 at the vanguard of a new wave of nonprofit musical theatre just starting to take hold across the country.

New Line has given birth to several world premiere musicals over the years and has brought back to life several shows that were not well served by their original New York productions. Altogether, New Line has produced 95 musicals since 1991, and the company has been given its own entry in the Cambridge Guide to American Theatre and the annual Theater World. New Line receives support from the Regional Arts Commission, the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, and the Grand Center Arts District.

New Line continues its partnership with the Webster University Department of Music and their Bachelor of Music in Music Direction for Musical Theatre degree program.

For more information, visit www.newlinetheatre.com.