A New Season

Introduction: During these challenging times, I will be sharing a range of ideas, dreams, essays and mostly-true tales stemming from the six decades (so far) of this wonderful career in the theater. I hope you enjoy.

– Joe Keefe

In the world of theater, Spring is the harbinger of many things: warmer temperatures, longer days, May flowers and the announcement of our upcoming season! This last item – revealing the titles of the upcoming year of productions – is Christmas morning for theater people. You get to unwrap each show, put on the music, check out the script and imagine what role you might play. As area theaters reveal their seasons, the presents multiply exponentially with more and more acting roles, singing parts, featured dances along with boundless opportunities and challenges for Directors, Choreographers, Musical Directors, Designers and too many more people to list.

At our Metropolis, the presents are wonderful.

Little Shop of Horrors – our season opens in September with this cult international hit. It’s the old story: nerd falls in love with girl, demonic space-alien-shrub tempts nerd with untold powers, hideous dangers arise and love songs are belted in every direction. Little Shop is part hilarious, part treacherous and all things romantic redemption.

Baskerville – this retelling of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic thriller juggles a range of theatrical components: starling humor, eerie suspense, breathless pace and always rising tension. Holmes and Watson rush to the rescue, determined to solve the mystery of the deadly hound before it can consume the last heir of estate Baskerville.

The Producers – a modern comedy classic, the legendary Mel Brooks produces every laugh imaginable while poking fun at all things possible. A washed up Broadway producer teams up with a buttoned up bookkeeper in a foolproof scheme to cash in on the worst show ever produced. To assure the catastrophe and collect on the oversold show, the team carefully selects the wrong Writer, the wrong Director, the wrong Actors but disaster still looms – where did they go right?! This toe-tapping, boot-clicking musical will make your abdominals stronger through the limitless laughs.

My Way – Old Blue Eyes, the Chairman of the Board, Francis Albert. Frank Sinatra not only had one of the best voices of the last century, he was one of the greatest showmen who ever trod a board. My Way is not just an homage to Frank, it’s also a compendium of some of the greatest songs of many decades. Fly Me to the Moon, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, My Way – these are just some of the staggering, swaggering Sinatra hits featured in this tribute to a generation of great music.

The world around us evolves every day with breaking news, surprises and a few shocks. At our Metropolis, we’re adapting all manners of procedure to manage the changes, building a warm and safe space for our patrons, staff and our performing artists. We announce this wonderful new season in the expectation that we’ll see you soon, as conditions improve and when we can join again in the many celebrations of the unmatched experiences of very-live theater.

Stay warm and well. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Joe Keefe