OKLAHOMA CITY – Just ahead of Veterans Day, Oklahoma City Community College is bringing to the stage a poignant and inspiring new American musical about patriots returning home from the war in the 1940s.
OCCC is proud to announce that the national tour of the Tony Award®-winning Broadway musical, “Bandstand,” will play in Oklahoma City at the college’s Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater Oct. 25-26. Originally directed and choreographed by three-time Tony winner and “Hamilton” choreographer, Andy Blankenbuehler, featuring music by Richard Oberacker with book and lyrics by Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker, the performance thrills with infectious music and high-octane, heart-stopping dancing.
Tickets for either performance start at $40. Tickets may be purchased online at tickets.occc.edu or by calling the OCCC Box Office at (405) 682-7579. The Box Office is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Doors and concessions will open one hour before the start time. The OCCC Visual and Performing Art Center is located at 7777 S. May Avenue, Oklahoma City.
It’s 1945 as America’s soldiers are coming home to ticker-tape parades and overjoyed families. Private First Class Donny Novitski, singer and songwriter, struggles to rebuild the life he left behind. When NBC announces a national competition to find the nation’s next great musical superstars, Donny sees a lifeline for himself and some fellow veterans that give them the purpose they so desperately need. Together, they form a band unlike any the nation has ever seen. Along the way, they discover the power of music to face the impossible, find their voice and finally feel like they have a place to call home.
Oklahoma City has the honor of hosting the preview performance of “Bandstand’s” national tour with an award-winning “Bandstand” design team that includes Tony Award nominee David Korins and associate Justin West (Scenic Design), Tony Award winner Paloma Young (Costume Design), Tony Award winner Jeff Croiter (Lighting Design), Tony Award winner Nevin Steinberg (Original Broadway Sound Design), David Thomas (Tour Sound Design), J. Jared Janas and Dave Bova (Makeup, Hair and Wig Design), Tony Award nominee Greg Anthony Rassen (Co-Orchestrator and Music Arranger), Tony Award winner and 2017 Tony Award nominee Bill Elliott (Co-Orchestrator), Fred Lassen (Music Supervisor), Gina Rattan (Tour Director), with choreography restaged and additional choreography by Marc Heitzman. Tour Casting by Kate Lumpkin, CSA.
“Bandstand” is produced by Work Light Productions and was originally produced on Broadway by Tom Smedes, Gabrielle Palitz, Terry Schnuck, Roger Horchow, Peter Stern, Michael Palitz, Jane Dubin, Tom Kirdahy, David Lyons, Sarah Perot, James L. Nederlander, James & Catherine Berges, Darren DeVerna & Jere Harris, Jeff & Ellen Adler, Nancy & Randy Best, Deep End Productions, Patty Baker, Terry D. Loftis/Scott D. Huffman, Independent Presenters Network/Charles & Lisa Siegel, Rosie Gunther McCooe/J. Scott & Sylvia G. Bechtel, Roy Putrino/Heather Shields, Diane & John Kalishman/Alison & John Ferring and The Shubert Organization in association with Paper Mill Playhouse.
“Bandstand” is “both a peppy celebration of can-do spirit and a more somber exploration of what American servicemen experienced when they marched home from World War II. It’s a great argument for why theater can sometimes tell a story more boldly and more viscerally” (The New York Times). “The show defies you not to be moved” (Time Out New York).
