Ahmanson Season Will Take Its Cue From Europe

Stories from Europe, particularly France, will dominate the Ahmanson Theatre’s 1999-2000 season, though the series will end with a very American project, the premiere of a new musical version of “The Night They Raided Minsky’s.”

Missing from the schedule is the anticipated continuation of this coming summer’s Shakespeare repertory, but artistic director/producer Gordon Davidson said Shakespeare will return in the 2000-01 season, again under the direction of Sir Peter Hall. The 1999-2000 season was skipped because Hall and an unnamed major actor were not available. Davidson also wanted to schedule the next round of Shakespeare during the academic calendar, instead of the summer, so that more school groups will be able to attend, he said.

Nonetheless, Hall will return next season as director of “Amadeus,” a revival of Peter Shaffer’s play about Mozart and Salieri (Oct. 10-Nov. 28). Hall will repeat the recent staging he did for the Old Vic in London, and David Suchet and Michael Sheen, who starred in the British production, will join an otherwise American cast. Center Theatre Group is among the co-producers who will then take the production to Broadway, where a December opening is expected.

Next up are “Les Miserables” (Dec. 12-Feb. 12, nonsubscription) and the new “Martin Guerre” (Feb. 23-April 8). Both are by the team of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, but Davidson said the shows’ juxtaposition was “just circumstance.” Although it’s unusual for Davidson to book a big touring musical like “Les Miz” so long after its premiere, he noted that it has never played the Music Center, that “we have a relationship” with its producer Cameron Mackintosh, and that “I have to take care of 52 weeks in the Ahmanson,” referring to the popularity of “Les Miz.”

The Ahmanson is slated as the last stop for “Martin Guerre” before its Broadway bow on April 27. Based on the 16th century legend of a soldier who appears in a small French town claiming to be a long-lost native son, the show won the Olivier Award for best new London musical in 1997 but was then rewritten and restaged last November in Leeds, England--the version that will play L.A.

The next show on the Ahmanson list, “The Scarlet Pimpernel” (May 3-June 18, 2000), is another musical that was rewritten and restaged, although its revisions occurred eight months after negative reaction to the Broadway opening. New producers bought the Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton show, which is set during the French Revolution, and instituted big changes, most of which won critical favor. Additional changes are expected before the launch of the tour, Davidson said.

“The Night They Raided Minsky’s” (July 30-Sept. 17, 2000) is an adaptation of the tale of a 1920s burlesque impresario that was made into a 1968 film. The music is by Charles Strouse (“Annie,” “Bye Bye Birdie”), lyrics by Susan Birkenhead (“Jelly’s Last Jam”) and the direction and choreography by the “Crazy for You” duo, Mike Ockrent and Susan Stroman.