Photograph by Dan Donovan
At a season preview for audiences and the press today, the Fox Theater made a big announcement: It will shutter for the summer immediately after Anything Goes closes on June 9 to fully restore the ceiling dome in the main auditorium. (During the original restoration in 1981, the ceiling was vacuumed, but not fully restored.) The theater, which was built in 1929, has a rich and elaborate interior, and the ceiling is no exception. It features alternating panels of Indian fabric and plasterwork panels set with jewels, which is why the restoration work will take the entire summer; they will be doing not just cleaning and touch-up painting, but fabric repair. In fact, Fox officials say this is the most ambitious project they've tackled since the original restoration, and that the auditorium will be filled floor to ceiling with 13 trailers' worth of scaffolding. Once it is completed, they will unveil it for the public before the 2013-2014 season kicks off.
That season, as you can see below, includes a mixture of new-to-St.-Louis shows and shows which may never die in this city (we're lookin' at you, Mamma Mia). Two interesting things to note: proceeds from Elf the Musical will raise some money to help Grand Center along in the next phase of its development, including parking and lighting projects, and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Weber includes previews of Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom of the Opera.
U.S. Bank Broadway Series:
- Evita, October 8-20
- Sister Act, November 19-December 1
- Elf The Musical, December 17-29
- We Will Rock You, March 18-30
- Once, April 8-20
- The Music of Andrew Lloyd Weber, April 29-May 11
Series specials:
- Chicago, September 20-22
- Beauty and the Beast, November 1-3
- A Christmas Carol, December 5-8
- West Side Story, January 3-5
- Mamma Mia!, February 7-9
- Jersey Boys, February 19-March 2
- The Wizard of Oz, May 13-18
