Theater News

Go-Go's Musical, Dear Evan Hansen, and More Announced for Curran's 2018 Season

A brand-new collaboration between Tony winners David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori also joins the lineup.

Justin Paul and Benj Pasek's Tony-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen joins the 2018 season at San Francisco's Curran Theatre.
Justin Paul and Benj Pasek's Tony-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen joins the 2018 season at San Francisco's Curran Theatre.
(© David Gordon)

At a live event on Wednesday, January 17, Carole Shorenstein Hays announced the lineup of productions set for the 2018 season of San Francisco's newly reopened Curran Theatre.

The season will open with Head Over Heels (April 10-May 6), a new musical featuring the songs of the Go-Go’s. Directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer, the show features a concept and book by Tony winner Jeff Whitty, adaptation by James Magruder, and choreography by Spencer Liff.

Next up is Soft Power (June 20-July 8), a collaboration between Tony Award winners David Henry Hwang (play and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music). With direction by Leigh Silverman and choreography by Sam Pinkleton, Soft Power rewinds our recent political history and plays it back through a Chinese lens. The show is produced by Center Theatre Group in association with the Curran.

Kicking off the holiday season will be Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce (November 21-December 1). The show is the latest installment of Mac's A 24-Decade History of Popular Music project. Mac is joined by longtime collaborators, designer Machine Dazzle and music director Matt Ray, with a spectacular band and special guests to reframe the songs you love and the holidays you hate.

Rounding out the year will be the 2017 Tony-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen (December 5-30). Winner of six Tony Awards and 2018 Grammy nominee, the show features a book by Steven Levenson, a score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and direction by Michael Greif.

Highlighted throughout the season will also be regular engagements of Show & Tell, the Curran’s series of one-night-only, onstage conversations with some of the theater’s most celebrated artists,
including two-time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone; five-time Tony Award winning director and producer, George C. Wolfe; Tony Award winning co-creators of Soft Power, David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori; and award-winning playwright and actor Danai Gurira (Eclipsed, The Walking Dead).