Clue, The Sound of Music, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical: What the Royal MTC has planned for the next season

Cast of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical produced by Michael Cassel Group, 2017. Set Designer: Derek McLane. Costume Designer: Alejo Vietti. Lighting Designer: Peter Kaczorowki. Photo by Ben Symons. (Photo submitted Jan. 27, 2023)

The 2022-23 season for the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (MTC) is set to wrap up, and now the theatre has announced what Manitobans can look forward to for the next season.

The theatre announced its 2023-24 season Friday evening, which is set to begin in the middle of October.

On the mainstage, the theatre will kick off with Clue, the murder mystery based on the classic board game.

“It’s a laugh out loud, really, really silly farce,” said Kelly Thornton, the artistic director at the theatre.

“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun for Winnipeggers.”

Following the murder mystery is a pair of musicals. First on tap is a musical classic in The Sound of Music. That will be run over the holiday season and then 2024 will kick off with Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which is a story about the life of Grammy Award singer-songwriter Carole King.

“There’s two incredible musicals that are wildly different. Like one is a classic like The Sound of Music and then one is a jukebox musical,” said Thornton. “Musicals, they warm our hearts and they’re so joyful to hear people sing.”

She added she is especially excited for the Carole King show, as she is the one directing the production.

Those three productions are followed by three more on the mainstage, starting with The Mountaintop, which is a reimagination about the last night Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was alive.

That is followed by The Lehman Trilogy, which is about the three Lehman brothers who made their way to America and how they became woven into American history.

Lastly, it’s a world debut for the Royal MTC, with The Comeback.

“It’s a beautiful, made-in-Manitoba story written by Trish Cooper and Sam Vint. They’re a real life couple, Sam’s Métis and Trish is of Scottish settler heritage and … they pitched it as, you know, an incredible comedy of their lives, the mashup of their two families, of the culture clash and comic antic of that culture clash.”

At the Tom Hendry Warehouse, four productions will take place: First Métis of Odesa, Among Men, The Piano Teacher and Guilt: A Love Story.

This is the second theatre lineup Thornton has been able to create since coming to the Royal MTC in 2019.

She said it’s a great feeling to give people a reason to come back to the theatre, especially after they weren’t able to attend because of the pandemic.

“It was really important to create a season that was going to bring joy to everyone, something for everyone in the season,” she said.

“I really wanted to bring what we’re known and loved for, the scope and scale, back to our stage again next season, because I know that’s what we do best, and that’s what brings joy to our audiences and pulls people into the theatre – returning audiences, but also new audiences.”

The entire schedule for both stages can be found online.