Looking for Great Theater in Grand Rapids? Civic Has a Killer New Season!

Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, always known for topnotch, first class local theatre productions has just announced the lineup for its upcoming 2023-2024 season and Fox17 says it's a killer.

Start with the opening show, SpongeBob Musical, which is based on the Nickelodeon animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, September 15-October 8. The musical was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. A television version, titled The SpongeBob Musical: Live On Stage!, was on Nickelodeon in 2019.

Nothing ever slows down at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, because the next show will be Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, November 17-December 17, based on the 1991 animated film. The musical premiered on Broadway in April 1994 and went on to be nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Then the first production of 2024 will be Clyde’s, which will be on stage January 19-28. The play is set in a truck stop sandwich shop, which offers its formerly incarcerated kitchen staff a chance for redemption. The staff is on a quest to create the perfect sandwich.

Civic is offering an interesting switch for each performance of Clyde’s, because audience members can choose to pay what they want as part of the Civic Theatre’s Pay What You Want January.

Moving on to march, Disney’s Descendants is March 1-17. The musical is based on the 2015 Disney Channel Original Movie. The musical follows the teenage children of the Disney villains Maleficient (from Sleeping Beauty), the Evil Queen (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Jafar (from Aladdin), and Cruella De Vil (from One Hundred and One Dalmatians). In the play, the teenagers leave the Isle of the Lost, where they have been imprisoned their whole lives.

Grand Rapids Civic Theatre

Next is Agatha Christie’s 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express, April 19-May 5. A snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The next morning, one of the passengers, an American tycoon, has been found stabbed to death. Detective Hercule Poirot must solve the mystery of the killer’s identity.

The final show of the season will be Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, June 7-20. The musical tells the story of the early life of singer and songwriter Carole King. The musical’s Broadway premiere was in January 2014. It went on to be nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Grand Rapids Civic Theatre

It's going to be an exciting season for Civic, and for the audience as well. They are going to introduce Pay What You Want Wednesdays, where you can pay whatever you are willing to give. Seats can be reserved online, via phone, or in person as soon as the individual tickets go on sale. Season passholders will be able to choose their seats after purchasing their season passholders. The program will replace the traditional preview night.

Now is the time to grab your tickets. Season passes with early access pricing are now available on the theatre’s website, GRCT.ORG