Broadway bonanza: ’Rock,’ soul and ’The Addams Family’

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A little ’80s rock, a dash of ’50s soul — and something altogether "ooky": That’s the recipe for the Wharton Center’s 2011- ’12 Broadway season.

The lineup features a couple of returning favorites and several premieres, including "Rock of Ages," which will warm the heart of any Bon Jovi/Def Leppard/Quiet Riot fans, and "The Addams Family," the musical based on the adventures of the macabre clan.

The series begins Nov. 8 with "West Side Story," a classic that’s been given a new twist: It’s now bilingual, with English and Spanish dialogue.

"Rock of Ages," a salute to the "hairmetal" bands that dominated MTV in the mid-1980s, rolls in Dec. 13. Icons of an earlier era get their due in "Million Dollar Quartet" (opening Jan. 10), which brings together Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis in a showcase inspired by a chance meeting in a recording studio in 1956.

Halloween unofficially moves to January when "The Addams Family" takes the stage beginning Jan. 31. It’s followed by "Memphis" (opening March 27), the Tony-winning story of a crusading DJ who helped break down the barriers between "black music" and the pop mainstream in the 1950s. "Les Miserables," the megamusical about the French Revolution, gets an encore, starting April 3, and Broadway’s most beloved witches Elphaba and Glenda fly in for another run of phenomenally popular Oz-themed musical "Wicked," starting March 27.


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