Preview: Opening Night at the Bowl Brings Broadway’s Best to Hollywood

The Hollywood Bowl has never needed much persuasion to embrace Broadway. For decades, the 17,500-seat amphitheater has welcomed musical-theater devotees eager to hear showstoppers under the stars, whether through full-scale summer musicals, composer tributes, or concert events devoted to iconic figures, such as the July 2023 tribute to Stephen Sondheim.

On Saturday, June 20th, that tradition gets a season-opening spotlight with Opening Night at the Bowl: The Best of Broadway, a one-night celebration tailored for audiences well-acquainted with the thrill of a magnificent kickline number and the communal lift that comes when a full orchestra complements a recognizable theater tune.

The event also follows last year’s high-profile Opening Night at the Bowl: An Evening with Hugh Jackman, which brought hordes of guests to the venue and raised more than $2.6 million in support of the LA Phil and its learning and community programs. This year’s Broadway-themed edition keeps that spirit intact while widening the lens, gathering elite songsters and entertainers for a program that promises ballads, pageantry, pyrotechnics, dancers, and the inimitable sweep of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Once again, Thomas Wilkins leads the collection of exceptional in-house musicians, bringing his familiar warmth and command to a venue where scale and clarity are intertwined. He will be joined by musicians of YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), whose presence gives the evening another layer. Kevin Stites serves as musical director, Spencer Liff provides choreography, and the California State University, Fullerton University Singers, directed by Dr. Robert Istad, will be on stage to chorally amplify the concert’s grandeur.

The lineup of soloists is especially star-studded, featuring a who’s who of stage and screen. One of these celebrities is the luminous Halle Bailey, who is renowned for having reached global audiences as Ariel in Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid and as Young Nettie in the film adaptation of The Color Purple. Darren Criss, whose career has bridged television, pop culture, and Broadway, arrives with anticipation as one of contemporary theater’s most versatile performers, with credits including Little Shop of Horrors and the Tony-winning Maybe Happy Ending. Renée Elise Goldsberry, forever associated with her Tony-winning turn as Angelica Schuyler in the enduring Hamilton, showcases a combination of vocal brilliance and dramatic power.

Brian Stokes Mitchell, no stranger to stealing the show, offers a special kind of charisma. Long respected as one of Broadway’s most dependable leading men, he has been associated with landmark roles in Ragtime, Kiss Me, Kate, and beyond, carrying the kind of booming voice perfectly bespoke for the Bowl. Lea Salonga, too, remains one of the genre’s most beloved interpreters, with defining work in Miss Saigon and Les Misérables in addition to a legacy that extends far into Disney’s animated canon. Collectively, these artists, with their varying journeys and legacies, comprehensively represent the vast spectrum of what Broadway stands for.

That range is central to the evening’s appeal. The Best of Broadway is not merely a nostalgic revue, though it certainly can be for those who just want to hear the hits. It is, more suitably, a reminder that musical theater thrives because its songs carry an endless number of meanings and memories to its diverse listeners.

The fireworks (after all, who doesn’t love a grand overhead spectacle?) will only heighten the evening’s overall import. Opening Night has always served as more than a curtain-raiser; it announces the summer ahead with ceremony, enthralling entertainment, and sometimes philanthropy. With all hands on deck inside one of Los Angeles’ most storied venues, this year’s extravaganza looks poised to honor Broadway’s past while celebrating its continuing hold on popular imagination.

Cover image caption: The very best of Broadway will be highlighted by some of the genre’s biggest stars, past and present, on Saturday, June 20th. Images are courtesy of the Hollywood Bowl.

For tickets and more information about Opening Night at the Bowl: The Best of Broadway on Saturday, June 20th, visit hollywoodbowl.com.