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The world premier of The Boy Who Loved Batman takes flight to Tampa's Straz Center starring Dan Fogler

The 2024-25 Broadway at The Straz Season season kicks off with the premiere of The Boy Who Loved Batman, based on Executive Producer of the Batman films, Michael Uslan’s memoir of the same title.

Tampa's Straz Center kicks off 24-25 Broadway at The Straz Season with The Boy Who Loved Batman

The 2024-2025 Bank of America Broadway season at The Straz is a thriller, featuring Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, Some Like It Hot Musical, The Cher Show, A Beautiful Noise Musical, MJ the Musical, Mystic Pizza, Shucked Musical, Disney’s The Lion King - Musical and the world premiere of The Boy Who Loved Batman.


In addition to the nine-show package, the season hosts encore engagements of Ain't Too Proud Musical and MAMMA MIA The Tour.


The season kicks off with the world premier of The Boy Who Loved Batman, which will run from October 1 - 20, 2024.


Tampa's Straz Center kicks off 24-25 Broadway at The Straz Season with The Boy Who Loved Batman

Based on Executive Producer of the Batman films, Michael Uslan’s memoir of the same title, THE BOY WHO LOVED BATMAN is an inspirational comedy about one man’s vision that became a national phenomenon. It’s a crazy journey that goes from New Jersey to Hollywood, comic books to the silver screen. Every hero needs a hero.


Actor, comedian and writer Dan Fogler leads the cast, playing Michael Uslan during the first three weeks of the Tampa run of this brand-new production.



He has appeared in numerous films including Balls of Fury, Fanboys and The Fantastic Beasts franchise. Fogler appeared on The Walking Dead as Luke, The Goldbergs as Uncle Marvin, and played Francis Ford Coppola in the biographical drama series, The Offer. He can be seen opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in the Netflix limited series, Eric, and plays Bob Dylan’s manager, Albert Grossman, in A Complete Unknown this Christmas. In 2005,


Fogler made his Broadway debut as William Barfée in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for which he won the Tony Award® for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.



The world premiere of THE BOY WHO LOVED BATMAN is a new play by Asa Somers, directed by Tony winner Jeff Calhoun (Newsies) with scenic design by Daniel Allen, projection design by Caite Hevner, lighting design by Mike Wood, sound design by Jeremy Douglass and costume design by Newt Rametta.


Tampa's Straz Center kicks off 24-25 Broadway at The Straz Season with The Boy Who Loved Batman

Paul Adam Schaefer, who recently was in the closing Broadway cast of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, joins the cast as Imaginary Friend. Katherine Yacko plays Nancy Uslan. Kelly Bashar, Nicholas Perez-Hoop and Hugh Timoney play multiple roles including Michael’s family members, Bill Finger, Stan Lee and others.


Get tickets now!



The Entire 2024-25 Season At A Glance

The Boy Who Loved Batman

Oct. 1-Nov. 10 (World Premiere)

Based on a true story, The Boy Who Loved Batman is an inspirational comedy about one man’s vision that became a national phenomenon. It’s a crazy journey that goes from New Jersey to Hollywood, comic books to the silver screen. Every hero needs a hero, even Batman.


Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical

Nov. 12-17

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical is the record-setting Broadway holiday sensation which features the hit songs “You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch” and “Welcome Christmas” from the original animated special. Max the Dog narrates as the mean and scheming Grinch, whose heart is “two sizes too small,” decides to steal Christmas away from the holiday loving Whos. Magnificent sets and costumes inspired by Dr. Seuss’ original illustrations help transport audiences to the whimsical world of Whoville and helps remind us of the true meaning of the holiday season. Don’t miss what The New York Times calls “an extraordinary performance! 100 times better than any bedtime story.”


Some Like it Hot

Dec. 10-15

Winner of four Tony Awards®, including Best Choreography and Best Costumes, and the Grammy Award® for Best Musical Theater Album, Some Like it Hot is “A super-sized, all-out song-and-dance spectacular!” – The New York Times. Set in Chicago when Prohibition has everyone thirsty for a little excitement, Some Like it Hot is the “glorious, big, high-kicking” (Associated Press) story of two musicians forced to flee the Windy City after witnessing a mob hit. With gangsters hot on their heels, they catch a cross-country train for the life-chasing, life-changing trip of a lifetime.


Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations (Broadway Encore)

Jan. 3-5, 2025

Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations returns to the Straz by popular demand. It’s the electrifying smash-hit Broadway musical that follows The Temptations’ extraordinary journey from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, set to the beat of the group’s treasured hits, including “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” “Get Ready,” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and so many more!


The Cher Show

Jan. 14-19, 2025

Superstars come and go. Cher is forever. For six straight decades, only one unstoppable force has flat-out dominated popular culture ¬¬¬– breaking down barriers, pushing boundaries and letting nothing and no one stand in her way. The Cher Show is the Tony Award®-winning musical of her story, and it’s packed with so much Cher that it takes three women to play her: the kid starting out, the glam pop star and the icon. The Cher Show is 35 smash hits, six decades of stardom, two rock-star husbands, a Grammy®, an Oscar®, an Emmy® and enough Tony Award-winning Bob Mackie gowns to cause a sequin shortage in New York City, all in one unabashedly fabulous new musical that will have audiences dancing in the aisles!


MAMMA MIA! (Broadway Encore)

Jan. 28-Feb. 2, 2025

A mother. A daughter. 3 possible dads. And a trip down the aisle you’ll never forget!

Set on a Greek island paradise where the sun always shines, a tale of love, friendship, and identity is beautifully told through the timeless hits of ABBA. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter’s quest to discover the father she’s never known brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited decades ago.

For nearly 25 years, people all around the world have fallen in love with the characters, the story and the music that make MAMMA MIA! the ultimate feel-good show.


A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical

Feb. 11-16, 2025

Created in collaboration with Neil Diamond himself, A Beautiful Noise is the uplifting true story of how a kid from Brooklyn became a chartbusting, show-stopping American rock icon. With 120 million albums sold, a catalogue of classics like “America,” “Forever in Blue Jeans” and “Sweet Caroline,” an induction into the Songwriters and Rock & Roll Halls of Fame, a Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award and sold-out concerts around the world that made him bigger than Elvis, Neil Diamond’s story was made to shine on Broadway – and head out on the road across America.

Like Jersey Boys and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical before it, A Beautiful Noise is an inspiring, exhilarating, energy-filled musical memoir, that tells the untold true story of how America’s greatest hitmaker became a star, set to the songs that defined his career.


MJ the Musical

Feb. 25-March 2, 2025

He is one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Now, Michael Jackson’s unique and unparalleled artistry comes to Tampa as MJ the Musical, the multi-Tony Award®-winning new musical centered around the making of the 1992 Dangerous World Tour, begins a tour of its own. Created by Tony Award-winning director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, MJ goes beyond the singular moves and signature sound of the star, offering a rare look at the creative mind and collaborative spirit that catapulted Michael Jackson into legendary status.


Disney’s The Lion King

April 2-20, 2025

More than 100 million people around the world have experienced the phenomenon of Disney’s The Lion King, and now you can, too, when Tampa’s best-loved musical returns to the Straz Center. Winner of six Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, this landmark musical event brings together one of the most imaginative creative teams on Broadway. Tony Award-winning director Julie Taymor brings to life a story filled with hope and adventure set against an amazing backdrop of stunning visuals. The Lion King also features some of Broadway’s most recognizable music, crafted by Tony Award-winning artists Elton John and Tim Rice. There is simply nothing else like The Lion King.


Mystic Pizza

April 29-May 4, 2025

Based on the beloved 1988 MGM rom-com that launched the career of Julia Roberts, Mystic Pizza is a new musical about three working-class girls who navigate the complexities of life, love and family in a small-town pizza joint serving everyone from the townies to the privileged country club set. And what’s in that secret sauce, you ask? The hits of the ‘80s and ‘90s! The hit songs range from “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” to “Hold On” to “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.”


Shucked

June 3-8, 2025

Shucked is the Tony Award®–winning musical comedy The Wall Street Journal calls “flat out hilarious!” And nobody knows funny like economists. Featuring a book by Tony Award winner Robert Horn (Tootsie), a score by the Grammy® Award–winning songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally (Kacey Musgraves’ “Follow Your Arrow”) and directed by Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien (Hairspray), this corn-fed, corn-bred American musical is sure to satisfy your appetite for great musical theater. 


For more information, call the Straz Center Ticket Sales Office at 813.229.STAR (7827) or outside the Tampa Bay area at 800.955.1045 or visit www.strazcenter.org. 


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