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'Fun Home,' 'Finding Neverland' part of Broadway in Chicago season

Broadway in Chicago announced Tuesday that its 2016 season of shows will include a Broadway-bound world premiere, Windy City debuts of current Broadway hits "Fun Home" and "Finding Neverland," and beloved revivals in exclusive touring editions.

The roster features:

• "42nd Street," Cadillac Palace Theatre, March 8-16: A girl plucked out of the chorus gets her chance to become a star in this quintessential backstage fable inspired by the Depression-era film musicals of choreographer Busby Berkeley. "42nd Street" co-author Mark Bramble and choreographer Randy Skinner previously staged the Tony Award-winning 2001 Broadway revival of this 1980 smash hit, and they reteam for this new non-Equity tour.

• "Bullets Over Broadway," Bank of America Theatre, April 19-May 1: Academy Award-winning filmmaker Woody Allen collaborated with director/choreographer Susan Stroman in 2014 to bring his 1994 film to the stage. This comedy of 1920s gangsters getting mixed up with a new Broadway show features a score of classic song standards such as "Let's Misbehave."

• "The SpongeBob Musical," Oriental Theatre, June 7-July 3: The popular Nickelodeon animated series comes to life in this Broadway-aimed world premiere with a rocking score featuring songs by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Jonathan Coulton, David Bowie, John Legend, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper and more. Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member Tina Landau directs.

• "The Sound of Music," Cadillac Palace Theatre, June 7-19: Rodgers and Hammerstein's final Broadway collaboration inspired by the Von Trapp family returns in an Equity touring production directed by Tony Award-winner Jack O'Brien ("Hairspray," "The Coast of Utopia").

• "Fun Home," Bank of America Theatre, Nov. 2-13: Lesbian cartoonist Alison Bechdel's acclaimed 2006 graphic memoir was transformed by composer Jeanine Tesori ("Shrek the Musical," "Caroline, or Change"), playwright Lisa Kron ("Well") and director Sam Gold ("The Flick") into an acclaimed stage show that won five 2015 Tony Awards including Best Musical. The nonlinear musical explores Bechdel at three different stages of her life.

• "Finding Neverland," Cadillac Palace Theatre, Nov. 22-Dec. 4: This 2015 musical stage adaptation of the 2004 film is about author J.M. Barrie finding inspiration to create "Peter Pan" from his friendship with a widowed mother and her four sons. "Finding Neverland" features a pop score by Gary Barlow of the British band Take That and direction by Tony Award-winner Diane Paulus ("Pippin," "Hair").

New subscription packages for the 2016 season go on sale to the general public starting Sunday, Nov. 8. For more information, call (800) 775-2000 or visit broadwayinchicago.com.

Chorus girls Tricia DeSario and Lucia Foster flank Blake Stadnik as Billy Lawlor for the national tour of “42nd Street,” which runs from Tuesday, March 8, to Sunday, March 13, at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre. Courtesy of Joan Marcus
Helen Sinclair (Emma Stratton) pleads for playwright David Shayne (Michael Williams) to “Don't Speak” in the North American tour of Woody Allen's 2014 musical comedy “Bullets Over Broadway” at Chicago's Bank of America Theatre from Tuesday, April 19, to Sunday, May 1. Courtesy of Matthew Murphy
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