From Theatre Calgary to Broadway: Beaches set to open in April 2026

Jessica Vosk as Cee Cee Bloom, Kelli Barrett as Bertie White in Beaches the Musical at Theatre Calgary. (Photo: Trudie Lee)

A musical with a Calgary connection is making it to Broadway.

Beaches, which closed out Theatre Calgary’s 2024 season, announced earlier this week that it had secured a theatre on Broadway for a six-week run before it goes out on tour.

The show, a musical adaptation of the 1988 tearjerker starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey, is scheduled to open for previews on March 27 and open on April 22.

It’s about two girlfriends whose friendship spans their entire lives.

“There’s never been a better time for this particular story,” said the musical’s lead producer, Jennifer Maloney-Prezioso in a New York Times article. “It’s a love story about friendship, and I think the world needs that right now — a world where there’s a loneliness epidemic, and friendships are such an essential part of getting through that.”

The team that brought Beaches to Theatre Calgary, including co-directors Lonny Price and Matt Cowart, will take the show to Broadway.

The script is from Iris Rainer Dart, whose novel the film was adapted from. Rainer Dart also wrote the song lyrics with music from legendary 92-year-old Mike Stoller, whose songwriting credits include “Hound Dog”, “Stand By Me” -- and “On Broadway,” which was a hit for George Benson in 1978.

Jessica Vosk and Kelli Barrett will reprise their lead roles in the Broadway production.

It’s the third Broadway show in the last decade that had an out-of-town tryout in Alberta.

Hadestown (2017) and Six: The Musical (2019) both had November runs at Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre before moving to Broadway, where both turned into hits.

Maloney-Prezioso said the Theatre Calgary run was instructive and a positive experience for the show, which was first launched in 2014.

“It was a great honor to have had the international premiere of Beaches the Musical at Theatre Calgary,“ she said, in a release.

“As we prepare for our Broadway premiere of Beaches this spring, it’s clear that the time we had at Theatre Calgary was an instrumental part of building the show we will be opening on Broadway," she added.

“Our entire team has the utmost respect and admiration for (Theatre Calgary artistic director) Stafford Arima and his extensive experience and knowledge of new musicals,” she added.

”The fact that Theatre Calgary has the infrastructure, onstage and off, and could accommodate the size, scale and scope of the vision for the show made bringing Beaches to Theatre Calgary the best possible decision.

“As we share this love story about friendship with Broadway audiences, we gratefully carry our time at Theatre Calgary with us.”

Broadway-bound experience

Prior to joining Theatre Calgary in 2017, Arima had experience working on Broadway-bound musicals such as a revival of Hal Prince’s Showboat and Ragtime in Toronto. He also directed a Broadway musical, Allegiance, based on Star Trek star George Takei’s memoir, in 2015 as well as Off-Broadway, where he directed Altar Boyz and Carrie.

“When I became the artistic director of Theatre Calgary in 2017, it was important for me to find a special project that had the potential to move from Theatre Calgary to Broadway,” Arima said. “Beaches was that project.“

“One of the highlights of Theatre Calgary’s 23-24 season was watching the development of this new musical unfold in our rehearsal rooms and on our stage,” Arima said.

“Guided by director Lonny Price, and producer Jennifer Maloney-Prezioso, their leadership allowed the musical to awaken with every rehearsal, script change, and preview performance,” he said.

“That sense of evolution only deepened when Iris Dart, Mike Stoller, and the stellar creative team and cast landed in Calgary, bringing with them an inexplicably electric energy that permeated the process—from the first day of rehearsals, and right into the closing performance,” Arima added.

“It was no surprise that Beaches touched our audiences in such a meaningful way; and it is with that same sense of excitement and pride that I am ecstatic to see this production continue its journey on Broadway, where even more audiences will have the chance to enjoy this timeless story of friendship."