SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Now in its second year of operation, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theatre in downtown Salt Lake City is quickly becoming a top destination for traveling Broadway shows.

On Tuesday, Feb. 27, Broadway Across America announced the much anticipated 2018-2019 Broadway at the Eccles season. The six-show season is filled with family-friendly favorites.

KSL TV’s Carole Mikita got exclusive access to the shows’ producers, actors, stage managers and more in New York City.

Aladdin the Musical

Along with a whole new world, audiences will experience a whole new Aladdin when the musical comes to the Eccles April 25 to May 12, 2019.

The stage show follows the story of Disney’s animated classic but adds some extra surprises including new characters and songs originally written for the animated movie that were cut out of the final film.

Backstage at the show in New York, we learned there are more than 300 different costumes that show up on stage and every one of them will head out on tour.

Audiences are sure to be wowed by the 85 special effects that help make this a glitzy, fiery production fit for the young and the young at heart.

Finding Neverland

Another movie to stage adaptation in the 2018-2019 season is the musical production of Finding Neverland.

Creative choreography and new music help bring to life the story of playwright J.M Barrie and the making of his beloved classic, Peter Pan.

Producers worked hard to make sure fans of the film were still treated to the cherished moments from the movie, while getting a whole new experience seeing the story told live on stage.

Finding Neverland arrives at the Eccles Dec. 4, 2019, for five nights of performances.

School of Rock

A smash hit at the box office, School of Rock the musical follows the story of Dewey Finn as he pretends to be a substitute teacher and turns a class of straight-A students into his own personal rock band.

Featuring 14 new songs by the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber, this show is packed with music from start to finish.

What’s most unique about this show is that the musicians playing all that rock and roll are children on stage giving casting directors a unique challenge.

School of Rock will have Utah audiences rockin’ out May 28 to June 2, 2019.

Waitress

Based on the story told first at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007, Waitress the Musical is about a young woman, determined to rise above her circumstances by using her talent for baking pies.

Iconic Broadway producers Barry and Fran Weissler gave this show a tasty twist in New York that will follow it out on tour.

Instead of just seeing pies on stage, audiences get to taste them too.

Enlisting the help of a New York City bakery, each night at the show ‘pies in a jar’ are sold during intermission. They’ve become so popular that people keep returning to taste a different flavor.

Waitress and its pies will feed audiences at the Eccles September 25 to 30, 2018.

Rent

Heading out on its 20th anniversary tour, the musical Rent has some of the most recognizable songs from Broadway.

Following one-year in the lives of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams.

In the end, all of them learn to measure their lives in what really matters most, love.

The Rent tour stops at the Eccles June 25 to 30, 2019.

Come From Away

The story behind Come From Away began on Sept. 11, 2001. When U.S. airspace was closed following the terrorist attacks in New York City, hundreds of planes were diverted to the small island of Newfoundland, Canada. There, the town of roughly 10,000 took in nearly 7,000 strangers; feeding, clothing and comforting them in a time of great sorrow.

While it may seem like a stretch to tell this story with song and dance, actors say Come From Away really tells the story of September 12, a story of goodness and kindness in the face of tragedy.

Utah will get to experience the heart-warming musical when it comes to the Eccles November 6 to 11, 2018.

Add-on Engagements

Wicked

Returning for the first time since 2014, Wicked is one of the world’s most popular musicals and a fan favorite in Utah.

Elphaba, Glinda and The Great and Powerful Oz will be at the Eccles Jan. 30 to March 3, 2019.

The Book of Mormon

Back by popular demand, the nine-time Tony award winning musical comedy follows the story of two Mormon missionaries called to serve in Africa.

The Book of Mormon has sold out in Utah twice before and likely will again when it returns August 13 to 25, 2019.