'Beauty and the Beast' to kick off Argyle season

The Argyle Theatre in Babylon wants Long Islanders to be their guests for "Disney's Beauty and the Beast," "West Side Story" and more classic musicals that are set for the 2022-23 season, which it announced on Friday.

Unlike the current season, which featured six productions — including "Footloose" (runs through Aug. 28) and "An American in Paris" (Sept. 15-Oct. 23) — next year's lineup will feature only four productions, which will have longer runs.

Thrown into the mix as part of an effort to build on its audience will be special events, including concerts featuring Broadway talents as well as tribute bands, comedy shows and other types of special events, the theater's owners Mark Perlman and Dylan Perlman, his son, told Newsday on Thursday.

The main-stage season will kick off with "Disney's Beauty and the Beast," Argyle's holiday offering for the family, from Nov. 10 through Jan. 1. Based on the Oscar-winning 1991 animated film, the "tale as old as time" features a number of hit songs including "Be Our Guest" and the title number.

From Feb. 9 through April 2, the Jets and the Sharks will get ready to rumble — and take to dancing in the street — in "West Side Story," the modern twist on "Romeo and Juliet" that boasts a memorable score by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.

The ’80s hair-band musical "Rock of Ages," featuring songs by Journey, Def Leppard and more of that era's hit makers, is on tap from April 27 to June 18. Finally, it's back to the nifty ’50s for the ultimate high school musical "Grease," which will run next summer from July 6, 2023, to Aug. 27, 2023.

"We wanted to find four very different iconic shows, but they're all very unique in their own way," Dylan Perlman said. "So we go from this very magical Disney fantasy show to 'West Side,' which is one of the most iconic musicals ever written, to 'Rock of Ages,' which is an electrifying rock musical with some of the most famous rock songs ever written, and then to probably the quintessential pop-culture phenomenon of recent years in ‘Grease.’ ”

The Perlmans also are hopeful that the quartet of crowd-pleasing musicals will attract more patrons to the theater, especially after the many issues that have made 2022 a rocky year for all local theaters.

"It's definitely been a bit of a roller coaster over the past year with different variants and economic issues and health issues," Dylan Perlman said. "But we're seeing continual progress and the audience is growing. I think live theater is something that is timeless and that we really need right now."