MIDDLETOWN - The announcement was made on a very cold night in late February at The Bushnell. Once the audience began hearing the names of the touring shows that would be on the stage in front of us, the room warmed up quickly.

       Starting off the announcement of the list of shows coming in the 2014-15 Broadway season was the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical smash that is back and restyled for today. Her name says it all--Evita. The music, the dancing, the drama, the passion, the romance, the politics and the madness is back. It’s all here and it’s all new for those of us lucky enough to see this show when it first was on Broadway back in 1979. Evita begins the new season at The Bushnell and it just keeps getting better from there.

       The next musical I want to mention is the current musical of musicals, fan favorite and hot ticket. Celebrating 10 years of selling out on Broadway, this is truly a phenomenal work that you cannot miss. Making its fourth visit to the Bushnell, from Nov. 5-23 let’s all get Wicked. I’m honestly nuts over this show. I just finished reading a book about backstage and understudy life and now here it comes back. I’ll be there--much more on Wicked as we get closer to its arrival. But, please, if you haven’t seen it, do plan on seeing it; you’ll love it.

       After the holidays are over, and hopefully not in the snow, we can visit another revival, this one 40 years since the original was on Broadway. A Bob Fosse masterpiece, winning new awards with this creative revival, we’ll head back to the 14th century and visit Charlemagne’s son in the song and dance funhouse that is Pippin. Originally on Broadway back in 1972, this is a largely under-appreciated musical with a great deal of substance. The show originally was done very different from other shows at that time--actors would speak directly to the audience and, to me, it came off as a little vaudeville. Now in the Tony Award-winning revival, it’s done in a circus/sideshow atmosphere that apparently works a bit better. One song in particular, â€�"No Time at All,” stands out to me from the original, sung by Pippin’s grandmother, played back then by Irene Ryan of â€�"The Beverly Hillbillies” fame. It was a sing-along and to this day I can sing it word-for-word.

       After Pippin, we have the multiple award-winning and still playing on Broadway Once. Based on the 2006 film of the same name, Once is a basic and easygoing sort of musical, with the cast also being the orchestra. You may be more familiar with the film of the same name that won an Academy Award for the song â€�"Falling Slowly.” The musical version opened on Broadway in 2012 and won a Tony for Best Musical. Once tells the classic love story of girl meets vacuum cleaner repairman, guy fixes vacuum and they fall in love. We’ve all been there.

       Once is coming to the Bushnell in May of 2015. The last show I want to mention, but certainly not least, is the touring production of the wildly entertaining musical, also based on a movie, Kinky Boots. Haven’t heard of it? I can’t imagine why. Kinky Boots is a 2005 British film inspired by the true story of a British shoe factory and the ever-so-popular old tale of how they team up with a drag queen to produce custom transvestite footwear. Must I go on?

       Kinky Boots opens on Broadway in early 2013 with songs by Cyndi Lauper (isn’t she the best?) Wildly and widely well-received by critics, Kinky Boots is a sell-out on Broadway, having captured the Tony Award for Best Musical of the Year, and will be wrapping up the Bushnell’s 2014-15 season when it plays in late June 2015.

       A long ways off? Not really. Make plans now to see these shows in your own backyard rather than go into NYC. All shows go on sale soon. Check out www.bushnell.org .

       Jeffrey LaGrange can be reached at jefflagrange@yahoo.com