Well, last Sunday night, the Tony Awards took place, and for many of us, the annual celebration of Broadway musicals and plays is about as close as we will get to actually seeing a show on Broadway - until we download an original cast album or catch a local staging of one of those award-winners, of course.

As is so happens, there are some spectacular Broadway-themed

musical exhibitions on the horizon here in Wine Country, so today I

thought I’d point out a few of them, so we musical fans can make a

few plans to get a taste or two of that tantalizing Broadway Razzle

Dazzle.

On Friday, June 27, Transcendence Theater Company returns to the old winery ruins in Jack London State Park for another season of shows featuring Broadway singers and dancers performing under

the stars. The season opens with a two-weekend run of a revue

called ‘One Singular Sensation,’ focusing on the rousing production

numbers that make Broadway Broadway. The rest of the summer will

bring another “Fantastical” family friendly show, a program called The Music of the Night (I bet there’s going to be something from Phantom of the Opera in that one), and in between, the Transcendence folks

will be bringing some true star-power out to shine under our Sonoma

County skies, with a performance by the one-and-only Ben Vereen.

The full schedule can be glimpsed at BroadwayJackLondon.com

Meanwhile, a few hit Broadway shows will get the Summer Repertory treatment as the Santa Rosa Junior College launches its new season with ‘A Chorus Line,’ ‘La Cage Aux Folles,’ and ‘Nine to Five: The Musical.’ Summerrep.com has the full schedule. Other Broadway favorites will be hitting the local boards, too, including ‘Les Miserables,’ opening June 27 at Raven Theater in Healdburg, and this weekend, 6th exuberant staging of the Broadway hit ‘Grease.”

And finally, Kelly Brandeburg, local singer-actress - and future Broadway Star, I predict - will be kicking off a celebration of the

Glaser Center’s ten year anniversary with a tasty dinner-and-a-show

event on Saturday, June 28. Kelly - that’s her singing a few of her

favorite Broadway songs - will be presenting a program of other

ballads, love-songs and timeless favorites, after dinner whipped up

by worth our weight. Options for the full dinner and show, or just the show only, are available.

Whether you like your Broadway tunes served up indoors, outdoors, or both, this summer will be rich with opportunity to be dazzled by great performances of some of the most spirit-lifting music every written for stage, screen, or outdoor ruin. Until your next trip of Street Playhouse takes us back to the 50s with an New York, we’ve got plenty right here to keep a Broadway song in our hearts, and if that’s not the name of a Broadway song, it should be.