North American Tour of MYSTIC PIZZA to Launch in January 2025

The highly-anticipated musical adaptation of the 1988 classic movie MYSTIC PIZZA, which recently completed a critically hailed run at LA Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts this past January, will embark on a North American Tour in January 2025. The tour will officially open at the Riverside Theatre in Vero Beach, FL, with announced visits in Tampa, St. Paul and West Palm Beach, as well as a 4-week run at Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey.

Additional tour cities and casting to be announced at a later date.

Based on the beloved 1988 MGM rom-com that launched the career of Julia Roberts, MYSTIC PIZZA is a new musical about three working-class girls who navigate the complexities of life, love and family in a small-town pizza joint serving everyone from the townies to the privileged country club set. And what's in that secret sauce, you ask? The hits of the ‘80s and ‘90s! The hit songs range from "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" to "Hold On" to "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now," and so many more!

Developed by Lively McCabe Entertainment and Concord Theatricals, MYSTIC PIZZA is based on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture, with story and characters by Amy Holden Jones, book by Sandy Rustin (Clue, The Cottage), arrangements and orchestrations by Carmel Dean (The Notebook, If/Then), choreography by Connor Gallagher (Beetlejuice, The Big Gay Jamboree), music direction by Kristin Stowell (Songbird) and direction by Casey Hushion (Mean Girls, Clue).

“Fans of the original film and newcomers alike will get to experience a heartwarming musical with some of the most celebrated songs from the ‘80s and ‘90s. It will have them dancing and singing in the aisles, and we couldn't be more excited to bring that musical magic to audiences across North America,” says MYSTIC PIZZA Executive Producer Tom McCoy.

Executive Producer Michael Barra states, “This iconic movie has been thrilling audiences for decades. Now we get to take that infectious ‘80s spirit and bring it to a whole new generation with this nostalgic musical version that you'll love at first slice!”

The MYSTIC PIZZA design team also includes: Set and Properties Design by Nate Bertone, Lighting Design by Ryan J. O'Gara, and Costume Design by Jennifer Caprio.

McCOY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT (Executive Producer/General Management), is one of the world's premier theatrical production companies and continues to be grateful to share a wildly successful collaboration celebrating its 30th Anniversary season at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Headed by Executive Producers Tom McCoy and Cathy Rigby, MRE has produced over one hundred musicals, plays, and concerts featuring some of the biggest stars in the industry today and garnering many Emmy Awards, Tony nominations, and LA Ovation Awards. In addition, MRE has launched several Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated Broadway, international, and national touring productions including: ASIA- Dreamgirls (Japan), Miss Saigon (China), Peter Pan (China), SAUDI ARABIA - Peter Pan (this was the first Broadway Musical to ever play in Saudi Arabia), USA- Seussical the Musical, and Annie Get Your Gun, starring Cathy Rigby; Jesus Christ Superstar starring Carl Anderson and Sebastian Bach, Camelot starring Michael York and Lou Diamond Phillips, Happy Days written by Gary Marshall and Paul Williams, BROADWAY - ‪Frank Wildhorn's Jekyll and Hyde starring Grammy Award nominee Deborah Cox and “American Idol” and Tony Award nominee ‪Constantine Maroulis, and The Little Mermaid, the Musical. Peter Pan, starring Cathy Rigby, has made four stops on Broadway and received four Tony Award nominations including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Actress in a Musical. The A&E TV network premiere of “Peter Pan” received one Emmy Award and four Emmy Award nominations. La Mirada Theatre productions of A Night with Janis Joplin starring Mary Bridget Davies and Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby are now streaming on Broadway HD. 

Lively McCabe Entertainment (Executive Producer) is a theatrical development and production company founded in 2017 by former Disney executive Michael Barra. The company is best known for its collection of theatrical properties including: CLUE (currently on tour in the US and UK), the musical adaptation of MYSTIC PIZZA, country music musical MAY WE ALL (developed with Florida Georgia Line), and Joe Iconis' PUNK ROCK GIRL!. Current projects in development include the holiday musical What A Wonderful World and the stage musical adaptation of the 1985 screenplay “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” in partnership with Primary Wave Music. For more info please visit www.livelymccabe.com.

Riverside Theatricals, LLC (Allen D. Cornell / Producing Artistic Director/ CEO, Jon R. Moses /Managing Director/COO, Patti Rooney / CFO) is a division of Riverside Theatre, Inc. With over 50 years of experience producing Broadway shows for Vero Beach and the entire Treasure Coast of Florida, Riverside Theatricals is dedicated to creating original works from script to score and partnering with other creators of new works for development, producing, and touring opportunities.

Concord Theatricals is the world's most significant theatrical company, comprising the catalogs of R&H Theatricals, Samuel French, Tams-Witmark and The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, plus dozens of new signings each year. Our unparalleled roster includes the work of Irving Berlin, Agatha Christie, George & Ira Gershwin, Marvin Hamlisch, Lorraine Hansberry, Kander & Ebb, Kitt & Yorkey, Ken Ludwig, Marlow & Moss, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anaïs Mitchell, Dominique Morisseau, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Thornton Wilder and August Wilson. We are the only firm providing truly comprehensive services to the creators and producers of plays and musicals, including theatrical licensing, music publishing, script publishing, cast recording and first-class producing. www.concordtheatricals.com

MGM On Stage licenses a wide variety of film titles for adaptation on stage. Titles that have appeared on stage include Some Like It Hot, Legally Blonde, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mystic Pizza, Rain Man, The Apartment, Rocky, and New York, New York. 

Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM), an Amazon Company, is a leading entertainment company focused on the production and global distribution of film and television content across all platforms. The company owns one of the world's deepest libraries of premium film and television content, as well as the premium pay television network MGM+.  www.mgm.com.

Sandy Rustin (Book) is a Broadway playwright and actress whose comedy, The Cottage, recently ran at the Hayes Theatre on Broadway. One of the most produced playwrights in America, Sandy's adaptation of the film Clue has enjoyed over 4,000 productions worldwide & is currently on a U.S. National Tour. Sandy wrote adaptations of I Married An Angel and Dear World (NY Times Critic's Pick) for NY City Center Encores! Her comedy, THE SUFFRAGETTE'S MURDER, will premiere in ‘25 at the Denver Center for Performing Arts. Her play with music, Houston (New American Musical Award), is in development with Grammy winner, Edie Brickell. She has developed theatrical works for Disney, STX Entertainment, Primary Wave Music, and Mattel. Other works: Rated P … For Parenthood, Elijah, Struck, Don't Dream It's Over, Loch Ness and more. A Northwestern University graduate, Sandy serves on the Advisory Board of NYU's Camp Kesem chapter. Love to Evan, Isaac & Charlie.www.sandyrustin.com INSTA: @ sandyrustin_

Carmel Dean (Arrangements and Orchestrations) is a composer, lyricist, musical director, and arranger/orchestrator. Broadway credits include The Notebook; Funny Girl; If/Then; American Idiot; Hands on a Hardbody, and Spelling Bee. Carmel's compositional debut, Renascence, won the 2018 Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Musical, and her song cycle, “Well-Behaved Women”, which premiered at Joe's Pub in January 2020, has been licensed by Concord Theatricals, has a Broadway All-Star studio album, and continues to be produced around the world. Carmel has been commissioned to write the new musical Maiden Voyage with Mindi Dickstein (Little Women) for New Works Provincetown/Mark Cortale. Carmel has also served as a vocal arranger for Phish and Trey Anastasio, performed with Green Day on the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, and was Musical Director for Broadway legend Chita Rivera. Carmel is a Fulbright Scholar and holds an MFA from NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.

Casey Hushion (Director) Broadway: Associate/Resident Director of Mean Girls, Aladdin, The Prom, In the Heights, Elf, The Drowsy Chaperone, To Be Or Not to Be, and Good Vibrations. Other New York credits include Call Me Madam (Encores!) and Fat Camp. Casey recently directed the National Tour of The Cher Show and the National Tour of CLUE. This spring, she will be directing Beautiful at Paper Mill Playhouse, where Casey has also directed Murder on the Orient Express, A Jolly Holiday, and Beehive. Casey has worked at many regional theatres such as George Street Playhouse, Goodspeed Opera House, Walnut Street Theatre, Riverside Theatre, and Philadelphia Theatre Company. Artistic Director of North Carolina Theatre for ten years. Television: “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “The Tonight Show,” “Good Morning America,” “The View,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and NBC's Special “One Night Only: The Best of Broadway.”

Connor Gallagher (Choreography) Connor Gallagher is a New York-based director and choreographer, best known for choreographing the Broadway musical Beetlejuice with additional productions in Seoul, Melbourne, and a North American tour. This fall he will make his off-Broadway direction and choreography debut with The Big Gay Jamboree, the new musical written by and starring Marla Mindelle (Titanqiue.) He also serves as director and co-choreographer on Disney's Moana, opening in December 2024. Other work: The Robber Bridegroom (Roundabout, Astaire Award); Beauty and the Beast for Disney Live Entertainment (director, Brass Ring Award); Tangled (Disney, world-premiere); 15 touring companies of Elf; The world-premiere of Will Aronson and Hue Park's Il Tenore in Seoul; as well as the world-premiere of Walter Paisley (La Mirada.) He is a former competitive gymnast and made his Broadway debut as a performer in the final company of Beauty and the Beast. @connorga. www.connorgallagher.com

Kristin Stowell (Music Director) is a music director, pianist, composer, copyist, and educator based in Washington, D.C. She was recently the music supervisor for the first national tour of The Cher Show. Additional recent credits include music directing the world premieres of On Cedar Street (Berkshire Theatre Group) and Mystic Pizza (Ogunquit Playhouse), the west coast premiere of Mystic Pizza (La Mirada Theatre), and the regional premiere of The Cher Show (Ogunquit Playhouse). Her original award-winning musical Endometriosis: The Musical was featured in the 2022 Minnesota Fringe Festival. Kristin currently serves on the musical theatre faculty at American University.