A Look Ahead to Cincinnati Theater We Can't Wait to See in 2019

It’s no secret that Lin-Manuel Miranda’s megahit  Hamilton  is finally touring, making a three-week tour stop here, Feb. 19-March 10 at the Aronoff Center. The score uses Hip Hop, Jazz, Blues, Rap, R&B and Broadway melodies to tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became a hero during the American Revolution and the shaper of the young nation. Despite the length of the run, tickets are scarce, but there will be daily lotteries for a few seats if you care to try your luck.

Hamilton wasn’t Miranda’s first hit: That would be In the Heights, the 2008 Tony Award winner about life in New York City’s Hispanic-American community, Washington Heights, a musical stew of Latin energy. The Playhouse in the Park is producing this one, Jan. 19-Feb. 17, a savvy move in close proximity to Hamilton’s upcoming presentation.

As a longtime fan of Cuban Pop singer Gloria Estefan and the infectious Latin rhythms of the Miami Sound Machine, I’m eager to catch a performance of On Your Feet during its tour stop at the Aronoff Center, March 19-24. How she and her husband Emilio became a crossover Pop sensation is an inspiring tale, with lots of memorable music.

Prefer some drama? Check out a pair of plays by America’s great African-American playwright, August Wilson: Fences at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (Jan. 25-Feb. 16) and Two Trains Running at the Playhouse in the Park (March 7-30). And don’t miss Ensemble Theatre’s hat trick of award-winning new works, a trio of regional premieres: Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House, Part 2 (March 2-30), Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew (April 13-May 11) and Sarah DeLappe’s The Wolves (June 1-29). All three are among the most produced shows on American stages this season.