CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Turing a quiet, lovely little film about an Egyptian police band stranded in a tiny Israeli town on the way to a gig into a Broadway musical was the brainchild of producer Orin Wolf, who grew up in Cleveland Heights. His gamble paid off. “The Band’s Visit” won 10 Tony Awards in 2018, the most of any production that year, including Best Musical.

When I interviewed him in New York before last year’s Tony ceremony, he made no secret about wanting to bring his beguiling show to Playhouse Square once it went on tour.

The man is as good as his word.

“The Band’s Visit” is headed to Cleveland as part of the 2019-20 KeyBank Broadway Series. The musical unfolds in such a cinematic way, “it’s a hybrid of a musical and a play,” says Gina Vernaci, president and chief operating officer of Playhouse Square. Never brash or loud, its haunting, hypnotic rhythms are unlike anything on Broadway.

Vernaci announced the seven show lineup at Connor Palace Tuesday night to a capacity crowd of season ticketholders -- now 46,000 strong, the largest touring Broadway market in the country.

“The exact number is 45,972 but you know, who’s counting the last 28?” says Vernaci. That number represents a 26% growth over the 2016-17 season, a bump Vernaci and company attribute to “Hamilton,” the must-see musical about a rhyming, rapping founding father that hit Playhouse Square in the summer of 2018.

The Broadway company of "The Band's Visit." (Matthew Murphy)

Times, tickets and more

All shows will play in the Connor Palace, except for “My Fair Lady” and “Frozen” which are headed for the KeyBank State Theatre. Performance times for all shows are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

Season tickets are available now. Seven-show packages range from $100 to $690, with monthly payment plans available.

Single ticket on-sale dates for all shows will be announced later.

Visit playhousesquare.org/broadway or call 216-640-8800 for season tickets and details.

The following listings and descriptions are based on information provided by Playhouse Square and the critic's own notebook.

2019-20 KeyBank Broadway Series at Playhouse Square

Tuesday, Oct. 8-Sunday, Oct. 27, Connor Palace: “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.” Book by Colman Domingo, Robert Cary and Des McAnuff. Songs by Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder and Paul Jabara. Directed by McAnuff. Choreographed by Sergio Trujillo.

Duckling Donna, Disco Donna and Diva Donna tell the story of the hard knock rise of LaDonna Gaines, a girl from Boston blessed with a heavenly voice who went from singing in a gospel choir to topping the charts as Donna Summer, Queen of Disco.

It took McAnuff and Trujillo, the creative duo behind “Jersey Boys,” to finally bring Summer’s “inspiring” story to the stage, says Vernaci. To kick-off the KeyBank Broadway Series annual launch party, Judith Franklin, from the Broadway company of “Summer,” emerged in a shimmering black gown and belted “Hot Stuff." (The visiting diva returned at the close of the show with “Last Dance.”)

The Broadway cast of "Summer: The Donna Summer Musical." (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

Tuesday, Nov. 5 -Sunday Nov. 24, Connor Palace: “The Band’s Visit.” Book by Itamar Moses. Music and lyrics by David Yazbek. Based on the screenplay by Eran Kolirin. Directed by David Cromer. Choreographed by Patrick McCollum.

When a band of Egyptian musicians shows up lost in a sleepy Israeli desert town, café owner Dina and her fellow locals take them in for the night. Under the spell of the darkening sky, their lives intertwine in unexpected ways.

“ ‘The Band’s Visit’ draws you in -- you lean into that experience,” says Vernaci. “It has also such a gentle soul about it. Which is also how I’d describe Orin Wolf the producer -- he’s a gentle soul as well.”

Tuesday, Dec. 3-Sunday 22, Connor Place: “Mean Girls.” Book by Tina Fey. Music by Jeff Richmond. Lyrics by Nell Benjamin. Based on the Paramount Pictures film. Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw.

A naïve new girl falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies. Will she survive the high school savannah or wind up buzzard food?

Composer Jeff Richmond isn’t just Tina Fey’s husband -- he’s also a graduate of Kent’s School of Theatre and Dance. “Clearly sparks have flown in many directions for them -- as husband and wife and as a creative team,” says Vernaci. Add director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw (“The Book of Mormon;” “Something Rotten”) and the result is a “Mean Girls” leavened by a sense of “a sense of life, fun and joy.”

Lila Coogan (Anya) in the national tour of "Anastasia." (Photo by Matthew Murphy, MurphyMade.)

Tuesday, Feb. 4- Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020, Connor Palace: “Anastasia.” Book by Terrence McNally. Music by Stephen Flaherty. Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. Inspired by the motion pictures by 20thCentury Fox. Directed by Darko Tresnjak. Choreographed by Peggy Hickey.

Two Russian con men try to pass off Anya, a street sweeper with amnesia, as the Grand Duchess Anastasia, the only member of the Czar’s family to have survived the firing squad.

Although there have been many iterations of the intriguing tale, this version, says Vernaci, with its rich score by the songwriters of “Ragtime,” is especially captivating. “I love the way the story is told.”

Tuesday, March 10-Sunday, March 29, 2020, Connor Palace: “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Lyrics by Tim Rice. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Directed by Timothy Sheader. Choreographed by Drew McOnie.

The final days in the life of Jesus Christ are seen through the eyes of Judas and set to a groundbreaking score that brought the wail of the electric guitar to the orchestra pit.

Before taking in this 50th anniversary touring production originally staged in London in 2017, Vernaci was sure she’d had her fill of the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic. She was not only proved thrillingly wrong but moved in mysterious ways. “When it came to the crucifixion, I was misty eyed -- I was caught off guard, like, ‘Are you gonna let this happen? ’ ”

The cast of the 50th anniversary tour of "Jesus Christ Superstar." (Evan Zimmerman, MurphyMade)

Tuesday, April 28 – Sunday, May 17, 2020, KeyBank State Theatre: “My Fair Lady.” Book by Alan Jay Lerner. Music by Frederick Loewe. Lyrics by Lerner. Adapted from the play “Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw. Adapted from the motion picture “Pygmalion” by Gabriel Pascal. Directed by Bartlett Sher. Choreographed by Christopher Gattelli.

Linguistics professor Henry Higgins is determined to transform Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flower seller, into a “proper lady.” But who is really being transformed?

Of all golden age musicals, “My Fair Lady” remains in a class by itself and this Lincoln Center Theater revival lives up to its fabled pedigree says Vernaci. Catherine Zuber’s Tony Award-winning costumes “are just delicious.”

Wednesday, July 15 – Sunday, August 16, 2020, KeyBank State Theatre: “Disney’s Frozen.” Book by Jennifer Lee. Music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Based on the Disney film written by Lee. Directed by Michael Grandage. Choreographed by Rob Ashford.

As one sister struggles to find her voice and harness her powers within, the other embarks on an epic journey to bring her family together.

You needn’t have seen the Disney animated movie to hum along with the show stopper: the powerhouse ballad “Let It Go,” by wife-and-husband writing team of Kristin Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. “They have great chemistry that comes out onstage,” says Vernaci.