Hankies at the ready!

Through thick and thin, Cee Cee and Bertie stick together. Based on Iris Rainer Dart's original novel, and the ensuing movie adaptation starring Bette Midler, Beaches is a brand new musical that tells the story of a very special friendship.

Beaches was first published in 1985. An international hit, it became a movie in 1988 and went down in history as one of the all-time great weepies, as well as producing the monster hit single The Wind Beneath My Wings. Over two decades later Dart had the idea to turn it into a musical. With Thom Thomas (A Moon to Dance By) on co-writing duties and David Austin (Writing Arthur) providing the score, Beaches The Musical premiered at Arlington's Signature Theatre in 2014 to great reviews. Directed by Eric Shaeffer, this production is playing in Chicago for a limited time only, before it sets off for Broadway.

What is Beaches About?

Cee Cee and Bertie first meet on a beach in Atlantic City in 1951. While their characters are seemingly polar opposites, with Cee Cee a brash extrovert and Bertie quiet and bashful, a friendship is formed. The story follows the pair over the course of the next 30 years, during which time Bertie becomes a lawyer and Cee Cee doggedly pursues her dream of making it in show business. Tracing the two's ups and downs, loves and tragedies, Beaches is about that kind of friend you make once in a lifetime.