Some notable musicals shown to Seattle audiences at the 5th Avenue Theatre prior to their success on Broadway include : '' Jekyll & Hyde '' in 1995 which was nominated for 4 Tony Awards , '' Hairspray '' in 2002 which won 8 Tony Awards , and '' The Wedding Singer '' in 2006 which had 4 Tony Award nominations . The film adaptation of '' Hairspray '' premiered at the 5th on July 16 , 2007 ( 4 days prior to its nationwide release ) as an acknowledgement of the 5th 's role in the musical 's success on Broadway . The " testing ground " tradition continued in the 2008 – 2009 season with the pre-Broadway world premieres of '' Shrek the Musical '' , and '' Memphis '' . Both went on to win Tony awards , Shrek winning one in 2009 and Memphis winning four , including Best Musical , in 2010 . In the 2009 – 2010 season , they premiered '' Catch Me If You Can '' , which premiered on Broadway in the spring of 2011 . In their 2010 – 2011 season , they premiered '' A Christmas Story : The Musical '' , based on the film of the same name , and more recently the premiere of '' Aladdin '' , based on the Disney film " Aladdin " . In the 2011-2012 season , '' First Date '' premiered as a co-production with ACT starring Eric Ankrim before heading to Broadway to star Zachary Levi and Krysta Rodriguez
4 Tony Award nominations
60th Tony Awards
5th Avenue Theatre