Nationally touring broadway musicals, an eclectic lineup of music and dance, acrobatic cirque and children’s entertainment will all be featured in the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State’s upcoming season.
The center announced its 2024-25 schedule this week, a season that will include productions of “The Tina Turner Musical,” “Dear Evan Hansen” and “The Addams Family,” popular children’s entertainer Blippi, viral sensation country singer Sam Barber, Grammy-winning musicians and more.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7, to Center for the Performing Arts members and 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, to the public. Tickets will be available by calling 814-863-0255, in person from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays at Eisenhower Auditorium and online. A $4 fee is applied to online purchases only.
“The activity in the building throughout the next year will be electric,” Laura Sullivan, marketing and communications director at the Center for the Performing Arts, said in a news release. “We will honor the legacy as we continue to build our new vision for the future.”
Here’s a look at the lineup, with information provided by the Center.
Move Mix Festival
2-8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14
Eisenhower Auditorium
The second annual, free-to-the-community festival will feature a variety of artist performances and workshops inside and outside Eisenhower Auditorium. National recording artist BJ The Chicago Kid will headline a post-festival performance, showcasing his smooth, soulful, R&B and hip-hop-inspired vocals.
Chanticleer
7:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 26
Eisenhower Auditorium
The 12-man choral ensemble will perform “Sing Joyfully,” exploring mastery of its collective voice in performances of Renaissance motets, jazz standards and contemporary arrangements of modern songs. A Classical Coffeehouse featuring Chanticleer will be held at 8 p.m. on Sept. 25 at Pasquerilla Spiritual Center
Tina —The Tina Turner Musical
7:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 6
Eisenhower Auditorium
Featuring many of the 12-time Grammy Award winner’s popular hit songs and written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall, “Tina” is the inspiring journey of a woman who broke barriers and became the “Queen of Rock n’ Roll.”
Blippi: Join the Band Tour
6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 10
Eisenhower Auditorium
In this new production, global children’s entertainment sensation Blippi will be joined on-stage by Meekah and musicians live on stage to explore what makes music, including sounds, rhythms and instrument, all through fan-favorite Blippi hits.
Ailey II
7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 17
Eisenhower Auditorium
Led by artistic director Francesca Harper celebrates its 50th year of bringing together some of the country’s early-carer dance talent and standout, emerging choreographers
Le Consort
7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 22
Recital Hall
The Quebec-based chamber ensemble’s interpretation of the violin trio sonata genre will performances of violin trio sonatas by John Eccles, Nicola Matteis, Antonio Vivaldi, Arcangelo Corelli, Henry Purcell and more. A Classical Coffeehouse event with Le Consort will be held at 8 p.m. on Oct. 21, in Hintz Family Alumni Center’s Robb Hall.
Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra
7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 23
Eisenhower Auditorium
A legend of jazz fusion and Afro-Cuban sound, the founder of the trombone front line style has brought an unconventional approach to Latin music since the 1950s.
Ex Machina / Robert Lepage and Cirque Flip Fabrique Present “Slam!”
7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 30
Eisenhower Auditorium
Québécois playwright, director,and actor Robert Lepage and Ex Machina, his interdisciplinary production company, present the newest performance by cirque troupe FLIP Fabrique. “Slam!” is a hyper-theater spectacle taking on the acrobatic world of arena wrestling with a gallery of characters in and out of the ring.
Sam Barber
7:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 7
Eisenhower Auditorium
The former “American Idol” contestant gained popularity with stripped down country-roots covers on TikTok before making his Grand Ole Opry debut in 2023 and opening for the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Ed Sheeran. He recently performed a number of sold-out dates on his own “Till I Return” tour.
Step Afrika!
7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 13
Eisenhower Auditorium
The Step Afrika! ensemble will pair the colors and motifs of Jacob Lawrence’s iconic paintings with its own hallmark style of percussive dance in “The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence,” which tells the story of the 1900s-era movement of African-Americans from the rural South to the industrialized North to escape racial oppression and find prosperity,
Samara Joy
7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 3
Eisenhower Auditorium
The three-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist will make her Penn State debut with a performance of her third annual “A Joyful Holiday” featuring the McLendon Family, with performances of sacred, secular and gospel-inspired seasonal songs.
Mosaic
4 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 8
Eisenhower Auditorium
This annual concert features Penn State School of Music ensembles and soloists in a unique and fast-paced concert experience.
Compagnie Hervé Koubi
7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 22
Eisenhower Auditorium
Choreographer Hervé Koubi’s internationally acclaimed dance company makes its Penn State debut with “What the Day Owes to the Night,” a theatrical dance piece that uses explosive movement to metaphorically retrace Koubi’s family history. The score features music by Johann Sebastian Bach and Hamza El Din with Kronos Quartet, as well as traditional Sufi music.
A Choral Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
4 p.m., Friday, Jan. 24
Eisenhower Auditorium
Vocal ensembles from Delaware, Penn State and Pennsylvania high schools will perform spirituals, gospel hymns and protest songs to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Lakecia Benjamin
7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 26,
Eisenhower Auditorium
The Grammy-nominated alto saxophonist who has played alongside the likes of Stevie Wonder, Missy Elliott, Alicia Keys and The Roots will perform her fusion of jazz, hip-hop and Latin dance music in her Penn State debut.
Circa Presents “Duck Pond”
7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 22
Eisenhower Auditorium
The Australian cirque company reimagines “Swan Lake,” by pairing Tchaikovsky’s music with Circa’s aerials, acrobatics and humor.
Dear Evan Hansen
7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 27
Eisenhower Auditorium
A winner of six Tony awards, including Best Musical, “Dear Evan Hansen” follows a bullied, 17-year-old outsider who finds a way to fit in when a tragedy strikes. Featuring some of the most iconic musical theater songs of the past decade, the show looks at complex, interconnected, social media-filled lives from the point of view of parents and young people.
“The Addams Family”
7 p.m., Tuesday, April 1
7 p.m., Wednesday, April 2
Eisenhower Auditorium
A grown-up Wednesday Addams falls in love with a respectable young man and brings him to dinner on a night that will changes everything for the creepy, kooky family in this musical comedy, which was last performed at Eisenhower Auditorium in 2013.
Bang on a Can All-Stars Perform ‘before and after nature‘
7:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 9
Eisenhower Auditorium
Grammy- and Pulitzer-winning composer David Lang created “before and after nature,” a meditation on the natural world, both before human existence and after humans are gone,” the group he co-founded, Bang on a Can All-Stars. With music and text by Lang and video design by Tal Rosner, the six-member amplified ensemble will perform under the direction of Chris Kiver, director of choral activities at Penn State.
