UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State has announced its 2019-20 season, which includes a seven-performance Centre County premiere of the multiple award-winning Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon.”
“From return engagements to debuts by an amazing array of renowned artists and companies, I am so excited about the coming season and can’t wait to open our doors and let the performances begin,” said George Trudeau, the center’s director.
Also included in the 26-event lineup are presentations by famed violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Rohan De Silva; American singer Lizz Wright; contemporary classical ensemble Kronos Quartet with Iranian vocalist Mahsa Vahdat; Hong Kong Ballet’s “Alice (in Wonderland)”; funk-jazz legend Maceo Parker and his big band; and a rescheduled performance of last season’s postponed family production “Night Train 57,” a sensory-friendly comic folk opera.
Tickets for the Center for the Performing Arts presentations — plus the School of Music’s “Mosaic” concert, and the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture, School of Music, and Center for the Performing Arts joint production of Georges Bizet’s opera “Carmen” — go on sale at 8 a.m. Thursday, July 18.
Visit Center for the Performing Arts online for complete details.
Nationally touring Broadway musicals
“The Book of Mormon” will make its Center for the Performing Arts debut with seven performances Tuesday, Oct. 8, through Sunday, Oct. 13. The New York Times called it “the best musical of this century.” The Washington Post said, “It is the kind of evening that restores your faith in musicals.” And Entertainment Weekly said, “Grade A: the funniest musical of all time.” Jimmy Fallon of “The Tonight Show” calls it “Genius. Brilliant. Phenomenal.” It’s “The Book of Mormon,” the nine-time Tony Award-winning Best Musical.
“A Bronx Tale” — hailed by The New York Times as “the kind of tale that makes you laugh and cry” — will take the stage Wednesday, Oct. 30. The streetwise musical, based on an autobiographical one-man play by actor Chazz Palminteri with a score by Alan Menken, follows young Calogero as he is torn between family loyalty and the temptations of organized crime.
The Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning production of “Rent,” on the road to conclude its 20th-anniversary run, returns to Penn State with a Tuesday, Nov. 19, performance. The original dramatic rock musical — taking place over a year in the lives of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams without selling out — shares its message of projecting joy, hope and love in the face of fear.
Also back by popular demand is “Jersey Boys,” which will return on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. The Tony, Grammy, and Olivier Award-winning musical will make its second tour stop at Penn State since its Happy Valley premiere in 2015. The documentary-style jukebox musical tells the story of singing sensations Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and features the group’s hits, including “Sherry” and “Walk Like a Man.”
“The Color Purple,” based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Alice Walker and award-winning film by Steven Spielberg, will return on Wednesday, April 15, 2020. The Tony Award-winning Best Revival of a Musical is set in rural Georgia in the early 20th century and addresses issues of the American social culture via main character Celie, a woman who finds the strength to triumph over adversity.
Classical and contemporary ensembles
On Wednesday, Sept. 18, the Imani Winds and Catalyst Quartet ensembles will perform together and separate in “(Im)migration: Music of Change.” Catalyst, which features top string musicians from the renowned Sphinx Competition, returns to Penn State after appearances in 2015 and 2016. Grammy Award-nominated Imani Winds is known for its adventurous repertoire and was called “strikingly virtuosic” by Boston Musical Intelligencer. The program of global works will include “Afro Blue” by Mongo Santamaria; “Cane” by Jason Moran; “Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout” by Gabriela Frank; “Concerto de Camera” by Roberto Sierra; and a new nonet, by Catalyst violinist Jessie Montgomery, commissioned by the Center for the Performing Arts through its membership in the national consortium Music Accord.