THEATER
WAC Broadway lineup
A national touring production of "Peter Pan" kicks off the 2024-25 Procter and Gamble Broadway series, Sept. 24-29 in Baum Walker Hall at Fayetteville's Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St.
The production features a new adaptation by playwright Larissa FastHorse, with music by Morris "Moose" Charlap (additional music by Jule Styne) and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh (additional lyrics by Betty Comden & Adolph Green), all based on the original play by James Barrie.
The rest of the Broadway lineup, featuring all first national tours:
◼️ Oct. 22-27: "Beetlejuice the Musical" (music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect, book by Scott Brown and Anthony King, based on the 1988 film)
◼️ Dec. 17-22: "Shucked," musical comedy (score by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, book by Robert Horn)
◼️ March 18-23, 2025: "Funny Girl" (music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill, revised book from Harvey Fierstein based on the original by Isobel Lennart)
◼️ April 8-13, 2025: "Back to the Future: The Musical" (adapted for the stage by the 1985 movie's creators Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, with original music by Alan and Glen Ballard and hit songs from the film)
◼️ May 20-25, 2025: "MJ" (centered on the making of Michael Jackson's 1992 "Dangerous" World Tour, created by director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon with a book by Lynn Nottage).
The season will also feature bonus shows that will either launch from or have technical rehearsals and performances in Fayetteville, including "Hamilton," Aug. 16-25; "How the Grinch Stole Christmas: The Musical," Nov. 12-17; "Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations," Jan. 22-23; and "The Book of Mormon," Feb. 21-23.
Walton Arts Center president & CEO Peter Lane also teased at the season announcement a concert by Broadway and screen legend Kristin Chenoweth, the date for which has not been announced. (Broadway season subscribers and Friends of the Walton Arts Center will have first access to tickets once they go on sale.) Six-show subscription packages are $339-$554. Call (479) 571-2785 or visit waltonartscenter.org.
Roger Bart plays Doc Brown with Casey Likes as Marty McFly in the national touring production of "Back to the Future." (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)
TheatreSquared season
TheatreSquared, 477 W. Spring St., Fayetteville, opens Season 19 with Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," Aug. 12-Sept. 15.
The rest of the lineup:
◼️ Oct. 2-Nov. 3: "twenty50" by Tony Meneses, winner of the 2022 Arkansas Short Play Festival
◼️ Nov. 20-Dec. 24: "A Christmas Carol," T2's perennial production of Amy Herzberg and Robert Ford's adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic
◼️ Jan. 22-Feb. 23: Eboni Booth's "Primary Trust," in which a mild-mannered 36-year-old bookstore worker finds his life turned upside down, in more ways than one, when he's suddenly laid off
◼️ March 5-30, 2025: William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," in collaboration with the National Asian American Theatre Company
◼️ April 16-May 11, 2025: the premiere of "In The Grove of Forgetting" by T2 artistic director Bob Ford
◼️ May 16-25, 2025: Arkansas New Play Festival, with performances at TheatreSquared, The Momentary in Bentonville and The Medium in Springdale
◼️ June 4-29, 2025: "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder" (music and lyrics by Steven Lutvak, book and lyrics by Robert L. Freedman, based on the novel by Roy Horniman).
Six-play season packages start at $180; four-play packages start at $106. Visit theatre2.org/subscribe.
FILM
Movies at MacArthur
The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, 503 E. Ninth St. Little Rock, screens the documentary "Cold War in Space: The Race to the Moon," 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, examining the U.S. space program and its importance during the Cold War. It's part of the museum's Movies at MacArthur series. Admission, popcorn and soft drinks are free. Call (501) 376-4602.
MUSIC
Cliburn Concert Series
Grammy Award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax kicks off the 2024 Van Cliburn Concert Series, featuring a Steinway once owned by legendary pianist Van Cliburn, 7 p.m. April 10 in the Great Hall at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 600 Museum Way, Bentonville.
The rest of the lineup (both concerts are at 7 p.m. in the museum's Great Hall; programs are to be announced):
◼️ July 26: Pianist Kenny Broberg and violinist Maria Ioudenitch
◼️ Sept. 5: The Bax-Chung Duo -- pianists Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung.
Tommy Smith, Cliburn's longtime partner, donated Cliburn's Steinway & Sons grand piano to Crystal Bridges.
Tickets for each concert are $45 ($36 for museum members, $10 for students and teachers). Call (479) 657-2335 or visit crystalbridges.org.
Pianist Kenny Broberg and violinist Maria Ioudenitch perform July 26 at Crystal Bridges in Bentonville. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Courtesy of Andrej Grilc)
Monica Hooper of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette contributed to this roundup.