YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, BEAUTIFUL, and More Set For Geva Theatre's 2024-25 Season

Geva Theatre has announced its 24/25 Season. This coming year at Geva will see extraordinary stories onstage, from August Wilson’s powerful memory play, HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED, which will transport audiences back through the creation of his Century Cycle, to Harrison David Rivers’ new adaptation of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, to Christina Ham’s stunning and searing NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN, to a fresh take on Louisa May Alcott’s LITTLE WOMEN.

The theatre is also partnering both nationally and locally: with Berkshire Theatre Group and Bay Street Theater on a hilarious new production of Mel Brooks’ YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and with Pioneer Theatre Company on BEAUTIFUL; and they are deepening their partnership with Friends of Ganondagan with Vickie Ramirez’ wonderful Haudenosaunee dramatic comedy PURE NATIVE.

The season will also see the return of Baron Vaughn’s comedy-in-process series THE WORKOUT ROOM. Geva will launch summer programming featuring Hershey Felder as George Gershwin ALONE.

Mel Brooks’ YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN

SEP 25 – OCT 27
WILSON STAGE

Book by Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan

Music & Lyrics by Mel Brooks

Original Direction & Choreography by Susan Stroman

Co-Production with Berkshire Theatre Group & Bay Street Theater

Directed by Stuart Ross

Choreography by Gerry McIntyre

Scenic Design by Arnulfo Maldonado

Mel Brooks’ comedic genius meets black and white horror movies in this electrifying musical comedy! When Dr. Frederick Frankenstein inherits his infamous grandfather’s estate in Transylvania, little does he think he’ll be pulled into the family business – until he finds himself exclaiming “It’s alive!” as he creates a monster to rival his grandfather’s. This wildly inventive new production brings the hilarious antics of the screen sensation to life with unforgettable tunes such as “The Transylvania Mania,” “He Vas My Boyfriend,” and “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”

August Wilson’s HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED

OCT 15 – DEC 01
FIELDING STAGE

By August Wilson
Co-Conceived by Todd Kreidler

From Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson comes this autobiographical one-actor play chronicling Wilson’s life as a Black artist in the Hill District in Pittsburgh. Through stories about his first jobs, first loves, and experiences with racism, we go deep into the life of one of the most celebrated writers of the 20th century, from his roots to the completion of his history-making American Century Cycle, his ten-play series showcasing Black experience from across the twentieth century.

NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN

JAN 14 – FEB 09
WILSON STAGE

By Christina Ham

September 16, 1963. When Nina Simone heard that four Black girls had been killed in the bombing of the 16th Avenue Church in Birmingham, Alabama, her first impulse was to try and build a zip gun; instead she channeled her rage into “Mississippi Goddamn,” the song that marked the emergence of Nina Simone, the Civil Rights activist. Infused with traditional hymns along with songs including “Four Women,” “I Loves You, Porgy,” and “Young, Gifted and Black,” Nina Simone: Four Women looks at an artist and the women around her as their journey leads them down a path of discovery and healing.

LITTLE WOMEN

FEB 25 – MAR 23
WILSON STAGE

By Louisa May Alcott
Adapted by Heather Chrisler

Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel comes to fresh life in this inventive, theatrical adaptation which follows as the March sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy – gather in the family attic. From making up fairy stories, writing for their pretend newspaper, and playing make believe, they graduate to scenes of love, loss, and – for Jo – artistic self-discovery, as they come of age against the backdrop of the American Civil War.

PURE NATIVE

APR 15 – MAY 11
WILSON STAGE

By Vickie Ramirez (Tuscarora)
Directed by Randy Reinholz (Choctaw)
East Coast Premiere
In Association with Friends of Ganondagan and Native Voices

Brewster’s back after almost a decade and things have changed. Brews is proud of his success working for a large corporation, and wants to share it with the people of his Rez in Upstate New York. After all, it’s been a bad year, and Brews believes partnering with his corporation on a new bottled water factory would be a great opportunity for the Rez to create its own industry and sustain itself. But to his old love Connie, it’s a betrayal of everything the Haudenosaunee stand for. Who will win?

BEAUTIFUL: THE Carole King MUSICAL

MAY 28 – JUN 29
WILSON STAGE

Book by Douglas McGrath
Words and Music by Gerry Goffin & Carole King, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil
Music by Arrangement with Sony Music Publishing
Orchestrations, Vocal and Incidental Music Arrangements by Steve Sidwell
Additional Music Arrangements by Jason Howland
Co-Production with Pioneer Theatre Company
Directed by Karen Azenberg

Before she was hit-maker Carole King, she was Carole Klein, an up-and-coming songwriter from Brooklyn. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is the inspiring story of how she made her mark on the music industry – and found her own voice in the process. This Tony Award-winning musical with a book by the late Oscar- and Tony-nominated Douglas McGrath features the unforgettable songs “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling,” “Natural Woman,” and “I Feel the Earth Move” from King’s iconic songbook.

Special Programming

Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone: A Play with Music

JUL 09 – JUL 28
SUMMER 2024!
WILSON STAGE

Music and Lyrics of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
Book by Hershey Felder
Directed by Joel Zwick
Associate Direction by Trevor Hay
Scenic Design by Hershey Felder
Lighting Design by Michael Gilliam
Sound Design by Erik Carstensen

Captivating audiences around the world, including on Broadway, in London’s West End, and more, Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone: A Play with Music tells the story of America’s great composer, who with the groundbreaking “A Rhapsody in Blue” made a “Lady out of Jazz.” The show incorporates the composer’s best-known songs from “The Man I Love” and “Someone to Watch Over Me,” through the hits of An American In Paris and Porgy and Bess, to a complete performance of “Rhapsody in Blue.” Mr. Felder brings to life the spirit and talent of the legendary composer and pianist for the first time in history, leading the audience through the fascinating rhythms of Gershwin’s legendary songbook and his tragically short life.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

NOV 21 – DEC 29
WILSON STAGE

By Charles Dickens
Adapted by Harrison David Rivers
Directed by Elizabeth Williamson
Dramaturgy by Sally Lobel
A World Premiere Commission

Charles Dickens’ holiday classic returns to the Geva stage in a new adaptation by Playwright in Residence Harrison David Rivers. Over the course of a single night, notorious grump Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by four ghosts. But will their intervention prompt him to change his “humbug” ways? Filled with humor, heart, hope – and a little bit of horror – A Christmas Carol reminds us that it is never too late to have a change of heart.

THE WORK OUT ROOM – The Comedy Series, Curated by Baron Vaughn

March 12 – March 22, 2025 & June 11 – June 21, 2025
FIELDING STAGE

Join us on the Fielding Stage for the continuation of Artist in Residence Baron Vaughn’s The Work Out Room, the long-form comedy series where the audience gets to watch some of the country’s most exciting comedians develop new material live with the Rochester community. Comedians to be announced.

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