Season to include Disney's Winnie the Pooh, Kelly Ripa, STOMP, Dorrance Dance and a New Brown-Forman Midnite Ramble Series.
Kentucky Performing Arts, working in partnership with PNC Broadway in Louisville, is kicking off the 2022-2023 KPA Presents season with a big first: the premiere performances of the North American national tour of the hit Broadway show Jagged Little Pill. The touring show debuts in Louisville on August 31 and September 1 after a month of rehearsals, set construction, and production tasks took place at The Kentucky Center. After the first two initial Louisville performances, Jagged Little Pill will hit the road for a national tour.
Fans of live entertainment will have even more to look forward to with a Kentucky Performing Arts Presents season full of surprises, big names, and diverse artists, and artforms. Celebrity Kelly Ripa will be stopping by for a show where she'll share stories and connect with fans, Disney's Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Stage Adaptation will be perfect for a family night out, the iconic booms and bangs of STOMP will once again roar into Louisville, and Dorrance Dance will tap into Old Forester's Paristown Hall with a lively and unique show.
Kentucky Performing Arts is honored to once again welcome the Brown-Forman Midnite Ramble Series to our stages, with Step Afrika! and Collage Dance Collective. The Brown-Forman Midnite Ramble series harkens back to Louisville's Walnut Street era. In the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, Walnut Street was the center of business and entertainment for Louisville's black community, with a magnetism that brought people from all different walks of life together. We thank Brown-Forman for helping keep this Louisville tradition alive, and supporting diverse artists, art forms, and voices of our community.
Kentucky Performing Arts' newest venue, Old Forester's Paristown Hall, continues to attract a broad range of exciting artists and shows, including Dorrance Dance, indie rockers Hippo Campus, guitar legend Steve Vai, K-pop group OMEGA X, Louisville Orchestra performances, and more.
A sampling of this season's Kentucky Performing Arts Presents offerings is listed below with the roster of shows always changing and new shows being added. Please visit kentuckyperformingarts.org for updates, show details, and the full calendar of all performances at The Kentucky Center, Brown Theatre, and Old Forester's Paristown Hall.
August 31 & September 1 at 7:30 p.m.
The Kentucky Center-Whitney Hall
Some shows you see. This show you feel. Joy, love, heartache, strength, wisdom, catharsis, LIFE-everything we've been waiting to see in a Broadway show- is here in the exhilarating, fearless musical based on Alanis Morissette's world-changing music. With a Tony-winning book by Diablo Cody (Juno) and Grammy-winning score, this electrifying production about a perfectly imperfect American family "vaults the audience to its collective feet" (The Guardian). You live, you learn, you remember what it's like to feel truly human... at Jagged Little Pill.
October 9 at 2:00 p.m.
The Kentucky Center-Whitney Hall
Join Daytime Emmy-Award winning host Kelly Ripa and friends for the release of her new book, LIVE WIRE! An entrepreneur, host, actress and producer, Kelly Ripa is one of the most powerful voices in media. A beloved household name for nearly two decades, Ripa has a wide-ranging career both on and off camera, getting her start on All My Children and spanning over thirty years at ABC. Read all about her love story with Mark, the sexism she faced in the industry, her Jersey pride, and more than a few embarrassing incidents that prove even being on screen five days a week doesn't protect you from self-induced humiliation. Surprising, at times savage, a little shameless and always humorous, LIVE WIRE shows Kelly as she really is offscreen-a very wise woman who has something to say.
November 13 at 8:00 p.m.
The Kentucky Center-Whitney Hall
On Sale Friday, August 26 at 10:00am
STOMP, a unique combination of percussion, movement and visual comedy, was created in Brighton, UK, in the summer of 1991 and has been performed in venues, major events and touring shows across the globe ever since. The show uses the body and ordinary objects to create a physical theatre performance using rhythms, acrobatics and pantomime.
February 11 at 8:00pm
Brown Theatre
On Sale Friday, August 26, at 10:00 a.m.
The international touring company of Collage Dance Collective makes its Kentucky Performing Arts debut with a roster of virtuosic BIPOC dancers who embody the essence of one of the nation's fastest growing dance companies and earn the bold acclaim "relevant, relatable and rooted" (Pointe Magazine).
Just named a "Southern Cultural Treasure" by South Arts, Collage Dance Collective is set to showcase a diverse range of world-class dances carefully selected to embrace the moment and invite audiences to "witness hope take human form" (High Ground News)." Local youth dancers will be invited to audition to perform with Collage Dance Collective, with information about auditions to be announced.
March 3 at 7:00 p.m.
March 4 at 2:00pm (sensory-friendly show) and 7:00pm
The Kentucky Center-Bomhard Theater
On Sale Friday, August 26 at 10:00am
Disney's iconic Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin and their best friends Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, and Owl (oh... and don't forget Tigger too!) have come to life in a beautifully crafted musical stage adaptation. Featuring The Sherman Brothers' classic Grammy Award-winning music with further songs by A.A. Milne, this beautiful fresh stage adaptation is told with stunning life-sized puppetry through the eyes of the characters we all know and love, in a new story from the Hundred Acre Wood. This production is created by renowned family entertainment creator Jonathan Rockefeller, and made by Rockefeller Productions alongside Disney Theatrical Productions
March 22 at 8:00 p.m.
Brown Theatre
On Sale Friday, August 26 at 10:00 a.m.
Step Afrika! blends percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities; traditional West and Southern African dances; and an array of contemporary dance and art forms into a cohesive, compelling artistic experience. Performances are much more than dance shows; they integrate songs, storytelling, humor and audience participation. The blend of technique, agility, and pure energy makes each performance unique and leaves the audience with their hearts pounding. Step Afrika! now ranks as one of the top ten African-American dance companies in the United States.
March 29 at 8:00 p.m.
Old Forester's Paristown Hall
On Sale Friday, August 26 at 10:00am
Dorrance Dance is an award-winning tap dance company based in New York City. Founded in 2011 by Artistic Director and 2015 MacArthur Fellow Michelle Dorrance, the company shares the incredibly dynamic range that tap dance has to offer through performance & education. The goal of Dorrance Dance is to engage with audiences on a musical and emotional level, and to share the complex history and powerful legacy of tap dance throughout the country and the world.
present the Republic Bank Foundation Speaker Series
The State of Song: "My Old Kentucky Home" Faces a Changing World
October 23 at 5:00 p.m.
The Kentucky Center-Bomhard Theater
Straight No Chaser-The 25th Anniversary Celebration
October 27 at 7:30 p.m.
The Kentucky Center-Whitney Hall
November 3 at 7:00 p.m.
The Kentucky Center-Bomhard Theater
November 4 at 7:30 p.m.
The Kentucky Center-Bomhard Theater
November 9 at 7:30 p.m.
The Kentucky Center-Whitney Hall
November 10 and 11 at 7:00 p.m.
The Kentucky Center-Whitney Hall
November 27 at 6:30pm
The Kentucky Center-Whitney Hall
October 15 at 8:00 p.m.
Brown Theatre
October 28 at 7:30 p.m.
Brown Theatre
November 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Brown Theatre
December 4 at 7 p.m.
Brown Theatre
December 10 at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.
Brown Theatre
featuring Michael Cleveland, Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz, and Bryan Sutton
December 14 at 8 p.m.
Brown Theatre
September 4 at 6:00 p.m.
Old Forester's Paristown Hall
September 8 at 8:00p.m.
Old Forester's Paristown Hall
October 5 at 8:00 p.m.
Old Forester's Paristown Hall
October 9 at 7:00 p.m.
Old Forester's Paristown Hall
October 10 at 8:00 p.m.
Old Forester's Paristown Hall
October 18 at 8 p.m.
Old Forester's Paristown Hall
November 12 at 11:00 a.m. (Family Concert) and 7:30 p.m.
Old Forester's Paristown Hall
November 13 at 8 p.m.
Old Forester's Paristown Hall
November 18-19 at 7:30 p.m.
Old Forester's Paristown Hall
January 22 at 3:00 p.m.
Old Forester's Paristown Hall
March 26 at 3:00 p.m.
Old Forester's Paristown Hall
**For information about performances by Kentucky Opera, Louisville Ballet, Louisville Orchestra, PNC Broadway in Louisville, StageOne Family Theatre, other presenting organizations, and theatrical rentals, please visit kentuckyperformingarts.org.
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