The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts Announces 2022-2023 Season

 

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts today announced its 2022-2023 season, including four Broadway @ the Ordway shows and exciting concerts from the Ordway Presents Series.

"The Ordway is a true gathering place in the heart of downtown Saint Paul, and we are grateful for our community of supporters who make it possible for us to bring people together through the power of the performing arts," said Ordway President and CEO Chris Harrington. "We are committed to creating a welcoming, safe and inclusive environment across our performances and reflecting our richly diverse community. We are excited for our audiences to go with us on this journey as we explore timely and relevant topics, inspiring stories, and an eclectic mix of programming that has something for everyone."

Broadway @ the Ordway 2022-2023 includes the global sensation SIX, the enchanted world of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece A Soldier's Play hosted at the Fitzgerald Theater and the Lincoln Center production of the Broadway classic My Fair Lady.

"We're back with a bold new season of shows for Broadway @ the Ordway, starting with the triumphant return of the you-don't-want-to-miss-it Broadway musical SIX," said Ordway Producing Artistic Director Rod Kaats. "We're casting an enchanted spell for the holidays with our own production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast featuring wonderful Twin Cities performers you know and love, welcoming Broadway's favorite leading man Norm Lewis in the powerful Pulitzer-Prize winning A Soldier's Play and bursting into spring with Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady. Be our guest and experience the wonder - the unparalleled entertainment experience of Broadway @ the Ordway!"

The production of Beauty and Beast marks the Ordway's return to producing custom-made musicals featuring beloved Twin Cities artists. Rajané Katurah as Belle, Jorie Kosel as Babette, Thomasina Petrus as Madame de la Grande Bouche and Max Wojtanowicz as Cogsworth were announced at the Ordway's season launch event on March 29. Additional cast will be announced at a later date.

The new Ordway Presents Series features four concerts, including Broadway titan Patti LuPone and multi-genre recording artist and instrumentalist Damien Sneed.

"We're excited to bring these amazing, world-class artists to our stages in 2022-2023," said Ordway Vice President of Programming and Education Dayna Martinez. "Stay tuned for more announcements about the Ordway Presents Series in the coming months."

Season subscriptions - which include guaranteed access to see SIX - start at $168 and are on sale now at Ordway.org/events/subscriptions.

Broadway @ the Ordway 2022-2023 includes the following four productions:

SIX (Oct. 25, 2022 - Nov. 6, 2022)

History is about to get over-throne...again! SIX, the new musical, is the crowning glory of Broadway and the global sensation everyone's losing their head over. The SIX wives of Henry the VIII are the Tudor Queens who reclaimed their crowns as Pop Princesses in the Ordway's triumphant sold-out pre-Broadway production in 2019. They'll be back as the opening show of Broadway @ the Ordway for 2022-2023. Don't miss your chance to see them remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an exuberant celebration of 21st century girl power!

Disney's Beauty and the Beast (Nov. 30, 2022 - Dec. 31, 2022)

Step into an enchanted world this holiday season as Broadway @ the Ordway proudly presents Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the beloved Broadway musical stage adaptation of the Academy Award-winning animated film.

Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman is taken prisoner in a castle by a beast - really an unfortunate young prince trapped in an evil spell. With the help of singing teapots, clocks and candlesticks, she breaks the spell and frees the prince with a simple act of love. Brought to life in a spectacular new production, this "tale as old as time" is told in a fresh new way - a magical adventure about finding you can change, learning you were wrong, tune as old as song, Beauty and the Beast.

A Soldier's Play (Feb. 8, 2023 - Feb. 12, 2023)

In 1944, on a Louisiana Army base, two shots ring out. A Black sergeant is murdered. And a series of interrogations triggers a gripping barrage of questions about sacrifice, service, and identity in America.

A Soldier's Play, the 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning thriller by Charles Fuller, has rocketed back into the spotlight, thanks to this 2020 Tony Award®-winning Best Revival from Roundabout Theatre Company. Broadway's Norm Lewis leads a powerhouse cast.

My Fair Lady (March 21, 2023 - March 25, 2023)

Boasting classic songs like "I Could Have Danced All Night," and "On the Street Where You Live," My Fair Lady tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flower seller, and Henry Higgins, a linguistics professor who is determined to transform her into his idea of a "proper lady." But, in this new staging of the show, brilliantly directed by Bartlett Sher, you might ask yourself who is really being transformed?

Lincoln Center Theater's new production of My Fair Lady is "thrilling, glorious and better than it ever was," says The New York Times. Be our guest for the season finale of Broadway @ the Ordway and see what Entertainment Weekly says is "the most perfect musical of all time."

The Ordway Presents Series 2022-2023 includes the following four concerts:

Nachito Herrera and the Havana Jazz All Stars performing CUBA LIVE (Sept. 24, 2022)

Minnesota jazz icon Nachito Herrera returns to the Ordway stage for the third time, leading a band made up of superstars from the Cuban music scene. They will bring the sounds of Havana to the Twin Cities, playing a program of both original and well-beloved tunes that will have audiences dancing in their seats.

Damien Sneed's Our Song, Our Story 2022-2023 Tour (Nov. 18, 2022)

Created and directed by composer, conductor and multi-genre musician Damien Sneed, Our Song, Our Story is an evening of music highlighting some of the world's most well-known operatic arias, art songs and spirituals. The concert brings together two of today's most exciting operatic voices in a diverse and powerful event featuring Raehann Bryce-Davis and Brandie Inez Sutton accompanied by the Griot String Quartet and Damien Sneed on piano. Members of the Griot String Quartet include violinists Amyr Joyner and Messiah Ahmed, violist Edward W. Hardy and cellist Thapelo Masita. This concert is an Arts Partnership co-presentation.

Sounds of Blackness: Music for Martin (Jan. 13, 2023)

Jazz, blues, spirituals, rock & roll, R&B, gospel, hip hop and soul - these are the Sounds of Blackness! Sounds of Blackness has performed at the Olympics, the World Cup, Ryder's Cup, the NFL, NBA, MLB, Grammy Awards, Denver Summit of 8, the NAACP National Convention and the Super Bowl. Winner of three Grammy® Awards, their new single "Sick & Tired" is the anthem for today's movement for justice and equality.

During their Music for Martin concert, hear stylized arrangements of the music that fueled the Civil Rights Movement along with poignant narration and audio-visual elements interwoven into excerpts from the great speeches of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.

Patti LuPone in Concert: Don't Monkey with Broadway (Apr. 14, 2023)

Patti LuPone indelibly interprets classic Broadway show tunes, featuring music by the likes of Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Jule Styne, Stephen Schwartz, Charles Strouse, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. Ms. LuPone also takes you behind the curtain on her life-long love affair with Broadway.

Individual show tickets will go on sale this summer. Subscriptions are available online or by calling the Ordway Ticket Office at 651-224-4222. For groups of 10+, call 651-282-3111 or send an email to groups@ordway.org.

Special thanks to Broadway @ the Ordway Series sponsor Bremer Bank and to the Minnesota State Arts Board for their major support of the Ordway. SIX will be sponsored by Traveler's Insurance and Disney's Beauty and the Beast will be sponsored by SPIRE Credit Union.

ABOUT Norm Lewis

Emmy, Tony and SAG Award nominee, Norm Lewis recently starred in Spike Lee's critically acclaimed film, "Da 5 Bloods," and in the groundbreaking FX series, Pose. He received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for his performance as Porgy in the Broadway production of The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess. In 2014, he made history as The Phantom of the Opera's first African American Phantom on Broadway. Other Broadway credits include Once on This Island, Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, Les Misérables, Chicago, Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon and The Who's Tommy. In London's West End he has appeared as Javert in Les Misérables and Les Misérables: The 25th Anniversary Concert, which aired on PBS. His additional television credits include Dr. Death, Mrs. America, Better Things, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Bull, Chicago Med, Gotham, The Blacklist and Blue Bloods, as well as in his recurring role as Senator Edison Davis on the hit drama Scandal.

ABOUT Patti LuPone

Author of The New York Times bestseller, Patti LuPone: A Memoir, Patti LuPone is a singer and actress known for her work on Broadway, as well as appearances in film and television. She has received two Grammy Awards®, two Tony Awards®, two Oliver Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. Her numerous stage credits include her performance as Madame Rose in the most recent Broadway production of Gypsy; as Mrs. Lovett in John Doyle's production of Sweeney Todd; as Fantine in the original production of Les Miserables; originating the role of Norma Desmond in the West End production of Sunset Boulevard; as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes; as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's Master Class; with her dear friend Mandy in An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin; and in her own concert Patti LuPone On Broadway. She is a graduate of the first class of the Drama Division of New York's Juilliard School and a founding member of John Houseman's The Acting Company with which she toured the country for four years.

ABOUT BROADWAY @ THE ORDWAY

Broadway @ the Ordway provides an unparalleled entertainment experience of Broadway favorites, local artist spotlights, classic titles and new, never-seen-here-before productions. The Ordway is one of the only places in America where audiences can experience touring Broadway shows presented side-by-side with Broadway-caliber musicals produced right here in the Twin Cities, custom-made for Minnesota audiences.

ABOUT THE ORDWAY PRESENTS SERIES

The Ordway Presents Series encapsulates a wide variety of remarkable experiences, including music, comedy, dance, family-friendly entertainment and more.

ABOUT THE ORDWAY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

The Ordway is the arts epicenter of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and one of the leading nonprofit performing arts centers in the country. Founded on the belief that performing arts should be wide-ranging and accessible to all, the Ordway is home to a variety of performances that encompass the finest in Broadway musicals, concerts, dance and vocal artists. The Ordway serves thousands of children each year through its education programs and presents the annual Flint Hills Family Festival. Known as the most comfortable place to catch a show in Minnesota, the Ordway includes a magnificent 1,900-seat Music Theater, a state-of-the-art 1,100-seat Concert Hall and spacious lobbies. The Ordway is a proud member of the Arts Partnership, a collaboration comprising the Ordway, Minnesota Opera, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Schubert Club. The Ordway aims to reflect the communities it serves and address barriers to ensure everyone can experience the power of the performing arts.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

 

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