Inside Iowa State

May 17, 2007

Tickets on sale for 2007-08 Stephens season

Brooklynn Pulver and the cast of the national tour of Hairspray. Photo by Phil Martin.

by Anne Krapfl

Five Broadway musicals, two national orchestras, three family theater productions and one comedian are just part of what the 2007-08 Performing Arts Series at Stephens will bring to Ames next year. The season opens Sept. 13 and concludes May 8, 2008, and features 18 shows.

"The five musicals are all strong titles and a great introduction to the performing arts, especially a family-oriented title like Annie," said Patti Cotter, performing arts programming manager for the Iowa State Center. "And, to see a classical music superstar like Pinchas Zukerman right here in Stephens is always a highlight. Tickets to his concert with the Royal Philharmonic of London will be very popular -- and with good reason."

In addition to Zukerman and Annie, the names you've heard before include the stage musicals Chicago, Evita, Hairspray and The Producers, public television's Arthur, and Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. If up and coming performers intrigue you, try Nashville jazz (that's right, jazz) vocalist Rachel Price, Canadian Celtic fiddler Natalie MacMaster or the Brooklyn-based DecaDance Theatre, eight female hip-hop dancers from the United States and Japan.

"We've wanted to offer hip-hop dance for a while and we were glad to arrange for this company to come to us from New York," Cotter said.

Tickets for the 2007-08 season went on sale May 1 to subscribers. To become a subscriber, you need to purchase tickets to three or more shows in the series by June 29. Subscribers receive a 15 percent discount on their purchase, priority seating and a ticket exchange option. Subscribers may order tickets by mail or fax, or from the Stephens ticket office (10 a.m.-6 p.m. M-F).

Tickets for single shows go on sale to the public July 9.

Tickets also are being sold for socials preceding or following five of the performances:

• A nostalgia-laced hors d'oeuvres social preceding Omaha native Pat Hazell's "Wonder Bread Years" comic show Sept. 21
• Buffet dinner preceding the Annie (Nov. 8) and State Symphony of Mexico (March 2) performances
• Afternoon tea preceding the "American Girl" performance Feb. 17
• Dinner, live auction and ISU Sesquicentennial celebration following the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's afternoon performance Jan. 20

More information about the series and how to purchase tickets is online at www.center.iastate.edu.

2007-08 Season at Stephens

www.center.iastate.edu