'These productions are so spectacular;' Wharton Center lifting curtain again for 2021-22 season

The Wharton Center’s year-long intermission is finally coming to an end and the curtain will rise in October for the 2021-2022 season.

Mikayla Temple, WSYM, 2021.

“These productions are so spectacular and the fact that we get to have them here in mid-Michigan is amazing,” said Marketing Manager Tara Peplowski.

Executive Director Michael Brand said it’s been exciting to work on this season's line-up of “new artists, new attractions, and some of our old friends.”

Performers returning to the stage include “Tao Drum Group from Japan and the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain which is one of the best concert comedy evenings on the stages over the last decade,” Brand said.

Some performers will be new this season.

“Two new friends are Renée Elise Goldsberry and Leslie Odom Jr. both who are the Tony winners for Hamilton,” Brand said.

Wharton Center, 2021.

This season will offer sensory-friendly shows.

“One of the sensory-friendly productions is going to be done by a new dance company from Los Angeles called BODYTRAFFIC,” Brand said. “They have prepared a really good show for the sensory-friendly performance.”

And an artist who will help Wharton expand on its diversity, equity and inclusion plan.

“Gina Chavez is one of our new friends,” Brand said. “She’s going to be our first artist doing two different performances of her concert. One in English and one in Spanish.”

The most anticipated announcement, of course, is the Broadway shows which will begin in December. Those shows include:

• HADESTOWN - December 7-12, 2021
• MEAN GIRLS - March 1-6, 2022
• HAMILTON - March 29-April 10, 2022
• AIN'T TOO PROUD-The Life and Times of the Temptations - June 7-12, 2022

Brand said they’re still waiting on the okay to open from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and MSU President Samuel Stanley, but he is hopeful that will come this summer.

“Our season really starts at the end of October so we have a few months in the fall to wait and see how things go,” Brand said.

Peplowski said mobile ticketing will be available to encourage touchless entry.

“We really want not only our guests and patrons, all the artists and all of our staff to be very safe and cautious in our re-entry year,” said Peplowski.

Paper tickets will still be available upon request.

Those who have a subscription to the Wharton Center are able to purchase tickets beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, April 19. More information can be found on the Wharton Center website.

This season's full line-up is currently:

• CLASSICAL EVENTS:
  • Leonidas Kavakos, Violin & Yuja Wang, Piano - November 6, 2021
  • Canadian Brass: Making Spirits Bright - December 14, 2021
  • Damien Sneed Our Song, Our Story - January 18, 2022
  • Alisa Weilerstein, Cello & Inon Barnatan, Piano - February 11, 2022
  • Russian National Orchestra - February 14, 2022
  • Academy of St Martin in the Fields Wind Ensemble - April 20, 2022
  • An Evening with Itzhak Perlman - May 3, 2022

• DANCE EVENTS:
  • Ballet Hispanico October 26, 2021
  • BODYTRAFFIC - February 19, 2022 • Sensory-Friendly Performance (matinee): February 19, 2022

• ILLUMINATE EVENTS:
  • Of Equal Place: Isotopes in Motion - March 26, 2022
  • Meow Meow - April 30, 2022

• JAZZ EVENTS:
  • Southern Journey feat. Ranky Tanky and Dom Flemons - November 14, 2021
  • An Evening with Branford Marsalis - February 23, 2022
  • Alicia Olatuja - Intuition: Songs from the Minds of Women - March 2, 2022

• THEATRE EVENTS:
  • Reduced Shakespeare Company - January 18 & 19, 2022
  • Hamlet's Big Adventure (a prequel) Into The West - February 19 & 20, 2022

• VARIETY EVENTS:
  • Renée Elise Goldsberry - October 27, 2021
  • Kristin Chenoweth - November 20, 2021
  • Mannheim Steamroller Christmas - December 1, 2021
  • Leslie Odom Jr - December 5, 2022
  • Sō Percussion - February 20, 2022
  • Gina Chavez - February 25, 2022 • All Spanish performance: February 26, 2022
  • Drum TAO 2022 - March 15, 2022
  • Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain - April 12, 2022
  • 'S Wonderful: The Music of George Gershwin with Teddy Abrams and Morgan James - April 14, 2022
  • The Moth Mainstage - June 14, 2022

• ACT ONE FAMILY EVENTS:
  • The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales - January 15, 2022
  • The Tortoise and the Hare-The Next Gen - April 16, 2022

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