May is flowering with an abundant array of arts events around the state. This month’s Iowa Arts Showcase features Charles Swanson, Executive Director of Hancher, detailing the launch of their new season and their historic opening gala following the flood of 2008.
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The Gazette - Monday, April 25, 2016
Steve Martin and Martin Short will christen Hancher’s stage at the start of a wild and crazy first season for the University of Iowa’s new $113 million performing arts center. The comedians who rocketed to stardom via “Saturday Night Live” will perform together for Hancher’s Sept. 24 gala. Steve Martin, a crackerjack banjo player, also will perform with his bluegrass band, the Steep Canyon Rangers.
KCRG - Monday, April 25, 2016
The University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium is bringing in world class artists for its 2016-2017 season, along with a brand new building. The $175 million auditorium seats more than 1800 guests. The new season will feature famous acts beginning with Steve Martin and Martin Short and The Book of Mormon. This is the first time broadway will be back at Hancher since 2008.
Iowa Now - Monday, April 25, 2016
The University of Iowa’s new Hancher Auditorium will open with a flourish in September followed by a season filled with world-class artists.
Iowa City Press-Citizen - Monday, April 25, 2016
Hancher Auditorium is bringing icons in the world of comedy, music and theater to its new stage in Iowa City starting this fall. Announcing the 2016-17 lineup — the first season inside the soon-to-be-open, $176 million auditorium — Hancher on Monday unveiled a 32-event, nine-month season that includes performances by comedy legend Steve Martin, world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and performances of the Tony Award-winning musical “The Book of Mormon.”
The Gazette - Saturday, April 23, 2016
The wait is almost over. On Monday, Hancher will announce the inaugural season for the new $113 million performing arts center that points in a new direction, uphill from the 1972 structure ruined in the 2008 floods.
The Little Hawk (City High School) - Friday, April 22, 2016
This December, the brand-new Hancher stage–facing 1,800 seats–will host The Joffrey Ballet Company’s The Nutcracker, directed by Christopher Wheeldon. Wheeldon is a well known choreographer throughout the theater community. He most recently won a Tony Award for choreographing An American in Paris.
West Side Story (West High School) - Thursday, April 14, 2016
This December, citizens of Iowa City will be able to see a preview of the Joffrey Ballet’s new “The Nutcracker” spectacle before the world premiere in Chicago. This $4 million production is co-commissioned by Hancher, whose new auditorium is set to open in fall of 2016.
Little Village - Wednesday, April 13, 2016
In 1987, Robert Joffrey’s Chicago-based ballet company held the world premier of their production of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker at The University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium. At a press conference held Tuesday on stage at the nearly completed Hancher Auditorium — nearly eight years after the original facility was destroyed by historic floods — Hancher Executive Director Chuck Swanson announced that the facility will host the debut of a newly imagined Joffrey Nutcracker for the 2016 holiday season. “We’re creating history today,” Swanson said.
Iowa Now - Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Hancher will be a producing sponsor of the Joffrey’s new production of The Nutcracker, choreographed by the acclaimed Christopher Wheeldon. Five preview performances of the new Nutcracker will be presented at the new Hancher Auditorium, Dec. 1–4, 2016. The Nutcracker will then be performed in the historic Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in downtown Chicago for 27 performances, Dec. 10–30.