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The production, the Joffrey said Monday, will first be seen at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where it will play Dec. 1-4 at the Hancher Auditorium, a longtime Joffrey presenter, a sponsor of this new production, and the same venue that commissioned Robert Joffrey’s “The Nutcracker” in 1987, as well as the Joffrey’s “Billboards” in 1993.

Friday night (2/12/16) marks the end of an eight year, post-flood era for Hancher Auditorium. In 2008, a flood destroyed the auditorium's original structure. For the following eight years, Hancher has relied on venues and stages across the state to host performances as construction workers build a new $176 million, 192,000-square foot facility.

Hancher has one more show on the road. On Feb. 12, out in Riverside, the final guest of Hancher’s homeless odyssey will perform: Bobby McFerrin. Hancher could not have made a better choice for this celebratory occasion. McFerrin is the poster child for reinvention: He’s an internationally renowned vocalist who didn’t decide he wanted to sing until his late 20s, and a guest conductor of the world’s most prominent orchestras who didn’t hone that craft until he was about to turn 40. More vital than anything, though, is the way that McFerrin shares Hancher’s passion for its audiences. As a goodbye gift to Hancher on-the-road, this institution whose tagline is “Great Artists. Great Audiences.” will give its audiences an artist who can play them like an instrument—who is famed for teaching those listening what it’s like not just to experience, but to BE music.

The man who has been lifting listeners' spirits since his bouncy "Don't Worry, Be Happy" anthem hit the airwaves in 1988, is bringing that sense of wonder and joy to Hancher's final "home away from home" concert Feb. 12 at the Riverside Casino Event Center. The University of Iowa's new Hancher Auditorium is slated to open in the fall, on higher ground near the former site in Iowa City.