2024-2025 Season
All events are subject to change.
Building Community
This season our productions will follow the theme of "building community". We encourage you to join us as we explore this important topic and what it means.
- Spring Awakening: February 20th - 23rd
- Bela Kiralyfalvi National Student Playwriting Competition Winner, The Angel of Death: March 6th - 8th
- Wichita State Musical Theatre Company Student Musical Production: April 10th - 12th
- Mostly Harmless (Mostly) & Dance Film (double feature): April 19th
- Spring Dance Concert: April 24th - 27th
- Empty Space Theatre Student Theatre Production: May 1st - 3rd
- Dance Informal Showing: May 8th
Fall 2024
Express by Arri Simon (composer) & Janine McGuire (lyricist)
Date: September 28, 2024 @ 2:00 PM & 7:30 PM
Director: Kyle Pleasant
Description: The Jo Zakas Musical Theatre Incubator Program presents, Express, an immersive musical by Arri Simon (composer) & Janine McGuire (lyricist). Express is a transportive new musical that unfolds entirely within the bustling confines of the New York City subway on a real-time subway ride. Set against the backdrop of pivotal moments from World War II through the turn of the 21st century, the show traces the journeys of three generations of an American family navigating personal and cultural change.
Originally conceived as a triptych of site-specific musicals staged inside historic subway cars at the New York Transit Museum, the piece has been re-imaged as a unified 75-minute one-act which can be staged in any non-proscenium space. The original score, inspired by the eras spanned in the show, takes the audience on a musical journey from Golden-Era Broadway to '60s folk and gospel to early hip-hop and millennial pop.
This ensemble-driven piece explores themes of family, identity, and the transformative power of everyday moments. With a big heart at its core, Express invites audiences to immerse themselves in the heart of New York City's subway system and reflect on resilience, connection, and the shared experiences that shape our lives.
Note: Please be aware that Express contains references to 9/11, depictions of anti-black racism and Islamophobia
Tickets: $15 general admission; 1 free WSU student ticket with ID
Student Choreography Showcase
Date: October 24-25, 2024 @ 7:30 PM
Presented by: Mid-America Dance Theatre (Faculty Mentor: Mina Estrada)
Description: A student-led and produced evening of new dance works by student choreographers in collaboration with student dancers.
Rated: Not rated
Tickets: TBD
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Date: November 7-9, 2024 @ 7:30 PM; November 10, 2024 @ 2:00 PM
Director: Joe Urick
Description: Historically dubbed "the perfect comedy," "Twelfth Night" tells the story of Viola, a young maiden shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria. She believes she has lost her twin brother, Sebastian, to the sea. She disguises herself as a man named Cesario and enters the service of Duke Orsino, who is smitten with the Countess Olivia, who herself is mourning the death of her brother. Duke Orsino sends 'Cesario' as an intermediary to profess his love to Olivia, but Olivia, however, falls hopelessly in love with 'Cesario,' setting her at odds with her "mourning." If that wasn't enough, Viola falls in love with Orsino, creating a seemingly impossible love triangle. Add a hilarious subplot about servants and drunken lords, add in some original music, and this is a romantic night of laughs to remember!
Rated: PG-13
Tickets: $20/$18/$12; 1 free WSU student ticket with ID
Dance at Ulrich
Date: November 15, 2024
Time: 5:30 PM
Directors: Mina Estrada
Description: In celebration of Ulrich’s 50th Anniversary, Mina Estrada, Assistant Professor and Program Director of the School of Performing Art’s Dance Program at Wichita State University, has created a new dance piece inspired by the fall exhibition Dream Machine: Fantasy, Surreality, and Play. This performance, featuring WSU dance majors, will play on the intricate layers of reality and surrealism, drawing inspiration from the exhibition's rich tapestry of fantastical and interactive works. This new work entitled Inside the Dream Machine, will also include live music performed by ICTus, directed by Chase Hampton. Inside the Dream Machine will continue to evolve as it is transformed into a film produced in collaboration with WSU School of Digital Arts. The dance film will premiere at the School of Performing Arts Film Showing at Welsbacher Black Box Theatre on April 19, 2025.
Rated: Not rated
Tickets: Free event
Senior Capstone Celebration
Date: November 23, 2024
Schedule:
- 1:30-3:00 p.m. - BFA Design & Tech Presentations + BFA Dance group works
- 3:00-3:30 p.m. - Break
- 3:30-5:15 p.m. - BA Dance Presentations + BFA Dance solos + BFA Theatre Performance
- 5:15-6:15 p.m. - Break
- 6:15-8:15 p.m. - BA Theatre Presentations + BFA Musical Theatre
Description: A full day of celebrating senior capstone projects by students in dance performance & choreography, dance general studies, design & technical theatre, musical theatre, theatre general studies, and theatre performance.
Tickets: FREE - donations accepted
Dance Informal Showing
Date: December 5, 2024 @ 5:00 PM
Director: Dance Faculty
Description: End of semester celebration of all dance classes
Rated: TBD
Tickets: FREE Event
Spring 2025
Spring Awakening
Book & lyrics by Steven Sater
Music by Duncan Sheik
Based on the play by Frank Wedekind
Date: February 20-22, 2025 @ 7:30 PM; February 23, 2025 @ 2:00 PM
Directors: TBD
Description: Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s brilliant rock score and searingly emotional book take the story of sexual awakening, youth revolt, and self-discovery into a new century. Headstrong Melchior and naive Wendla stumble into each other’s arms, passionate and curious, while anxious Moritz struggles to live up to the stringent expectations of society. With only each other for guidance, this group of young men and women travel the fraught and rocky path of adolescence, discovering their bodies, their minds, and themselves along the way. An electric, vibrant celebration of youth and rebellion that packs an emotional punch.
Rated: R
Note: Spring Awakening contains sexual situations, explicit language, and scenes depicting violence and suicide. Audience members under the age of 16 are strongly recommended to attend with a trusted adult.
Tickets: $20/$18/$12; 1 free WSU student ticket with ID
Bela Kiralyfalvi National Student Playwriting Competition Winner Staged Reading of The Angel of Death
Date: March 6-8, 2025 @ 7:30 PM
Description: Staged reading of a new play selected from undergraduate and graduate student submissions across the United States.
Guest Director: Jane Gabbert
Rated: TBD
Tickets: $15 general admission
Wichita State Musical Theatre Company Student Musical Production
Date: April 10-12 @ 7:30 PM
Presented by: Wichita State Musical Theatre Company (Faculty Mentor: Amy Baker Schwiethale)
Description: A student-led and produced musical.
Rated: TBD
Tickets: TBD
Film Double Feature!
Mostly Harmless (Mostly) &
Dance Film
Date: April 19, 2025 @ 7:30 P.M.
Director for Mostly Harmless (Mostly): Bret Jones
Director for Dance Film: TBD
Description for Mostly Harmless (Mostly): Four short comedic films.
Rated: TBD
Tickets: $15 general admission
Spring Dance Concert
Date: April 24-26, 2025 @ 7:30 PM; April 27, 2025 @ 2:00 PM
Director(s): Dance Faculty
Description: A celebration of new and restaged dance including works by WSU faculty and guest
artists.
Rated: Not rated
Tickets: $20/$18/$12; 1 free WSU student ticket with ID
Empty Space Theatre Student Theatre Production
Date: May 1-3, 2025 @ 7:30 P.M.
Director: TBD
Presented by: Empty Space Theatre (Faculty Mentor: Ed Baker)
Description: A student-led and produced play.
Rated: TBD
Tickets: TBD
Dance Informal Showing
Date: May 8, 2025 @ 5:00 P.M.
Director: Mina Estrada
Description: End of semester celebration of all dance classes.
Rated: PG
Tickets: FREE EVENT