Overture Center for the Arts announces its 2024-25 lineup

MADISON, Wis. — Overture Center for the Arts is hosting a jam-packed 2024-25 theater season with modern musicals and Broadway classics alike, including three Wisconsin premieres.

“& Juliet” runs at the Overture from Nov. 26 to Dec. 1, 2024. The jukebox musical is a Wisconsin premiere. “Funny Girl” runs from Dec. 31, 2024 to Jan. 5, 2025, ringing in the new year in Madison, Wis.

“Shucked” heads to Overture from Feb. 4 to 9, 2025, followed by “A Beautiful Noise,” from March 18 to 23, 2025. Both are Wisconsin premieres. Fans can catch a performance of “Clue” from May 13 to 18, 2025, before “MJ The Musical” runs at the Overture from June 17 to 22, 2025. “Wicked” rounds out the summer at the Overture Center from July 9 to 27, 2025. 

“I’m excited about Broadway; the big show there everybody’s gonna be so excited about is ‘Wicked,'” said Overture’s chief artistic officer Tim Sauer. “‘Wicked’ is the show that closed us down back with COVID. We had a three-week run [planned], and we ended up doing three performances of it and then their set sat on our stage for six months. So people are excited because so many people didn’t get the opportunity to see it.”

Not to mention, “Wicked” just celebrated its 20th anniversary, and this is also the 20th anniversary season at the Overture.

Sauer said he knows audiences have been asking for “MJ The Musical” and “& Juliet” specifically. His personal favorite is “Shucked,” and he said he’s happy to bring the “charming” and “warm-hearted” musical to his community. 

“Shows like ‘Shucked’ and ‘& Juliet’ are both Wisconsin premieres and exclusive to us,” Sauer said. “We’ll be the only place presenting those two shows for next year [in the state].”

“TINA: The Tina Turner Musical” and “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” round out the current Broadway season.

Ashley D. Kelley and Grey Henson in “Shucked.” (MurphyMade/Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)

Overture Center also released four other series lineups, including “Overture Presents,” “National Geographic Live,” “Up Close” and “Cabaret.” Plus, it released details on its “Fringe Festival” in Jan. 2025. 

The Overture Presents series includes the following shows:

• Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
• Steve Martin & Martin Short: “The Dukes of Funnytown!” featuring Jeff Babko and the Steep Canyon Ranger
• “Shrek the Musical”
• Churchill
• Straight No Chaser
• Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
• The Peking Acrobats
• Fraggle Rock Live!
• Danú
• The Red Hot Chilli Pipers
• Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 1 in Concert with the Madison Symphony Orchestra
• Twyla Tharp Dance
• Black Violin
• Goodnight Moon & The Runaway Bunny

The National Geographic Live series includes the following shows: 

• Life on Thin Ice with Photographer Kiliii Yuyan
• Rise of T. Rex with Paleontologist Lindsay Zanno
• Diving the Great Barrier Reef with Marine Biologist Erika Woolsey

The Cabaret series includes the following shows: 

• Alysha Umphress
• Sidney DuPont presents “That Old Black Magic: Sammy Davis Centennial”
• Stella Cole

The Up Close series includes the following shows: 

• Ben Wendel & Taylor Eigsti
• Erini & Naseem Alatrash
• Deerlady: Mali Obomsawin & Magdalena Abrego

“We have emerging artists on [our Up Close series],” Sauer said. “We bring in a diverse group of artists to introduce them to Madison audiences. It’s the same setup at the Cabaret; it seats around 180 people with the artist right there. The audience sits on stage, so it’s an opportunity to see some of these world and jazz artists who you would never really have the opportunity to see. The little stuff like that is intimate and charming to me.” 

The Fringe Festival in January will include the following shows: 

• The Kinsey Sicks
• Brave Space
• Shamilton
• Baby Wants Candy
• Chris Grace as Scarlett Johansson

The Fringe Festival is inspired by Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which is the world’s largest arts festival, hosting thousands of shows each year. Madison’s own mini-festival will highlight some of the best shows from last year. It will run from Jan. 10 to 12, and it’s the first year the micro-festival will be in Madison. 

The Overture also confirmed dates for its Duck Soup Cinema silent film series: Oct. 5, 2024, Jan. 18, 2025 and May 3, 2025. 

Subscription packages are on sale now for e Broadway at Overture, National Geographic Live, Cabaret and Up Close series. Patrons can also opt for a “Make Your Own” series from the Overture Presents lineup. Those who select three or more shows will earn 15% off their tickets; those who select five or more shows will earn 20% off their tickets. Learn more about subscriptions here. 

Tickets for individual shows will be made available at a later date.