(August 28, 2023)
Six shows will headline the 2024 Spring Broadway Season at the ETSU Martin Center for the Arts.
“Our inaugural Broadway season earlier this year was a landmark success,” said Jennifer
Clements, executive director of the Martin Center at East Tennessee State University.
“The season included four shows – all performed to sold-out audiences. Because of
this overwhelming response, and with the tremendous generosity of our sponsors, we
are expanding our season to include six shows.
“We are thrilled to bring Broadway to the Appalachian Highlands again this year and
look forward to experiencing the magic of live theater with thousands of patrons from
the region and surrounding states,” she said.
The season will open with “Jagged Little Pill” running Jan. 9-10. This Broadway show is based on the music of Alanis Morissette
and is directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus with a Tony-winning book by Diablo
Cody and a Grammy-winning score.
This production is about a perfectly imperfect American family that, as The Guardian writes, “vaults the audience to its collective feet.” The New York Times adds, “Redemptive, rousing and real, ‘Jagged Little Pill’ stands alongside the original musicals that have sustained the best hopes of Broadway."
Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” is “a sumptuous new production of the most perfect musical of all time,” according
to Entertainment Weekly. Directed by Bartlett Sher, “My Fair Lady” tells the story
of Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flower seller, and Henry Higgins, a linguistics
professor who is determined to transform her into his idea of a “proper lady.”
But who is really being transformed? This show will be performed Feb. 12-13 and is sponsored by Bravissima! Women Sponsoring the Arts!
Celebrating its 50th Anniversary, “Jesus Christ Superstar” arrives at the Martin Center March 18-20. With lyrics and music by Emmy, Grammy,
Oscar and Tony winners Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, “Jesus Christ Superstar”
is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final
weeks in the life of Jesus Christ as seen through the eyes of Judas.
The legendary score includes “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” “Gethsemane” and “Superstar.”
“Shrek The Musical” will entertain audiences of all ages April 4-5. In this production, sponsored by
Food City, a little ogre named Shrek finds himself on a life-changing journey along
a wisecracking donkey and a feisty princess. This production is written by Pulitzer
Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire and is based on the Oscar-winning, smash hit animated
film.
Tina Fey’s hilarious hit musical “Mean Girls” will take the stage at the Martin Center April 29-May 1. The story of a naïve newbie
who falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies, “Mean Girls” “delivers with immense
energy, a wicked sense of humor and joyful inside-jokery.” USA Today says, “We’ll
let you in on a little secret, because we’re such good friends: GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!”
Bank of Tennessee will serve as the sponsor for “Mean Girls”.
The international percussion sensation “STOMP” will conclude the season. In “STOMP,” an eight-member troupe uses everything but
conventional percussion instruments – matchboxes, wooden poles, brooms, garbage cans,
Zippo lighters, hubcaps – to fill the stage with magnificent rhythms.
The return of the percussive hit also brings some new surprises, with some sections of the show now updated and restructured and the addition of two new full-scale routines, utilizing props like tractor tire inner tubes and paint cans. As USA Today says, “STOMP finds beautiful noises in the strangest places.” “STOMP” will make noise June 4 -5 and is sponsored by WCYB-TV 5.
The 2024 Spring season ticket will feature “Jagged Little Pill,” “My Fair Lady,” “Jesus
Christ Superstar” and “Mean Girls.” In addition to the four Broadway season shows
the two special Broadway ‘add-ons’ include “STOMP” and “Shrek The Musical”. Season
tickets and individual show tickets will go on sale at a later date. For more information
on season tickets and the upcoming Broadway season, visit ETSUMartinCenter.org.
###
About the Martin Center for the Arts: The 93,000 square foot ETSU Martin Center for the Arts, located at 1320 W. State of Franklin Road, Johnson City, features three venues,
as well as three rehearsal/meeting rooms. Construction on the center began in early
2018 and was completed in fall 2020, in the midst of the pandemic. The ETSU Foundation
Grand Hall can seat nearly 1,200.
