Dean College Announces 2024-2025 Performing Arts Season

Dean College is proud to announce its new 2024-2025 season of theatre and dance performances featuring current Dean students, award-winning faculty and renowned guest artists and directors. Running from September through May, the lineup includes six theatrical productions, four dance shows and multiple showcase performances.

“Dean’s Schools of Performing Arts is committed to developing the next generation of talented artists,” said Interim Dean of the Schools, Jim Beauregard. “Our 2024-25 season will perfectly showcase our dancers, choreographers, actors, singers and production students and we are thrilled to invite the community to come enjoy our upcoming year of stellar performances.”

Regularly priced tickets range from $12-$22 per show. Full-season ticket packages offer a 25 percent discount off the regular single-ticket prices. The Full Season Package (eight performances) is $132 for the general public and $72 for senior citizens and non-Dean students. All shows for Dean students are $5. 

The Theatre Series Package (four performances – “Mad Forest,” “My Favorite Year,” “Breath of Stars,” and “Freaky Friday”) is $66 for the general public and $36 for senior citizens and non-Dean students. 

The Dance Series Package (four performances – “Arts Mosaic,” “Faculty Dance Works,” “Choreographers’ Concert” and “Dance Company”) is $66 for the general public and $36 for senior citizens and non-Dean students. 

Ticket packages are now available online.

Individual show tickets will be available beginning September 1st. 

2024-2025 Performing Arts Season 

 

“Let it Be” 

A Musical Celebration of The Beatles

Developed for the stage by Stageworks Productions and Annerin Productions and originally conceived by Maggie Pitts

• September 27-29, 2024
• Main Stage
• Set in the turbulent times of the 1960s and 1970s, “Let it Be” follows a group of teenage friends and their intertwining stories during the height of the Vietnam War. The teens struggle with the unrest of the country, their loss of innocence and the long journey home. Told solely through the stirring music and compelling lyrics of The Beatles, there is no dialogue in “Let It Be.”  The staging and choreography propel the story forward allowing the focus to remain on the genius of The Beatles and the impact of their music.  
• Note: Not part of the 24-25 season ticket package but can be purchased separately once individual show tickets are available in September. 

“Let It Be” was originally produced by Joe Cabral and Walnut Hill Center for the Arts. “Let It Be” is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing Global.

“Mad Forest”

Written By Caryl Churchill

• October 16-20, 2024
• Main Stage
• Incredibly poignant and timely, “Mad Forest” explores the reactions of ordinary people to confused events, focusing on two families. What emerges is the dreadful damage done to people's lives by repression and the painful difficulties of lasting change. Caryl Churchill's play about the Romanian revolution was written after she, the director and a group of students from London's Central School of Speech and Drama went to Romania to work with acting students there. The play was first performed in 1990, only three months after their return.

“Mad Forest” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.

“Arts Mosaic”

• November 1-2, 2024
• Guidrey Center
• During “Arts Mosaic,” you will enjoy student works and collaborations, integrating dance, theatre, music and much more. Join us as we celebrate the diversity of the arts on the Dean College campus. 

“My Favorite Year”

Book by Joseph Dougherty. Music by Stephen Flaherty. Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.

• November 13-17, 2024
• Main Stage
• A classical musical comedy with a heart of gold, “My Favorite Year” features a tuneful score by the incomparable Tony-winning songwriters, Ahrens and Flaherty, and is based on the hit Peter O’Toole film of the same name. 
• It's 1954 and Benjy Stone, writers' assistant on TV's "King Kaiser Comedy Cavalcade," is assigned the daunting task of babysitting the veteran Hollywood swashbuckler, Alan Swann. The reckless Swann is in town to do a live guest appearance on the show and his antics and alcoholism nearly get Benjy fired. When Benjy is given an unexpected glimpse into Swann's broken heart, though, he begins to discover a thing or two about life and love.

Based on the motion picture, “My Favorite Year,” courtesy of Turner Entertainment Co., with story by Dennis Palumbo and screenplay by Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo.  Originally produced by Lincoln Center Theater.

“My Favorite Year” is presented through a special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 

“New Dancer Showcase”

• November 22-23, 2024
• Main Stage
• The “New Dancer Showcase” is an informal showing of dance works created by Dean’s upperclassmen dance majors and performed by first-year dance majors.

“New Thespian Showcase”

• November 23-24, 2024
• Main Stage
•  The “New Thespian Showcase” is an informal showing of monologues, scenes, songs and theatre works brought to the stage by Dean’s first-year theatre majors.

“Faculty Dance Works”

• December 5-6, 2024
• Main Stage
• Join us for two energetic and exciting evenings of dance, featuring outstanding works conceived by the Joan Phelps Palladino Dance Program faculty and renowned guest artists. 

“Breath of Stars”

Written by Caridad Svich

• February 19-23, 2025
• Main Stage
• “Breath of Stars” is about the spinning globe, a lost city of strings, electric dreams and finding a lover again in the body of a stranger. This play looks at the workings of memory through stories of love and loss in the contemporary world and reconfigures Shakespeare’s “Tempest” for the digital age. A modern-day Ariel has lost someone named Prospero, who is now only a picture in cyberspace. Another Ariel – perhaps a double or mirror image of the first – misses him too. As the Ariels move through spaces of loss, other worlds open up, revealing a haunting group of characters and stories, all tied together through the invisible bonds of technology.

“Breath of Stars” was developed at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI.  “Breath of Stars” is produced by special arrangement with the Playwright and Elaine Devlin Library, Inc., 1115 Broadway, 12th floor, New York, NY 10010.

“Choreographers’ Concert”

• February 28-March 1, 2025
• Main Stage
• Dean student choreographers will have selected works showcased and adjudicated by renowned industry professionals in this two-night concert. Join us to enjoy the creative talents of emerging choreographers in a full production setting. Friday evening’s presentation will feature live commentary from guest artists following each work, while the program will be reprised as a regular concert on Saturday evening. 
• The performances may differ each night, so please make sure you attend the appropriate night if you are hoping to see specific students.

“An Evening of Short Plays”

• March 21-23, 2025
• Dean Hall Chapel
• A new experience in theatre from Dean’s Schools of Performing Arts, this series of short plays will be curated, rehearsed and performed in the Chapel at Dean Hall, which is a unique and distinct setting for theatrical performances. Each evening will feature a different series of short plays for the audience’s enjoyment.  
• Note: Not part of the 24-25 season ticket package but can be purchased separately once individual show tickets are available in September. 

"Freaky Friday"

A New Musical

Book by Bridget Carpenter. Music by Tom Kitt. Lyrics by Brian Yorkey.

• April 2-6, 2025
• Main Stage
• When an overworked mother and her teenage daughter magically swap bodies, they have just one day to put things right again. “Freaky Friday,” a new musical based on the celebrated novel by Mary Rodgers and the hit Disney films, is a heartfelt, comedic and unexpectedly emotional update on an American classic. By spending a day in each other's shoes, Katherine and Ellie come to appreciate one another's struggles, learn self-acceptance and realize the immeasurable love and mutual respect that bond a mother and daughter.
• The new musical, “Freaky Friday,” based on the beloved 1972 novel by Mary Rodgers and the hit Disney films (and developed by Disney Theatrical Productions expressly for licensing to theatres), features a book by Bridget Carpenter - the co-executive producer and writer on the beloved TV hits, "Friday Night Lights" and "Parenthood" - and music and lyrics by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey - the Pulitzer Prize-winning composers of “Next to Normal” and “If/Then.” 

“Freaky Friday” is presented through a special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).  All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 

“Dance Company”

• April 24-27, 2025
• Main Stage
• Award-winning faculty and guest choreographers showcase the impressive talent of our dance majors through a mixed bill of new and restaged dance works, ranging in style from hip-hop to jazz dance, tap to modern and ballet.

“Theatre Senior Showcase”

• April 29, 2025
• Main Stage
• Featuring scenes, songs, and monologues, the “Theatre Senior Showcase” is a celebration of the Class of 2025 and the cohort’s formal introduction to the professional theatre community.

“Dance Senior Showcase”

• May 1-2, 2025
• Main Stage
• Creating a performance from the ground up, Dean’s talented senior dance students share their choreography, performance and production expertise in this annual collaborative showcase.

Dean has moved to a ticketless validation system for all events. There are two ways to receive your online tickets – digitally, via your cell phone or mobile device (highly preferred) or by printing your receipt at home and picking up your tickets at the Will Call line at the Main Stage kiosk starting 60 minutes prior to performances with a valid I.D. 

All events and performances are subject to change. Please be sure to visit our box office page for all up-to-date times and applicable venue policies. Ticket holders who do not comply with venue policies will not be admitted. 

Please note: Dean College welcomes children and families to all of our performances. However, infants and children under 2 years of age are not allowed in the theatre, and children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. All patrons must have their own ticketed seats; lap sitting is not permitted. Only ADA-certified service animals are allowed in the theatre.