The schedule for live plays and performances at the Fine Arts Center Theatre is set for the 2023–2024 performing arts season. The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at College Colorado released the full schedule this week. And the six productions offer a full range of subject matter and styles.
The season kicks off fittingly in October with a Stephen King masterpiece: the psychological thriller Misery. For the holiday season, the beloved favorite Elf the Musical brings comedy to the stage. There is Pulitzer Prize-winning drama in Quiara Alegria Hughes’ Water by the Spoonful, a multifaceted story of addiction and recovery. The whole family can laugh along with the whimsy and fun of Balloonacy and Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. And Jonathon Larson’s award-winning Broadway musical Rent will finish the schedule next spring.
“Great things are on the horizon,” said Chris Sheley, production manager and interim producing artistic director of the FAC’s performing-arts division, in a press release. “And we wouldn’t want you to miss out on the groundbreaking work, unique performances, local and national talents, familiar and unfamiliar stories and breathtaking spectacles we’ve got in store for you.”
Fine Arts Center Theatre Company 2023–2024 Theatre Season Lineup
Although the new theater season is still months away, season tickets are on sale now. The Fine Arts Center Theatre Company is currently performing a superb production of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s award-winning Broadway hit musical In the Heights.
Here’s a full preview of the Fine Arts Center Theatre Company 2023–2024 Season
Misery
Mainstage: Oct. 12–29, 2023
By William Goldman, based on the Stephen King novel
Misery follows successful romance novelist Paul Sheldon, who is rescued from a car crash by his “number one fan,” Annie Wilkes, and wakes up captive in her secluded home. While Paul is convalescing, Annie reads his latest book and becomes enraged when she discovers the author has killed off her favorite character, Misery Chastain. Annie forces Paul to write a new Misery novel, and he quickly realizes Annie has no intention of letting him go anywhere. The irate Annie has Paul writing as if his life depends on it, and it does.
Balloonacy
Second Stage: Oct. 28 – Nov. 19, 2023
By Barry Kornhauser
(not included in season subscription)
It starts simply: A red balloon drifts through the window of a solitary old man’s home. Then some serious silliness begins — with things quickly becoming so magical and so blissfully fun, you barely notice that you’ve learned something about the extraordinarily transformative power of play along the way. Without a single spoken word, this sweet, inventive and uplifting show is a tender and laugh-filled delight for little ones — and big ones too. The production is packed with plenty of playful shtick, along with touching reminders of the ups and downs of building a friendship.
Elf the Musical
Mainstage: Nov. 30 – Dec. 31, 2023
Music by Matthew Sklar; Lyrics by Chad Beguelin; Book by Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan
Will Ferrell made the movie a classic. Broadway made Elf the Musical a must-produce holiday musical that can easily become an annual tradition for any theatre. Based on the cherished 2003 New Line Cinema hit, Elf features songs by Tony Award nominees Matthew Sklar (The Wedding Singer) and Chad Beguelin (Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway), with a book by Tony Award winners Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers, Hairspray) and Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone). Get ready to spread Christmas cheer by singing loudly for all to hear.
Water By the Spoonful
Mainstage: Feb. 15 – March 3, 2024
By Quiara Alegria Hughes
Somewhere in Philadelphia, Elliot has returned from Iraq and is struggling to find his place in the world. Somewhere in a chat room, recovering addicts keep each other alive, hour by hour, day by day. The boundaries of family and community are stretched across continents and cyberspace as birth families splinter and online families collide. Water by the Spoonful is a heartfelt meditation on lives on the brink of redemption.
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Second Stage: March 2-24, 2024
By Mo Willems; Lyrics by Mo Willems; Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma
(Not included in season subscription)
Based on the award-winning children’s book, audiences can hop on board for an unforgettable ride. It’s not easy being the Pigeon; you never get to do anything! But when the Bus Driver has a crisis that threatens to make her passengers (gasp!) late, maybe that wily bird can do something.
Rent
Mainstage: May 2-26, 2024
Book by Jonathan Larson; Music by Jonathan Larson; Lyrics by Jonathan Larson and Billy Aronson
Based loosely on Puccini’s La Boheme, Jonathan Larson’s Rent follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York’s Lower East Side, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. The physical and emotional complications of the disease pervade the lives of Roger, Mimi, Tom and Angel. Maureen deals with her chronic infidelity through performance art; her partner, Joanne, wonders if their relationship is worth the trouble.
Benny has sold out his Bohemian ideals in exchange for a hefty income and is on the outs with his former friends. Mark, an aspiring filmmaker, feels like an outsider to life in general. How these young bohemians negotiate their dreams, loves and conflicts provides the narrative thread to this groundbreaking musical. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
More Info
The Fine Arts Center Theatre schedule release comes shortly after the FAC’s recent announcement of its new executive director, Nicole Herden, who was most recently the executive director of the Museum of Nebraska Art, in affiliation with the University of Nebraska.
For more details, info and tickets, visit fac.coloradocollege.edu.
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