Broadway comes to Pittsburg State

  Tuesday, July 21, 2015 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

The Best of Broadway is coming to Pittsburg State University’s Bicknell Family Center for the Arts. Campus and community members gathered at the Bicknell Center, Tuesday, where officials announced that three major Broadway productions are coming to PSU for the 2015-16 season, thanks to the support of Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg.

The productions for the inaugural Best of Broadway series are: “Mamma Mia,” Nov. 22; “Million Dollar Quartet,” Feb. 6; and Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” March 22.

Randy Cason, senior administrator for Via Christi Hospital, said the hospital decided to partner with the university for the Best of Broadway series as part of the hospital’s longstanding effort to make the community a better place to live and work.

“The desire to give our community the very best is why we constructed a state-of-the-art Surgery Center, the Dr. M.K. Parsi Women’s Center, and became the only comprehensive Cancer Center in the region to receive eight out of eight commendations from the American College of Surgeons Committee on Cancer,” Cason said. “Our underwriting is another way that we are helping make our community a better place to live, to work and to play.”

PSU President Steve Scott remarked on the way the region has embraced the Bicknell Center.

“What is surprising, even to me, is the manner in which our region has adopted the Bicknell Center as its own,” Scott said.

Noting the long list of speakers and performers who appeared at the Bicknell Center over the past year, including former First Lady Laura Bush, “Stomp,” and a host of local performances, Scott said the facility is having a significant impact on the region.

“Even the most optimistic could not have foreseen the exceptional lineup of artists, scholars and performers featured in the Bicknell Center’s inaugural season,” Scott said.

Since December, Scott said, the Bicknell Center has hosted more than 80 events and welcomed nearly 20,000 visitors and patrons.

The president added that because of Via Christi Hospital’s support “Pittsburg State University and the city of Pittsburg are once again a destination for the biggest and best Broadway musicals in the nation.”

“Mamma Mia” and “Million Dollar Quartet” will feature two performances, a 2 p.m. matinee and 7:30 evening show. “Beauty and Beast” will have a single, 7:30 p.m. evening show. Tickets start at $40 for “Mamma Mia,” $35 for “Million Dollar Quartet” and $55 for “Beauty and the Beast.” Discounts will be available for a limited number of PSU students, faculty and staff and Via Christi employees. Details are available at the Bicknell Center website, bicknellcenter.com.

Season tickets will go on sale at the PSU Ticket Office on Aug. 19 and individual show tickets on Sept. 8.

Persons wishing to purchase season tickets before Aug. 19, may place orders on the producer’s website, www.shofarconcerts.com. Those who order season tickets before Aug. 19 can request a seating section but will not be guaranteed a specific seat. 

The Best of Broadway series is produced by ShoFar Concerts of Joplin, Mo.

For more information:

The Bicknell Family Center for the Arts, www.bicknellcenter.com

PSU Ticket Office, 1701 S. Homer, Pittsburg, Kansas, 620-235-4796, www.pittstate.edu/tickets. The Ticket Office is open from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m., Monday-Friday.