Milwaukee’s famed Marcus Performing Arts Center has it all: A snow pile! Rapidly-spinning advertising cubes! World-class musicals! Though the multi-faceted venue ably wears a lot of different hats, let’s focus on the last thing we mentioned for a moment.
Monday evening, Marcus Center announced the schedule for its 2024-2025 Broadway season. The series, which runs from this coming October through August 2025, features a total of eight acclaimed musicals. Here’s the full Broadway schedule:
Beetlejuice — October 1-6, 2024
ELF The Musical — November 26-December 1, 2024
Chicago — January 14-19, 2025
The Book Of Mormon — February 25-March 2, 2025
A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical — March 25-30, 2025
Annie — April 25-27 (season option that can be added to a Broadway package)
MJ — May 27-June 1, 2025
Wicked — July 30-August 17 (included in the seven-show Broadway package)
Ticket packages for the 2024-2025 season are on sale now. In addition to Monday night’s Broadway Series unveiling, Marcus Performing Arts Center also announced lineup for its new MPAC Presents Dance series and MPAC Presents Jazz series. Here are the 2024-2025 MPAC Presents lineups, complete with show descriptions courtesy of a Marcus Performing Arts Center press release.
MPAC Presents Dance
Complexions Contemporary Ballet — February 5, 2025
Under the artistic direction of dance icons Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, Complexions Contemporary Ballet is bringing their groundbreaking style to Milwaukee for the first time ever. With a rich Alvin Ailey lineage and 16 stunning dancers, Complexions has been hailed as a “matchless American dance company” by the Philadelphia Inquirer and “game changing” by The Guardian. The company will perform their blockbuster hit program, STAR DUST: From Bach to David Bowie, an utterly transfixing tribute to the life and music of David Bowie, full of glitter and glam.
Martha Graham Dance Company — March 15, 2025
Since 1926, the Martha Graham Dance Company has been a leader in the evolving art form of modern dance. Today, the world’s oldest modern dance company is embracing a new programming vision that showcases masterpieces by Graham alongside newly commissioned works by contemporary artists. Returning to Milwaukee for the first time in over 50 years, the Company is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an extensive series of programs and events exploring the diversity and depth of Graham’s extraordinary artistic legacy in GRAHAM100 – The First and The Future.
Ladies of Hip Hop | The Black Dancing Bodies Project: Speak My Mind — April 4, 2025
Ladies of Hip Hop (LOHH) is an all-female intergenerational dance collective that creates dance works illuminating the strength, power, and diversity of women in Hip Hop. Under the direction of founder Michele Byrd-McPhee, LOHH interweaves the embodied experiences of women, creating a communal fabric that paints a picture of a more global women experience. The Black Dancing Bodies Project: Speak My Mind is an initiative to uplift and celebrate Black women in street and club dance culture, addressing the erasure and miscoding of Black women’s contributions to American dance culture.
MPAC Presents Jazz
esperanza spalding — September 17, 2024
Emphasizing the simplicity and intimacy of her voice, bass, and songs, in this special configuration of 2 musicians and 2 dancers, esperanza performs songs from all 8 of her previous albums, songs from current releases, plus a special preview of her forthcoming project. esperanza spalding (a.k.a. irma nejando) is an eaabibacliitoti* artist, trained and initiated in the North American (masculine) jazz lineage and tradition.
*European-African ancestored being influenced by American cultures living in Indigenous Territories of Turtle Island.
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis — January 30, 2025
Led by artistic director, trumpeter extraordinaire, and nine-time Grammy Award®-winner Wynton Marsalis, the sensational Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) has brought the art form of jazz with its swinging rhythms and soulful melodies from the heart of New York City to cities around the world for more than three decades. A leading advocate for jazz, culture, and arts education, every performance of the JLCO features musicians of unparalleled artistry and musical mastery and is a celebration of the spirit of jazz and its enduring influence.
Lakecia Benjamin — April 11, 2025
With her deep jazz roots, electric presence, and fiery sax work, Lakecia Benjamin fuses traditional concepts of jazz, hip hop, and soul to create a fresh new sound. A dynamic young performer, Benjamin has shared stages with many legendary artists, including Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Christian McBride, Gregory Porter, and The Roots and was voted “Rising Star Alto Saxophonist” in the 2020 Downbeat Critics Poll and “Up and Coming Artist of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association.
Subscription packages are on sale now and can be purchased in-person at the Marcus Center Box Office, by calling 414-273-7206, or online at www.MarcusCenter.org.