The Orpheum Theatre has announced its 2024-2025 Broadway Season of eight shows. On the docket are MJ (September 17-22, 2024), Girl from the North Country (October 8 – 13, 2024), Moulin Rouge! The Musical (October 29 – November 3, 2024), Peter Pan (November 26 – December 1, 2024), Hamilton (February 18 – March 2, 2025), Some Like It Hot (April 8 – 13, 2025), Kimberly Akimbo (June 24-29, 2025), and The Wiz (July 22 – 27, 2025).
“I’m all excited about all of them,” says Brett Batterson, Orpheum president and CEO. “I can give you a reason why I’m excited about each one. I use a formula to basically make sure that I’m covering all my bases when I pick a season. I want to make sure I have a family show — Peter Pan. I want to make sure I have a classic, which is The Wiz this year. I want to make sure I have the newest and the best from Broadway, which we have a lot of this coming year, and then I like to make sure I might bring some shows that the people in Memphis would like to see.”
The Orpheum’s 96th season kicks off with MJ, the new Tony Award-winning musical centered around the making of Michael Jackson’s 1992 Dangerous World Tour. Girl from the North Country, which follows in October, reimagines 20 legendary songs of Bob Dylan to tell the story of a boarding house in Duluth, Minnesota in 1934. Then Moulin Rouge! The Musical will bring the magic of Baz Luhrmann’s film to the stage in a musical mash-up extravaganza. Peter Pan will close out the fall, but with a spin to the well-known musical that has been thrilling audiences of all ages for close to 70 years.
“I’ve always loved the musical Peter Pan, but the portrayal of the Indians was always problematic,” says Batterson. “This particular Peter Pan, they hired a native playwright Larissa FastHorse to rewrite the Indian sections to make it respectful, and so I’m really excited to bring that and to see how that plays out.”
In the spring, Hamilton returns for a third time, to be followed by Some Like It Hot, a Prohibition story of two musicians forced to flee the Windy City after witnessing a mob hit. The 2023 Tony Award Best Musical winner Kimberly Akimbo about growing up and growing old takes the stage in June. Closing out the season is The Wiz, the groundbreaking twist on The Wizard of Oz that changed the face of Broadway.
Season ticket packages include seven shows and one optional show (Hamilton) that can be added to any package. Current season ticket holders can renew now. Ticket packages for new season ticket holders will be available starting Thursday, April 18th. New this season, those interested in becoming a season ticket holder can join a special priority list starting now until April 12th to secure access to a 48-hour presale ahead of the public on-sale. For more information about season tickets, visit orpheum-memphis.com/season. The public on-sale for individual shows and group tickets will be announced later.