KINKY BOOTS, NEWSIES & More Set for Omaha Performing Arts' 10th Anniversary Season

Omaha Performing Arts' 2015/2016 Season will include a celebration of the organization's 10th anniversary, Celebrate 10. Details on the festivities as well as the 15/16 Season were announced during a subscriber and patron event at the Holland Performing Arts Center on March 23. Special performances by cast members of Disney's NEWSIES and Celia Hottenstein and Eric Ruiz, who star as Christina and Raoul in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, were part of the announcement. The dance troupe BANDALOOP opened the event with an awe-inspiring aerial performance.

Highlights of the 2015/2016 Season include the Celebrate 10 Gala starring Kristin Chenoweth on Friday, October 16; exciting Omaha premieres of Broadway national touring productions of KINKY BOOTS and Disney's NEWSIES as well as an all-new production of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA; and performances by Dance Theatre of Harlem, comedian and singer Jane Lynch, and Ramsey Lewis Electric Band with special guest Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind and Fire.

"We look forward to welcoming the community to our 10th anniversary celebration that includes an amazing array of wonderful artists and productions," said Joan Squires, president of Omaha Performing Arts. "Kristen Chenoweth's performance at the Celebrate 10 Gala commemorates a decade of events at the Holland Center, and will be a highlight of this milestone season."

Season ticket packages to the six series are available for purchase now. Single tickets to performances go on sale at a later date.

10th Anniversary Festivities

October 15, 2015 marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Holland Performing Arts Center and the 10th anniversary of Omaha Performing Arts presenting a full season of performances. A weekend of events has been

planned to commemorate the anniversaries, starting with the Celebrate 10 Gala starring Kristin Chenoweth on Friday, October 16, 2015. Holland Stages Festival will be Saturday, October 17, 2015 featuring free performances by local and national touring artists, including BANDALOOP.

2015/2016 Broadway Series

The Omaha Performing Arts 2015/2016 Broadway Series presented with Broadway Across America has five productions, opening with KINKY BOOTS October 20-25, 2015. Winning the Tony Award® for Best Musical in 2013, this uplifting production features a joyous, Tony®-winning score by Cyndi Lauper, direction and Tony®-winning choreography by Jerry Mitchell and a hilarious book by four-time Tony® winner Harvey Fierstein.

The adaptation of the iconic love story DIRTY DANCING runs November 17-22, 2015. Disney's NEWSIES opens 2016 with an extra, extra special production. The 2012 Tony®-winning musical runs February 16-21, 2016. The Tony Award®-winning musical RODGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA will delight audiences March 15-20, 2016. Cameron Mackintosh's spectacular new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA will be staged April 20 through May 1, 2016. Critics have called this new production as "bigger and better than ever before."

There are two special Broadway performances available to Season Ticket holders outside of the Broadway Series package. THE WIZARD OF OZ will run December 8-13, 2015. THE BOOK OF MORMON returns to Omaha by popular demand May 31 through June 5, 2016.

Broadway Series subscribers are automatically entered for a chance to win a trip for two to New York City July 16-19, 2015. Two winners receive a Broadway show-seeing spree, with expenses paid for airfare, lodging and show tickets. For more information, go online to omaha.broadway.com/sweepstakes.

2015/2016 Jazz Series

The 2015/2016 Jazz Series features jazz legends and a rising star vocalist. Ramsey Lewis Electric Band and special guest vocalist and percussionist Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire perform a collection of jazz and R&B hits including "September" and "Sun Goddess" on November 13, 2015. NPR Music's "next great jazz singer" Gregory Porter, winner of the 2014 Grammy Award ® for Best Jazz Vocal Album, will perform February 4, 2016. Legendary singer Dee Dee Bridgewater teams up with Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra on March 12, 2016 for a 10th anniversary concert paying tribute to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

2015/2016 Dance Series

The 2015/2016 Dance Series begins November 5, 2015 with Shaping Sound: Dance Reimagined, a mash-up of dance styles and musical genres brought to life by contemporary dancers. The Moscow Festival Ballet returns to Omaha to perform Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty on January 23, 2016. Dance Theatre of Harlem brings their innovative and bold new forms of artistic expression to Omaha on February 25, 2016.

2015/2016 Family Series

Omaha Performing Arts' 2015/2016 Family Series begins with Cirque Mechanics Pedal Punk - a steampunk- inspired American circus show featuring bikes - on November 12, 2015. The ordinary becomes extraordinary in Mummenschanz: The Musicians of Silence on February 27, 2016. The third show in the season will be announced soon!

2015/2016 Showcase Series

The Showcase Series for 2015/2016 begins with A Celtic Tenors Christmas on December 2, 2015. The charming trio will sing traditional Christmas favorites, beautiful Celtic songs, and exhilarating operatic classics. Jane Lynch will flex her comic skills and musical prowess with the cabaret performance See Jane Sing on February 28, 2016. Recent cast members of Jersey Boys will deliver an electrifying evening of doo-wop, Motown and rock 'n' roll as Under the Streetlamp, a modern day Rat Pack who will perform at the Holland Center on May 19, 2016.

2015/2016 National Geographic Live Series

The 2015/2016 National Geographic Live Series features three exciting speakers and many stunning images. The first in the series is an explorer who comes face-to-face with tigers, cougars and other wild animals. On The Trail of Big Cats with Steve Winter is on February 2, 2016. One of the world's leading adventurers and expedition photographers is next in the series: Untamed Wild with Cory Richards is on March 8, 2016. The Search for Life Beyond Earth with Kevin Hand, an astrobiologist, is on April 12, 2016.

2015/2016 1200 Club Series

The intimate performances in the 1200 Club Series begin December 2, 2015 with a night of jazzy Christmas music in Cyrus Chestnut Trio: A Jazzy Christmas. The soul-drenched powerhouse vocalist Shemekia Copeland performs January 30, 2016. French jazz singer Cyrille Aime?e is at the club on March 5, 2016. Ester Rada brings her cross-cultural sound that blends Ethio-jazz and urban funk on April 29, 2016. James Torme? Celebrates The Greats features the charismatic son of jazz legend Mel Torme? on May 6, 2016. Kevin Eubanks plays his infectious groove tracks and soulful blues jams on May 20, 2016.

The 1200 Club transforms the Holland Performing Arts Center's most intimate venue, the Suzanne and Walter Scott Recital Hall, into a relaxed nightclub setting where patrons can experience performances by nationally and internationally known artists in jazz, blues and comedy. While enjoying the evening's entertainment, audience members may enjoy hors d'oeuvres and cocktails served right to their candle-lit table.

2015/2016 Special Performances

Omaha Performing Arts' 2015/2016 Special performances can be added to any Season Ticket package with most performances offering a savings of up to 15%. The first of the Special performances One Man Breaking Bad: The Unauthorized Parody on October 22 and 23, 2015. It's one man, one hour, all seasons in a hilarious parody of the hit TV show, Breaking Bad. Vienna Boys Choir: Christmas in Vienna on November 19, 2015 will feature Austrian folk songs, classical masterpieces, popular songs and holiday favorites. Featuring the hottest names in the street dance scene, the international dance spectacular Blaze will be at the Orpheum Theater March 3, 2016. The one-man evening of Americana, Mark Twain Tonight! with Hal Holbrook will be April 8, 2016. The PBS Kids favorite Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood LIVE! will be live on stage Wednesday, April 13, 2016. Ballet Folklorico "Quetzalli" de Veracruz will bring traditional Mexican folkloric dance to Omaha on April 14, 2016.

For more information about Omaha Performing Arts' Season Tickets, visit OmahaPerformingArts.org/SeasonTickets or call 402.345.0606 or toll-free at 866.434.8587. Groups of 10 or more may also purchase tickets to the 2015/2016 season; groups can save up to 25% on select shows. For more information on Group Sales, visit OmahaPerformingArts.org/Groups or call 402.661.8516. Single tickets for the 2015/2016 Omaha Performing Arts season will go on sale at a later date. Due to the nature of live entertainment, all programs, performers, prices, dates and times are subject to change.

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