No one deserves to be forgotten. That is the message “Dear Evan Hansen” presents to its audience through the stories of the titular Evan and the people he interacts with.
Even on a stage flooded with backdrops of scrolling social media posts and notifications, the individual hopefulness and heartbreak of the characters shine through, evoking a multitude of emotions from the audience.
Like many others, I flocked to Hancher Auditorium on Saturday night to experience the first installment of its 2024-25 Broadway series, and I must say, the standing ovation at the end was well-deserved.
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The Daily Iowan - Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Youtube - Monday, December 9, 2024
Through a collaboration between University of Iowa School of Music and Hancher Auditorium alumnus and world-renowned percussionist Steven Schick returned to campus in Fall 2024 and spent a week in residency with UI students and in the Iowa City community.
The Gazette - Friday, November 29, 2024
Previous generations found touchstones in “A Chorus Line,” then “Rent,” followed by “Spring Awakening” and “Hamilton.”
Gen Y and Z found themselves drawn to “Dear Evan Hansen,” which ran on Broadway from 2016 to 2022 and swept up six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The 2024-25 national tour of this tour de force is coming to Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City from Dec. 6 to 8.
It’s the story of Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety and few friends, who would rather be on his computer than speak to anyone face to face or even on the phone. But when a letter he wrote falls into the wrong hands, he gets caught up in a social media frenzy spinning off another family’s tragedy.
The Daily Iowan - Monday, November 18, 2024
As the last note was held, the auditorium became quieter and quieter. All that was left was your heart beating in your chest. You could hear a pin drop. Scissors would struggle to cut the tension. As the conductor lowered his hands, the audience rose to their feet in a standing ovation.
On Nov. 17, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra took the stage at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City. The event took place on Hadley Stage, a vast concert hall with high, looming ceilings hung with abstract light fixtures.
Under conductor Stéphane Denève, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra presented an exploration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s music “from London to Vienna.” From his first symphonic work composed at age eight to his symphony brought about by the death of his mother, the performance covered it all.
The Gazette - Thursday, November 14, 2024
Improvisation isn’t the usual part of classical chamber music training, but stepping into the unusual has been freeing for members of PUBLIQuartet.
The New York-based string quartet is making its first trip to Iowa City for a Hancher performance Nov. 21, along with student workshops.
“We believe everybody can improvise. We’re improvising right now as we speak, and interacting spontaneously,” violinist Jannina Norpoth said during a recent Zoom interview with The Gazette and violist Nick Revel.
“We’ve done improvisation workshops for all ages, all levels. We’ve even done them for non-musicians,” Norpoth added. “It’s really fun to challenge people’s creativity and watch them go to a place that might be uncomfortable for them, and rise to overcome that challenge.”
Little Village - Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Brian Quijada is an Emmy-nominated playwright, actor and composer. He also happens to be a University of Iowa Theatre Arts alumnus, getting his start as an undergrad that ended up double majoring in English and Theatre.
Quijada has returned to Iowa City for a visit culminating in a performance with collaborator Nygel D. Robinson on Hancher Auditorium’s Club Hancher Stage. LV theater columnist Kristy Hartsgrove Mooers talked with Quijada about his roots at UI, his success since undergrad and how telling his specific immigrant story has become a mission statement.
For Rudy Francisco, one of the most widely known spoken word artists in modern poetry, it started with a feeling. When he first saw a spoke word poem performed, he knew exactly what the poet was feeling.
Decades later, it’s a tactility he delivers to audiences around the world.
The San Diego native, 42, uses personal narratives that discuss the politics of social classes — race, class, gender and religion — while reinforcing the interconnected nature of humans. After 25 years touring, his poems have, in ways, acted as a skill set that connects wordsmiths and casual listeners alike.
The Gazette - Thursday, October 24, 2024
Complexions Contemporary Ballet has brought its message of unity to stages in New York, Philadelphia and Boston. Next up, the company’s Hancher debut in Iowa City on Nov. 1. Then it’s back to New York and on to Detroit before the holidays, followed by stops in Chicago and the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C., among other major sites in the new year.
So how does Iowa City fit in with the big cities?
“Complexions is that company that really wants to go everywhere, wants to bring our brand, our message, who we are,” cofounder, co-artistic director and principal choreographer Dwight Rhoden, 61, told The Gazette by phone from his Los Angeles home. He divides his time between the West Coast and New York City, where the company has been based since he established it with fellow dancer Desmond Richardson in 1994.
Los Angeles Times - Wednesday, October 9, 2024
The old-fashioned song (or Lieder) recital — a singer in formal attire stoically standing next to a grand piano delivering art songs in foreign languages, unamplified in a concert hall far too large for intimacy — has obviously long needed refreshing. Indeed, it has all but disappeared from American stages.
But enter Julia Bullock and Davóne Tines. Each came through town recently with a highly personal and revealing recital program of intense intimacy and theatrical originality, boldly proclaiming a new generation’s profound rebirth of the medium.
The sky overhead City Park in Iowa City was clear, a dome of deep blue. Under that sky, more than 100 musicians arranged in concentric circles around conductor Steven Schick, their legs folded in lotus positions. Schick stood up and brought a sea shell to his mouth. The sound was almost imperceptible, only the friction of the air he blew as it entered the shell. Schick filled his lungs, tipped his head back and blew again.