HUNTINGTON The Marshall Artists Series will offer a mix of entertainment during its 2024-2025 season.
In addition, a new education and enrichment initiative will feature the MU School of Theatre and Dance. Performances will include Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House,” “The SpongeBob Musical” and “Scandalous Stones with Douglas Chirnside,” which takes a look at the jewels of the British Royal Family.
The 2024-2025 Season will include:
- Mountain Stage will return to Huntington to record a brand-new episode for NPR Music hosted by Grammy®-winning country music star Kathy Mattea at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center. An assorted medley of musical styles will be featured, including Mississippi inspired north county blues from JD Simo and Luther Dickinson, fresh and innovative bluegrass from the Kyle Tuttle Band, expert storytelling from John Craigie and eclectic Appalachian roots sounds from Kentucky band Wayne Graham. More artists are yet to be announced.
- The International Film Festival will return on Oct. 26, with films presented throughout the day at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center. Films include Oscar® winner “Anatomy of a Fall” (France), along with Oscar® nominees “Robot Dreams” (Spain); “Past Lives” (United States/Korea); and “Perfect Days” (Japan).
- Direct from Broadway, “Mean Girls” is inspired by the movie, written by SNL veteran and author Tina Fey. The show will be at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center.
- The Masters at Marshall Distinguished Speaker Series second season kicks off with “A Conversation with Henry Louis Gates Jr.” at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15 at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center.
A West Virginia native, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is an Emmy® and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic and institution builder. Known for his pioneering theories regarding African and African-American literature, Gates continues to spearhead groundbreaking research at Harvard University. His most recent books are “The Black Box: Writing the Race,” “Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow” and “The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song.”
- Fifteen-time Grammy®-award winner and Country Music Hall of Fame member Ricky Skaggs and his band, Kentucky Thunder, will present a holiday show at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center.
The show will include the bluegrass tune “Christmas Time’s A Coming” and a rendition of “New Star Shining,” which was a hit for Ricky Skaggs and James Taylor.
- The Masters at Marshall Distinguished Speaker Series will continue with “A Conversation with Javier Zamora” at 7:30 p.m. March 6, 2025 at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center.
Narrated by his 9-year-old self, Zamora’s New York Times bestselling memoir “Solito” relays a candid portrayal of two transformative months traveling from El Salvador to Guatemala, then to Mexico and the United States. Zamora describes the harrowing journey highlighting moments of reprieve among the perilous boat trips, desert treks, arrests and betrayals.
- The Banff Mountain Film Festival will make a stop on its World Tour at 7 p.m. April 3 at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center.
- Six-time Tony® Award-winning Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. April 14 at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center.
- Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” will be staged at The Francis-Booth Experimental Theatre (inside the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center) at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19. The three-act play, written in 1879, explores themes of marriage, gender inequality and the consequences of imposed social expectations on individual freedom. A unique bonus: Star of stage and screen, actor Mark Povinelli, who has toured in the critically acclaimed and OBIE award-winning Mabou Mines production of “A Doll’s House,” will be on hand to speak to the audience about his groundbreaking portrayal of Torvald Helmer on London’s West End.
- “The SpongeBob Musical” is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. April 23 at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center, featuring original songs from artists ranging from Aerosmith to Cyndi Lauper and John Legend to Panic! At The Disco.
For ticket information about the Marshall Artists Series, call (304) 696-3326.
