NEWS RELEASE

Tickets go on sale today for the Norton Center for the Arts’ 49th Performing Arts Season.

Continuing its trend of making arts accessible to everyone, the Norton Center will again be offering tickets starting at $19 to all performances.

“World class performing arts experiences are available right here in Danville,” Norton Center Executive Director Steve Hoffman said. “Anyone who visits the Norton Center knows that there isn’t a bad seat in the house.”

The season kicks off with Tami Neilson on Sept. 11 in Weisiger Theatre, followed by virtuosic Swedish folk duo Symbio (Sept. 30). Step Afrika! (Nov. 13), a dance company dedicated to the African-American tradition of “stepping,” will bring energy and passion to the stage this fall.

Blockbuster Broadway hits Chicago: The Musical (Oct. 11) and Hairspray (Nov. 1) highlight the fall schedule, while CATS (Feb. 27) and fan-favorite Pirates of Penzance (Mar. 24) will arrive in spring of 2023.

“We had huge success with our Broadway performances last year, and this year will be no different,” Hoffman said. “The local community can see world-class Broadway performances at great prices and enjoy everything Danville has to offer.”

Harry Potter fans will not want to miss the hilarious “unauthorized Harry experience” of all seven books being performed in 70 fast-paced minutes in Potted Potter on Dec. 1. From there, Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy return to Newlin Hall to perform with their musical family in A Celtic Family Christmas on Dec. 9. Fun and festive programs highlight this year’s Norton Center schedule, including the a capella social media sensations Voctave performing Broadway and Disney favorites Feb. 17. Acclaimed pianist Dominic Cheli (Feb. 24) will perform “The Sound of Paintings” on the Weisiger Theatre stage in a truly unique performance that includes inspirational visual art that influenced classical music.

Country music legends Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss will be “Together at Last” for a tour this season, arriving at the Norton Center on Mar. 10.

“Two icons like Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss will be one you won’t want to miss,” Hoffman said. “They are friends who will share heartwarming stories and both be on stage together to sing their biggest hits.”

Another highlight of the spring schedule: Maestro musicians Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer with special guest Rakesh Chaurasia (April 27). They have together been nominated for 47 Grammy Awards, with 21 combined Grammys, including one for the trio’s own recording.

Legendary rock group The Guess Who, best known for 14 Top 40 charted hits including “American Woman,” will rock out April 14. Circus DuBois, featured in the smash hit film, The Greatest Showman, will perform May 4. The season concludes with an astonishing concert performed by Galvin Cello Quartet in Weisiger Theatre on May 12.

In a very special collaboration between the Norton Center, Centre College and the Danville-Boyle County African American Historical Society, the Norton Center will play host to the “We Were Here”: The African American Experiences in Boyle County art exhibition, a free exhibit featuring photographs, artifacts and oral histories from the Danville-Boyle County African American Historical Society. Two fall performances will tie directly into the exhibit: Makin’ Cake (Oct. 4), featuring creative change agent and writer Dasha Kelly Hamilton; Crystal Wilkinson, Kentucky’s current Poet Laureate and Casey County native; and Danville native Frank X Walker, the first African-American writer to be named Kentucky Poet Laureate. Eric Owens and singers from the Curtis Opera Theatre perform Nov. 19. Each event will feature a free community conversation.

“Artistic storytelling has long been our goal at the Norton Center, and the We Were Here Project is no different,” Hoffman said. “It’s an extensive campus and community collaboration that will bring esteemed authors, artists, and educators together to build bridges for our connected future.”

The Norton Center Box Office and lobby is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Skip the line and purchase tickets through our website, www.NortonCenter.com. You can unlock the best perks the Norton Center has to offer by packaging three or more shows and becoming a subscriber. Learn more about the season by visiting nortoncenter.com, emailing nortoncenter@centre.edu or calling the Box Office at 859-236-4692. The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, provides operating support to the Norton Center for the Arts with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

2022-23 Norton Center Performing Arts Season

“We Were Here”: The African American Experience in Boyle County Art Exhibition — August 2022 through May 2023

Sponsored by Farmers National Bank with support from the Kentucky Oral History Commission, Kentucky Humanities Council, Centre College Office of Diversity and Inclusion and many others.

2022

• Sept. 11: Tami Neilson

• Sept. 30: Symbio

• Oct. 4: Makin’ Cake and Other Stories, featuring Dasha Kelly Hamilton, Crystal Wilkinson and Frank X Walker, sponsored by Farmers National Bank

• Oct. 11: Chicago: The Musical

• Nov. 1: Hairspray

• Nov. 13: Step Afrika!

• Nov. 19: Eric Owens and singers from The Curtis Opera Theatre, sponsored by Farmers National Bank

• Dec. 1: Potted Potter

• Dec. 9: Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy present: A Celtic Family Christmas, sponsored by Ephraim McDowell Health

2023

• Feb. 17: Voctave

• Feb. 24: Dominic Cheli: The Sound of Paintings

• Feb. 27: CATS

• Mar. 10: Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss: Together at Last, sponsored by Stuart Powell Ford Lincoln Mazda

• Mar. 24: The Pirates of Penzance

• April 14: The Guess Who, sponsored by G&J Pepsi

• April 27: Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer with special guest Rakesh Chaurasia

• May 4: Circus DuBois

• May 12: Galvin Cello Quartet