Curtains up! ASU Gammage unveils 2017-2018 Broadway lineup

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State University’s Gammage Auditorium raised the curtain on its 2017-2018 Broadway lineup at a special event on Monday night.

“We have a winning combination of shows on our biggest season ever,” Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, executive director for ASU Gammage and associate vice president cultural affairs for ASU, said in a release.

“This season is an embarrassment of riches, and we’re loving every minute of it.”

The lineup is headlined by Tony Award-winning “Hamilton,” a play that took the Broadway world by storm after it made its debut two years ago and saw its writer, Lin-Manuel Miranda, surge into stardom.

It tells the story of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, who was instrumental during the Revolutionary War and later became the nation’s first Treasury secretary. It also uses hip-hop to tell the story, instead of the more traditional Broadway style of song.

“Hamilton” will be at Gammage from Jan. 30 to Feb. 25.

“It’s such an honor to bring this show to Arizona,” Jennings-Roggensack said. “ASU Gammage continues to be a leader in touring Broadway.”

The upcoming season will also feature revivals of several classics, such as “The King and I” and “The Color Purple.”

Monday’s announcement came just two weeks after a more than $9 million remodel of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed auditorium was opened to the public.

The renovation expanded women’s restrooms — 70 stalls were added — as well as added two elevators on the exterior of the building.

“The whole goal was to keep this distinct but complementary transition from the existing to the new, where you can keep that glow of the show and go into this beautiful restroom that recharges you,” Beau Dromiak, the project’s design director, said when the project was opened.

“You’re not waiting, you’re not getting stressed, and then you head back all refreshed and ready for the show.”

Check out the full 2017-2018 Gammage lineup in the gallery below.

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