Hancher Auditorium announces 2017-18 shows

IOWA CITY — Hancher Auditorium's doors opened with fanfare Sept. 9, and in the nearly nine months since, more than 100,000 people have stepped into a new era for the University of Iowa's premiere arts and entertainment venue.

The first year has flown by for Chuck Swanson, Hancher's executive director.

'It is so hard to believe,' he said. The staff received the keys to the building June 1, and now that the first season has ended, he said it feels like the fastest of his 32 years with the organization.

'It was just a pure joy ride,' he said. 'A lot of hard work. Our staff just blew it out of the water — a lot of 60-, 70-hour weeks, but what an amazing opening, and Hancher, Hancher, Hancher deserved that. Hancher is loved, and so much love went into this building, and so much love and support went into the eight years we didn't have the building.'

The public's excitement also has translated to record box office receipts topping $4 million with 30 ticketed events, some offering multiple performances.

The first Hancher Auditorium opened in 1972, then was ruined in the summer floods of 2008 that impacted so much of the UI's arts campus, located along the banks of the raging Iowa River.

Hancher's programming continued on other stages and spaces throughout the Corridor and across the state, from the Englert Theatre in Iowa City and the Riverside Casino Event Center to the front lawn at Brucemore mansion in Cedar Rapids and parks in Des Moines, Council Bluffs and Muscatine.

NEW FACILITY

The first year back under one roof 'surpassed my wildest dreams,' said programming director Jacob Yarrow, who joined the staff in 2009.

'We took a lot of chances and everything has worked so well,' he said. 'It's been wonderful how the community has embraced the new facility, and wonderful that the new facility is a great place to experience all sorts of art.'

The $176 million structure — funded by dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, UI, insurance and private donations — sits on higher ground overlooking a vast green space where the former building stood. The timeline included more than a year of exploring building site possibilities; 30 months of design work; 30 months of construction, beginning in May 2013, with more than 200 skilled workers on-site on a given day.

The 191,977-square-foot showpiece features a large lobby with a gift shop; 1,800-seat main auditorium with an adjacent rehearsal hall that also offers flexible seating for 100 to 200 people for intimate music and dance performances; as well as the second-floor Stanley Cafe and terraces offering sweeping views outdoors. Another 200 parking spaces are to be available by the end of summer, Swanson noted.

'So much anticipation was a part of this (project),' he said. ' ...

This year just couldn't have been more spectacular, from the standpoint of the artists to the audience, to our university, to our community, to the region, the state, and really, to the country and to the world. There were a lot of artists from across the globe and across the country that were a big part of this.'

With a new building comes a steep learning curve and a few glitches, from a fog machine tripping a fire alarm during a Step Afrika performance in October, to an incident April 29 when an elevator got stuck, trapping a patron for about an hour and 15 minutes before repairmen got it running again.

'We hated it — it was traumatic,' Swanson said, 'but I think we've been fortunate that more things have not happened.'

Plans are in place to deal with emergencies indoors and out, from storms to fires. 'We have to be trained,' he said, which is why Hancher uses paid, trained ushers, not volunteers, among its event staff.

NEW SEASON

So how do you top an inaugural season that brought in Steve Martin and Martin Short; opera diva Renee Fleming; a new setting of 'The Nutcracker' ballet for the Joffrey, led by Christopher Wheeldon, one of the world's most sought-after choreographers; cellist Yo-Yo Ma; and the Boston Pops?

With the return of former 'Hamilton' star Leslie Odom Jr., for a free outdoor concert Sept. 14; a lecture by journalist Cokie Roberts; violinist Joshua Bell; Broadway tours of 'The King and I,' 'Motown: The Musical' and 'Kinky Boots'; two circuses; the a cappella stylings of Straight No Chaser; the New York City Ballet MOVES, featuring Iowa City native Miriam Miller; and the Chicago Symphony, to name a few.

'It's all really exciting,' Yarrow said. 'Each event has its own unique and exciting element to it.'

However, he won't be able to experience the fruits of his labors. June 1 is his final day at Hancher, before stepping into his new role as executive director of the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University in California. He'll be taking with him 'everything' he learned at Hancher, including one of its hallmarks.

'The way that a performing arts center can be an integral part of a community and a campus will translate very well to that location,' he said, adding that he'll miss 'the opportunity to work with our communities in the region to create really impactful engagements between artists and audiences.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com

Upcoming Season

Here is a look at the 2017-2018 season at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City. For more information, go to hancher.uiowa.edu.

AUGUST

24 and 25 — Monica Bill Barnes & Co.: 'Happy Hour' (dance)

SEPTEMBER

13: Cokie Roberts — 'An Insider's View of Washington, D.C.' (lecture)

14: Leslie Odom Jr. (free outdoor performance)

22: The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis (black tie-optional gala)

28: Flip FabriQue — 'Catch Me!' (circus)

30: Niyaz — 'The Fourth Light Project' ('Embracing Complexity' project)

OCTOBER

5: La Santa Cecilia (Latin band)

8: G. Willow Wilson — 'A Superhero for Generation Why' (lecture)

10 to 14: 'The King and I' (Broadway musical)

20: Joshua Bell, violin; Alessio Bax, piano

24 and 25: New York City Ballet MOVES (featuring Iowa City native Miriam Miller)

27: Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra — 'The Outer Space'

28: Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra — 'No Place to Go'

NOVEMBER

16: A Far Cry — 'The Blue Hour' with vocalist Luciana Souza

DECEMBER

1: Terence Blanchard (trumpet) featuring The E-Collective (jazz)

8: Straight No Chaser (a cappella harmonies)

13: Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy — 'A Celtic Family Christmas' (Canadian fiddlers)

JANUARY

27: Camille A. Brown & Dancers — 'Ink'

FEBRUARY

2 and 3: Billy Childs Quartet (jazz)

8: Amir ElSaffar and Rivers of Sound ('Embracing Complexity' project)

25: Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan — 'Formosa'

MARCH

1 to 4: 'Motown: The Musical' (Broadway musical)

6: Elias String Quartet

21: 'My Lai' — Kronos Quartet, Rinde Eckert, Van-Anh Vanessa Vo

28: Brian Stokes Mitchell (stage and screen star) with University Symphony Orchestra

APRIL

4: 'Feathers of Fire: A Persian Epic' ('Embracing Complexity' project)

3 to 8: Mission Creek Festival

13 to 15: 'Kinky Boots' (Broadway musical)

19: DakhaBrakha (Ukrainian band)

21: Circa — 'Carnival of the Animals' (circus)

25: Circa — 'Opus' (circus)

28: Taylor Mac — 'A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (Abridged)' (music and theatrics)

MAY

6: Chicago Symphony Orchestra

25 and 26: Zeshan Bagewadi and the Transistors ('Embracing Complexity' project)

TICKETS

Donors: On sale now to Hancher donors at the $1,000 and above level, through the order form in their new season brochure.

Public: July 7, Hancher Box Office, (319) 335-1160, 1-800-426-2437 or Hancher.uiowa.edu