Photos are by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade courtesy BOND Theatrical
By RAEGAN NEUFELD
Tiger Media Network
The 2024-25 Encore Series at Fort Hays State University opens at 7:30 p.m. on Monday in the Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center with the Broadway musical ‘Dear Evan Hansen.’
Since 1981, the Encore Series has brought a variety of nationally touring shows to FHSU for students, faculty and staff and community members to enjoy. According to Special Events Committee Chair Edie McCracken, the goal is to bring a diverse range of performances to Hays that people wouldn’t see otherwise.
“We’re not trying to compete with locally produced productions by any means, but they’re things that you might otherwise go to Denver or Kansas City or Wichita to see,” she said.
‘Dear Evan Hansen’ opened on Broadway in 2016, winning six Tony awards and a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. It tells the story of high school student Evan Hansen and his desire to fit in, touching on topics like social media, bullying and building a community.
The show previously toured from 2021 to 2023, which included a stop in Wichita last year.
“It is a show that we’ve received feedback from people here that they really wanted to see,” McCracken said. “And after seeing it [in Wichita] and seeing the tech set up and the scope of it, getting the opportunity to bring it here when it was mentioned, I was just really excited for the opportunity.”
To decide what to bring to Hays, the Special Events Committee – which consists of faculty and staff, student and community representatives – watches videos and listens to audio from potential shows. They also collaborate with other venues in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa to build a tour together. The committee then negotiates with booking agencies and starts working on marketing, setting up catering for the company and preparing for the events.
McCracken credited the success of the Encore Series partly to technical director Luke LeCount and his crew, who for ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ will be providing 53 stagehands.
“Sometimes, when you’re loading in and out in a day, it can be challenging,” McCracken said. “But [touring companies] know our crew works hard and takes it seriously and has great experience. So that definitely helps us to find some of the larger shows.”
She also mentioned Hays’s support for the arts and how that has helped keep the Encore Series going.
“It’s not typical for our size of venue to be in a community of this size,” she said. “Because of all of that support, because the university had the foresight to build Beach Schmidt Performing Arts Center, it’s really brought a lot of opportunities here that the community has embraced along with our students and faculty and staff. It gives us more options and more things to do.”
Tickets for the show can be purchased online before Monday night on the Encore Series webpage or by calling 785-628-5305. Any unsold tickets will also be available the night of the show at the box office in Sheridan Hall starting at 6:45 p.m.
Following ‘Dear Evan Hansen,’ the Encore Series will host four more shows. Two are holiday performances and the others are an orchestra and a play. More information about each can be found here.
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