RiverCenter Announces 2024-2025 Season
RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, our hub for local arts and entertainment, recently announced their 2024-2025 season with an exciting lineup unlike anything that’s ever come through the RiverCenter before.
Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Live in Concert, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and Wheel of Fortune Live! will all kick off national tours right here in Columbus, where local audiences will be the first to experience these shows before they set off to tour the country, says RiverCenter’s Marketing Manager Lauren Jenkins.
“This season is a step in a new, exciting direction for the RiverCenter,” says RiverCenter’s Marketing Manager Sarah Algoe. “We’re inviting more national musical touring acts that have never been seen before in Columbus, as well as a stellar lineup of Broadway shows. Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in Concert will both feature live orchestra performances coordinated with large scale screenings of the animated films, offering a fully immersive and one-of-a-kind experience sure to appeal to new and experienced fans alike. “We hope that this season will be an invitation for audiences that may have never been to the RiverCenter to experience what we have to offer,” says Algoe.
In September, the Buddhist monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery will take up residence in Columbus while they create a mandala in the RiverCenter’s lobby. Their work will be livestreamed and open for free to public viewing, in a unique opportunity to witness the quiet beauty of this sacred ritual.
From spooky to mysterious to downright mean, RiverCenter’s 2024-2025 Broadway series offers a vibrant, expansive lineup of shows full of drama, laughter, singing, and dancing, with three shows never before seen in Columbus. The lineup includes The Addams Family, Mean Girls, Dear Evan Hansen, Chicago, and Ain’t Too Proud.
The season’s concert series has an exciting lineup for music lovers, with a variety of styles from country star Trace Adkins the songwriting blues and folk prowess of Keb’ Mo’ and Shawn Colvin with special guest Paul Kelley. For the jazz lovers, a performance called Jazz at the Lincoln Center: The New Orleans Songbook is scheduled for March of 2025.
Local contestants will have the once in a lifetime chance to spin the big wheel and participate in the tour launch of Wheel of Fortune Live! on September 22. Can you solve the puzzle? Come find out.
The holiday season will be full of cheer at the RiverCenter, with a lineup of festive performances including Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Christmas with C.S. Lewis, and a special musical performance called Christmas with THE WAVE, featuring multiple organists playing holiday music. The annual Gingerbread Village will be open December 4-22.
THE WAVE, RiverCenter’s theatre organ, became a local hit when it took up residency in Columbus in 2021. This season, RiverCenter plans to delight audiences with three separate opportunities to experience THE WAVE in conjunction with silent film viewings of 1920’s classics: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Sunrise, and Steamboat Bill JR.
Little ones are in for a treat with their own special events this season. RiverCenter’s ArtsReach series offers school matinee experiences for children. The season’s lineup includes The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System, and Dot Dot Dot: A New Musical.
Don’t want to miss a single show? RiverCenter offers season subscription options with discounts as well as single show tickets. For more information, visit rivercenter.org or call the RiverCenter box office at (706) 256-3612 Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
By Natalie Downey