‘Back to the Future,’ ‘Parade,’ ‘& Juliet’ coming to Des Moines stage
Get your cornstalks and DeLoreans ready. Des Moines Performing Arts releases its 2024-25 season with a schedule of five musicals and one play in the package along with three add-on shows, considered some of the biggest hits on Broadway.
“All of the six shows in our package are brand-new shows,” said Jeff Chelesvig, president and CEO at Des Moines Performing Arts. “Des Moines audiences will be among the first in the country to see these shows and that’s a great feather in our cap.”
Starting March 26, season ticketholders may pick up seats for “Back to the Future: The Musical,” “Shucked,” “Life of Pi,” “Some Like it Hot,” “& Juliet” and “Parade.” The add-ons include Santino Fontana performing with the Des Moines Symphony, “Chicago,” “Hadestown,” and a two-week engagement of “Hamilton.”
This season also marks the 20th anniversary for the Willis Broadway Series.
Here’s a look at the 2024-25 season:
‘Back to the Future: The Musical’
Fire up the DeLorean, and go back to the future. Marty McFly, Doc Brown and the DeLorean take audiences “Back to the Future” in Des Moines Oct. 15-20. The eccentric scientist takes Marty back to 1955, and the teen accidentally changes history. The team has to fix the present to change the past. Get the DeLorean to 88 mph and travel back in time.
“We’re getting it way ahead of time,” said Chelesvig, who first saw “Back to the Future: The Musical” in London. “This is really unique in that this show is a current show from the current season on Broadway. So this is a rarity that it will be going out on tour. It’s still eligible for a Tony or Tony Awards for this season.”
‘Shucked’
“Shucked,” the Tony Award–winning musical comedy, makes a stop in Des Moines Jan. 28-Feb. 2, 2025. The corn-bred comedy takes place in the fictional Cob County, where the corn sustains the community. When the corn starts to die, farmgirl Maizy heads to Tampa for help. It’s a bit corny, but audiences love it.
“’Shucked’ is just plain fun,” Chelesvig said. “I went into it having no expectations and cried laughing through the whole thing.”
‘Life of Pi’
The Tony Award-winning play “Life of Pi” takes the stage at the Des Moines Civic Center Feb. 25-March 2, 2025. The play tells the story of Pi, a 16-year-old boy shipwrecked in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Royal Bengal tiger. The production, told through puppetry for the animals, tells a tale of perseverance.
Des Moines Performing Arts helped finance this production as part of the Independent Presenters Network, a consortium of 40 leading Broadway presenters, theaters, and performing arts centers.
Chelesvig first saw this production in London, “I just found this to be such a moving show, and I went in not knowing the story or the film. I went in cold and really, really enjoyed it a lot,” he said.
‘Some Like It Hot’
The new musical “Some Like It Hot” earned 13 Tony Award nominations last year, the most of any production last season, and now the production heads to Des Moines March 18-23, 2025. Des Moines Performing Arts invested in the show based on the MGM film of the same name.
The madcap caper of a musical set in Chicago during Prohibition tells the story of two musicians who flee the Windy City after witnessing a murder by gangsters. With the mob on their tails, they dress in drag and catch a cross-country train for a life-chasing, life-changing trip.
‘& Juliet’
What happens if Juliet didn’t take her own life after faking her death only to find Romeo dead when she reawakens? The Broadway musical “& Juliet” looks into just that to give Juliet Capulet a second chance to fall in love in a jukebox musical pumped up with pop icons such as “Since U Been Gone‚” “Roar,” “Baby One More Time,” “Larger Than Life‚” “That’s The Way It Is,“and “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”
The show, which Des Moines Performing Arts invested in, comes to Des Moines May 6 -11, 2025.
‘Parade’
The revival of “Parade” comes to Des Moines July 29– Aug. 3, 2025. The production dramatizes the rape and murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan in Georgia, the accusation of Jewish factory manager Leo Frank, her boss, as the culprit, and the 1913 trial that led to Frank’s conviction. A group kidnaps Frank and lynches him. The revival of this production notes that Frank’s case was reopened in 2019.
“I’m a big fan of ‘Parade’ because of Jason Robert Brown,” Chelesvig said of the composer of “Parade.” “We had a really great relationship with him as we opened his ‘Bridges of Madison County’ tour a few years ago.”
Add-on packages
Ticketholders can add on any or all of three shows and a Des Moines Symphony production.
“It’s hard to believe that this will be our third engagement of ‘Hamilton’ when there are still cities that are getting it for the first time,” Chelesvig said. “And ‘Hadestown’ was such a big hit.”
The coming season also marks the sixth visit by “Chicago.”
Santino Fontana with The Des Moines Symphony
Tony Award-winner Santino Fontana takes the stage on Oct. 5 to perform at the Des Moines Civic Center for the first time. The evening includes fan favorite songs combined with Fontana’s stories about working with actors including James Earl Jones and Ryan Gosling.
He appeared in Broadway shows including “Tootsie,” “Hello, Dolly!,” “Act One,” “Cinderella,” and “The Importance of Being Earnest.”
‘Chicago’
All Roxie Hart wants is to go from chorus girl to vaudeville star. When she’s thrown in jail for killing her lover after he tries to end their affair, she gets a taste of fame as can only happen in “Chicago.” See it Dec. 6-8.
The show last visited Des Moines in 2018.
‘Hadestown’
Don’t look back. “Hadestown” returns to Des Moines April 11-13, 2025, with its eight Tony Awards in 2019. This musical combines the mythic tales of Orpheus and Eurydice and King Hades and his wife Persephone, all on a journey to the underworld and back. The show was so popular in 2022 that it’s making a return visit.
‘Hamilton’
“Hamilton” makes a third stop in Des Moines June 3-15, 2025. The story of the birth of America told in musical form takes the vantage point of founding father Alexander Hamilton with a score that brings together hiphop with jazz and R&B. The show last made a stop in Des Moines in 2022.
Where to buy tickets
Visit desmoinesperformingarts.org.
Free outdoor shows
Des Moines Performing Arts also announced seven outdoor programs for 2024. All of the family-friendly events are free.
‘The Secret Agency’
The outdoor season kicks off with “The Secret Agency,” a story told by Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, a Grammy Award-winning, internationally touring, purple velvet tuxedo-wearing family. Shows take place May 16-17.
‘Ants’
Children can join in the fun as giant “Ants” take over June 12-15. The interactive performance gives kids a chance to explore the area around them from a new perspective.
‘El Circo’
Get to know Budineto the lion, Ariadna the tight-rope walker, Ursus the weightlifter, a clown, a trapeze artist, and the circus band during “El Circo” July 10-13. This big top thriller presented through marionette puppets includes Spanish language performances.
‘Squonk Brouhaha’
Music and audience participation are some of the calling cards of the Squonkcordion, a gigantic musical instrument with bellows and topped with tubas. “Squonk Brouhaha” on Aug. 9-11 gives the audience a chance to play this mega instrument.
Storytime under the Green Umbrella
Head to Cowles Commons on select Wednesdays and Saturday from June through August for stories told under the “Crusoe Umbrella” by Claes Oldenburg. These events aimed at toddlers, preschoolers and early elementary aged children include songs and stories.
Yoga on Cowles Commons
On the first Wednesday in June through August, head to Cowles Commons for a free yoga workout surrounded by an estimated 12,000 perennials and the bustle of downtown Des Moines.
Dancing on Cowles Commons
Try MixxedFit, a “people-inspired fitness program that combines explosive dance moves with body weight toning.” The class takes place on Cowles Commons on June 30 and Aug. 25.
Where to find times and dates for free shows
For more information including times and dates, visit desmoinesperformingarts.org.