Broadway talent including two-time Tony Award nominee Tom Wopat, plus an early musical by the songwriters of Dear Evan Hansen, will help enrich FestivalSouth, an annual creative arts festival, June 1–17 at various venues in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Wopat, who earned Tony nominations for his performances in A Catered Affair and Annie Get Your Gun, will open the festival June 1 at 7:30 PM with a concert at The Bottling Company.
The Hub City Players will stage the musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, which boasts a score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land), whose Dear Evan Hansen is up for Best Musical at this year’s Tony Awards. Being offered for three performance June 2–3, James and the Giant Peach has been performed in Seattle, Toronto, Connecticut, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., but has not had a New York production. The FestivalSouth production will be staged at the Mannoni Performing Arts Center.
Kyle Dean Massey, who has appeared on Broadway in in Pippin, Next to Normal, Wicked, and on TV’s Nashville, will perform two concerts of Broadway music, noon and 7:30 PM June 16 at The Bottling Company.
The festival will close 7:30 PM June 17 with Grammy Award winner Patti Austin (Ain’t Misbehavin’) in a full orchestra tribute to Ella Fitzgerald commemorating her 100th birthday. Performance at the Saenger Theater.
Check out complete FestivalSouth programming. Tickets can be ordered by calling (800) 844-8425 or by clicking here.