Theater News

Gavin Creel, Hunter Foster, and Celia Keenan-Bolger to Celebrate Maize & Blue on Broadway

Sheldon Harnick, Erin Dilly, and Darren Criss will make special appearances.

Gavin Creel is among the performers set to participate in Maize & Blue on Broadway.
Gavin Creel is among the performers set to participate in Maize & Blue on Broadway.
(© David Gordon)

Gavin Creel (She Loves Me), Hunter Foster (The Bridges of Madison County), Celia Keenan-Bolger (The Glass Menagerie), and a host of other Michigan musical theater alumni will perform in Maize & Blue on Broadway on May 16 at the August Wilson Theatre. The one-night-only benefit concert will celebrate the University of Michigan and its renowned Musical Theatre Department, as well as honor its longtime chair, Brent Wagner.

Produced by a committee of Michigan musical theater alumni including Tony-Award winner Matthew Rego, Maize & Blue on Broadway will also feature Jennifer Laura Thompson (Nice Work If You Can Get It), Alexander Gemignani (Violet), Daniel Reichard (Jersey Boys), Barrett Foa (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Tuck Everlasting), Jenni Barber (The Nance), David Burtka (It Shoulda Been You), Whitney Bashor (The Bridges of Madison County), Nick Blaemire (Godspell), Doug LaBrecque (Something Wonderful), and Brynn O'Malley (Honeymoon in Vegas), with special appearances by lyricist Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof), actor Darren Criss (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), and actor Erin Dilly (A Christmas Story The Musical).

The concert will include material from the musical theater canon including Rent, Spring Awakening, Urinetown, Guys and Dolls, and songs from some of Michigan’s Award-winning composers including Jeff Marx (Avenue Q) and Andrew Lippa (Big Fish), and a new song from Tony Award nominees Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen). Direction, choreography, and musical direction will be provided by Linda Goodrich, Josh Rhodes, Ben Whiteley, and more.

The concert will mark the inaugural fundraising event for the Michigan Musical Theatre Ambassador Endowment Fund (MMTAEF), which was created by the department's alumni to provide an ongoing source of financial support for the growing needs of the thriving program. One hundred percent of the proceeds from ticket sales of Maize & Blue on Broadway will go directly to the fund.

For tickets and more information, click here.