Jefferson Performing Arts Society

Jefferson Performing Arts Society

JPAS 45th Season: 2022-2023

Mainstage Series | Season Specials | Theatre Kids!

Mainstage Series

Teatro Wego | Westwego

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Book by Rupert Holmes | Music by Melissa Manchester
Lyrics by Sharon Vaughn

September 16-October 2, 2022

Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm | Sundays at 2:00pm

Teatro Wego! | 177 Sala Avenue, Westwego, LA

Bring Your Boa To This Bawdy and Bodacious, Sweet and Sassy Musical! 

Sweet Potato Queens is a high-powered musical that tells the story of Jill and her closest friends and how they learn to grab life by the sequins, feathers, and tiaras to live their lives on their own terms…as big as a parade! Based on the wildly successful 1980s Sweet Potato Queens books by Mississippi based writer Jill Conner Browne, this colorful, upbeat show features a writing dream team of pop music and Broadway song icons Melissa Manchester, Rupert Holmes and Sharon Vaughn.

Jefferson Performing Arts Center | Metairie

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Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda | Book by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda

October 7-16, 2022

Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm | Sundays at 2:00pm

Jefferson Performing Arts Center | 6400 Airline Drive, Metairie, LA

In the Heights is a Tony-Award winning musical with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story is set over the course of three days, involving characters in the largely Dominican American neighborhood of Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan, New York City.

In the Heights centers on Usnavi, a bodega owner who looks after the aging Cuban lady next door while trying to woo the gorgeous woman working in the neighboring beauty salon, all the while dreaming of winning the lottery and returning to his native Dominican Republic.  When his childhood friend Nina returns to the neighborhood after her first year at college with surprising news, the close-knit residents can feel the changes coming to their community.

This revolutionary and celebratory new musical combines Latin rhythms and dance with hip-hop lyrics to tell a captivating story about what it means to chase your dreams as you cling to your roots.

Jefferson Performing Arts Center | Metairie

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Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Book by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge

December 2-11, 2022

Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm | Sundays at 2:00pm

Jefferson Performing Arts Center | 6400 Airline Drive, Metairie, LA

Celebrate all holidays in this clever romantic comedy based on the 1940s film! 

Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical is a 2016 Broadway musical based on the Paramount Pictures 1942 film of the same name. The libretto is by  Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Based on the classic film, this joyous musical features thrilling dance numbers, laugh-out-loud comedy, and a parade of hit Irving Berlin songs, including “Blue Skies,” “Easter Parade,” “Steppin’ Out With My Baby,” “Heat Wave,” and “White Christmas.” Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn tells the story of Jim, who leaves the bright lights of show business behind to settle down on his farmhouse in Connecticut. He quickly discovers life isn’t the same without a bit of song and dance. So Jim and Linda, a spirited schoolteacher with talent to spare, turn the farmhouse into a fabulous inn that celebrates each holiday, from Thanksgiving to the Fourth of July.

Teatro Wego | Westwego

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by Dorothy Marcic

January 27 - February 12, 2023

Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm | Sundays at 2:00pm

Teatro Wego! | 177 Sala Avenue, Westwego, LA

A song-filled journey full of soul and history! 

This joyful musical follows five women as they come together to clean out their matriarch’s home and discover fragments of their past. As they share stories and memories, they honor black women throughout history while performing top hits from the 1930s to the 1990s, from Billie Holiday to Beyonce. Based on real interviews with African American women, this uplifting show contains a range of emotions and sing-a-long soulful tunes for all generations, from “Oh, Happy Day,” “Mr. Big Stuff,” and “I Will Survive” to “Tyrone,” “I am Not My Hair,” and “A Woman’s Worth.”

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Jefferson Performing Arts Center | Metairie

MurderontheOrientExpress

by Agatha Christie 
adapted by Ken Ludwig

 March 10-19, 2023

Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm | Sundays at 2:00pm

Jefferson Performing Arts Center | 6400 Airline Drive, Metairie, LA

Agatha Christie’s ultimate mystery novel is now an elegant comedic thriller! 

Murder on the Orient Express is widely regarded as one of Agatha Christie’s greatest literary achievements. This theatrical adaption by Tony-nominated playwright Ken Ludwig is a stylish, suspenseful murder mystery about an unlikely cast of potential suspects - including a colonel, a princess and a countess, all with alibis – trapped aboard the luxurious Orient Express. The gruesome murder of a commuter in his cabin forces famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot to investigate. Ludwig’s stage adaptation promises fans of the mystery classic the same suspenseful, thrilling ride.

Ludwig, whose show A Comedy of Tenors concluded the JPAS Spring 2021 season, was approached by the Agatha Christie estate to adapt the novel, resulting in what has now become the most highly produced comedy-mystery in the world.

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Teatro Wego | Westwego

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by William Goldman
based on the novel by Stephen King

March 23-April 2, 2023

Thursdays, Fridays, & Saturdays at 7:30pm | Sundays at 2:00pm

Teatro Wego! | 177 Sala Avenue, Westwego, LA

MISERY Loves Company! Join us for the stage version of Stephen King’s novel! 

Based on the novel by quintessential horror writer Stephen King, Misery tells the story of novelist Paul Sheldon as he transitions from writing historical romances featuring heroine Misery Chastain to publishing literary fiction. Annie Wilkes, Sheldon's number one fan, rescues the author from the scene of a car accident. The former nurse takes care of him in her remote house but becomes irate when she discovers that the author has killed Misery off in his latest book. Annie keeps Sheldon prisoner while forcing him to write a book that brings Misery back to life.

The stage adaptation is by two-time Academy Award winner William Goldman, who penned the 1990 screen version of the 1987 novel.

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Season Specials

Season Special! Jefferson Performing Arts Center | Metairie

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Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Based on “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by E. T. A. Hoffmann

December 17 & 18, 2022

Saturday & Sunday at 2:00pm

Jefferson Performing Arts Center | 6400 Airline Drive, Metairie, LA

Toy soldiers, the Mouse King, and the Sugar Plum Fairy--experience these classic characters again this holiday season as part of the fantastical journey with The Nutcracker. Travel to the Land of Sweets with Clara as she befriends a nutcracker who comes to life on Christmas Eve to wage a battle against the evil Mouse King. This dancing and dreaming fantasy reminds us of the importance of imagination, love and childhood.

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JPAS THEATRE KIDS!

JPAS Theatre Kids! Jefferson Performing Arts Center | Metairie

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Book by James Lapine
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Based on classic fairy tales 

October 28–30

Friday at 7:30pm | Saturday at 2:00pm & 7:30pm | Sunday at 2:00pm

Jefferson Performing Arts Center | 6400 Airline Drive, Metairie, LA

Inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, Into the Woods, Jr. drives home how no one is alone, and how there is always a glimmer of hope and inspiration in the face of adversity, challenges, and tragedy. The mix-match group of reluctant fairy tale characters learn the meaning of empathy and perseverance as they pursue their hopes and dreams in a world that seems to be stacked against them.