This semester, ASU's Gammage Auditorium is playing host to seven Broadway hits.
The 2008 theater season is packed with popular productions, with themes ranging from knights and barbers to weddings and angry men.
"One of the things we wanted to do in this season was to have all of Broadway's best," said, Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, gammage executive director.
"Broadway's best" includes the big gangbusters like "The Color Purple," though the theater will also host classic Broadway shows such as "Twelve Angry Men" and "My Fair Lady," she said.
The other four productions to hit Gammage this semester include "Camelot," "Sweeney Todd," "The Wedding Singer" and "High School Musical."
Jennings-Roggensack decides first hand the selection of shows that will be performed at Gammage each season.
"We try to look at a mixture of work that's work that people know, [or] work that people might think they know but is being done differently, and brand new work," she said.
"Camelot," which opened Tuesday night and runs until Jan. 20, is already close to selling out several of its future shows, Jennings-Roggensack said.
Ashley Warren, a theater sophomore and frequent Gammage patron, said she's interested in seeing "Sweeney Todd," April 15 through 20, and "The Color Purple," March 11 through 23, with friends this semester.
"If it's a big name like 'Sweeney Todd,' then I'm definitely gong to make the time to go see it," she said.
"Sweeney Todd" is also a movie currently in theatres, starring Johnny Depp.
"The Wedding Singer," playing May 20 through 25, and "High School Musical," June 24 through 29, are also popular big screen hits making their appearance on the Gammage stage this semester.
With "Twelve Angry Men," playing Feb. 19 through 24, many high school and college students will find the material familiar if they have read the book in class, Jennings-Roggensack said.
However, she predicts "The Color Purple" and "My Fair Lady," which are both showing June 17 through 22, will be the biggest productions of the season because "they are classics that people really love," she said.
Jessica Potter, a political science junior, said the more popular shows with big names would spark her interest to go.
When it comes to student discount tickets, going in a group is a viable option.
"If the fraternities, sororities or the residential halls get together, we do discounts with groups," Jennings-Roggensack said. "We actually have a lot of new classmen that have their own season seats."
Reach the reporter at: lauren.misak@asu.edu.
