ASU Music Theatre and Opera’s 2025–26 season explores wonder, change, connection
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The Arizona State University Music Theatre and Opera program in the School of Music, Dance and Theatre is thrilled to announce a performance season filled with fantasy, transformation and community.
This year’s season includes two musicals, two operas and one student-led musical production. In addition, individual student performances include two cabarets and a music theater showcase.
“We chose an opera season that would provide an opportunity for our students to explore whimsy with ‘L'enfant et les sortilèges,’ and social justice through ‘Flight,’” said David Radamés Toro, interim artistic director of ASU opera and assistant professor. “Both pieces will challenge them musically and dramatically and allow them to expand their knowledge of 20th-century opera.”
"Our season of musicals explores whose voices get heard, whose are suppressed and how harmony is forged from conflict," said Toby Yatso, interim artistic director of ASU music theater and clinical assistant professor. “We choose our season to reflect and nurture our students’ passions for storytelling, comedy, stylistic exploration and the many dimensions of human expression.”
What's playing this season
The season opens with a semi-staged production of “L'enfant et les sortileges” (The child and the magic spells). A collaboration between ASU Music Theatre and Opera and ASU Orchestras, the opera follows a mischievous child whose temper tantrum sparks a magical chain of events where furniture talks, animals argue and plants sing in protest.
Inspired by Jason Robert Brown’s groundbreaking song cycle, student-led “Songs for a New World” highlights a cast of 12 players on their journey into and through remarkable moments of strength, love, community and change — where one decision has the power to transform the course of your life.
Hijinks and high stakes take center stage in “Curtains,” a musical-comedy murder mystery that pays homage to Golden Age musicals where everyone is a suspect.
Jonathan Dove’s “Flight,” inspired by the life of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, tells the story of a refugee living in an undisclosed international airport. When a storm grounds all flights for the night, the refugee, three couples and an air traffic controller get a lesson in crises and empathy.
“Spring Awakening,” winner of eight Tony Awards, is a coming-of-age story that follows a group of teens in a repressive 19th-century German town as they wrestle with first love, sexual awakening and the consequences of a world that refuses to give them answers.
The student-led "Color Cabaret" helps provide an opportunity for composers, lyricists/librettists and performers of color to create and share performances that speak to their own experience. Through personal connections, including friends and colleagues from all over ASU, the community of creators come from all fields of music theater and opera.
Built on the fundamental concepts of cabaret, the Music Theatre Solo Cabarets presents the works that each class member develops, writes and performs in their own solo act. The Music Theatre Showcase presents the music theater class of 2026 in their final showcase performance, featuring a diverse range of music to highlight the talents of the class.
Tickets are available at the Herberger Institute Box Office three weeks prior to performances. To learn more about this season’s productions and the Music Theatre and Opera program, visit the Music Theatre and Opera website.
Performance schedule
“L’enfant et les sortilèges”
Sept. 21, 4 p.m., Tempe Center for the Arts
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Presented in concert with the ASU Symphony Orchestra
Music by Maurice Ravel
Libretto by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette
Conductor: Alejandro Gómez Guillén
Guest director: Jennifer Seigle
“Songs for a New World”
Oct. 3–4, 7:30 p.m., and Oct. 5, 2 p.m., Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
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Written and composed by Jason Robert Brown
Director: José Antonio Guevara
Conductor/associate stage director: Helen Kohler
Choreography: Molly Virtue
“Curtains”
Nov. 21–22, 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 23, 2 p.m., Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
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Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Book by Rupert Holmes
Director: Chelsea Anderson
Guest music director: Alicia Ferrin
Choreography: Molly Lajoie
“Color Cabaret”
Jan. 24–25, 7:30 p.m., Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
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“Flight”
Feb. 27–28, 7:30 p.m., and March 1, 2 p.m., Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
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Music by Jonathan Dove
Libretto by April De Angelis
Director: David Radamés Toro
Guest conductor: Sara Jobin
“Spring Awakening”
April 24–25, 7:30 p.m., and April 26, 2 p.m., Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
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Music by Duncan Sheik
Book and lyrics by Steven Sater
Director: Michelle Chin
Music Director: Jarrett Moncibaez
Choreography: Youngjoo Jang
Music Theatre Solo Cabarets
April 28–30, 7:30 p.m., ASU Kerr
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Music Theatre Showcase
May 8, 7:30 p.m., Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
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