{"id":2043345,"date":"2025-09-23T10:14:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T10:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2043345"},"modified":"2025-09-23T10:14:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T10:14:00","slug":"these-were-overtures-most-popular-shows-this-season-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/these-were-overtures-most-popular-shows-this-season-entertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"These were Overture\u2019s most popular shows this season | Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

Madisonians want two things from their live entertainment \u2014 familiarity and humor.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople need to laugh,\u201d wrote Jess Schuknecht, director of ticketing at Overture Center, in an email detailing the most-attended shows of the 2024-25 season at the downtown arts center.<\/p>\n

Overture leadership observed a continued trend of \u201cpeople largely going for shows that make them feel good,\u201d he added. \u201cThis being an election year quite probably played into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \n <\/div><\/div>
\n

<\/p>\n

Ticket sales totals provided by Overture Center do not include removed seats or comp tickets for special guests, tour VIPs, promotions or press.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n


\n BRANDON RAYGO<\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n


\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Topping the attendance charts locally were the millennial mixtape pop musical \u201c& Juliet,\u201d the Michael Jackson jukebox \u201cMJ the Musical\u201d and the fifth return of the blockbuster \u201cWicked\u201d (\u201calways close to a sellout,\u201d Schuknecht wrote). Though one \u201cWicked\u201d performance had to be moved in July due to a maintenance issue, some 51,714 tickets were sold for Stephen Schwartz\u2019s witchy show.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Wicked\u2019 is always nostalgic,\u201d said Tim Sauers, chief artistic experiences officer. \u201cIt\u2019s very important to us to have a good subscription base. But we know our audience, and we cultivate (it). I\u2019m thinking about that when I\u2019m booking a season. What\u2019s really going to resonate with people?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"Jessie\n <\/div><\/div>
\n

<\/p>\n

Jessie Davidson as Elphaba and Zoe Jensen as Glinda in the national tour of “Wicked,” which even with a rescheduled show was nearly a sell-out in Overture Hall. “Wicked” has visited Madison five times.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n


\n JOAN MARCUS<\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n


\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Overture Center opened in 2004 and became a private nonprofit in 2010. The center, which hosts nine resident organizations including the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Opera, Forward Theater and Madison Ballet,\u00a0receives $2.17 million in support from the city of Madison<\/a> but operates independently from it. Overture is led by a team of four co-CEOs and a board of directors. As of 2024 it had about a $24 million budget<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Overture saw a more than 17% increase in attendance for Broadway and Overture Presents shows between this past season and the one before, from 160,457 attendees in 2023-24 to 188,733 in the season that just ended.<\/p>\n

Attendance at the tours presented by Broadway Across America<\/a> can swing. A\u00a0season with \u201cHamilton\u201d in it<\/a>, for example, leads to higher attendance numbers. Programming the tour of \u201cFunny Girl\u201d over the New Year\u2019s holiday likely led to lower ticket sales, Sauers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to compare year over year,\u201d Sauers said. \u201cIt all depends what\u2019s on the season. But we\u2019re happy with our numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"Non-Broadway\n <\/div><\/div>
\n

<\/p>\n

“AVATAR the Last Airbender” was the top selling non-Broadway show in Overture Hall during the 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n


\n BRANDON RAYGO<\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n


\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Among the most popular performers in both Overture Hall (capacity about 2,255) and Capitol Theater (1,089) were comedians who\u2019ve played Madison before, like the combined show from Steve Martin and Martin Short, as well as Jerry Seinfeld, Mike Birbiglia and Lewis Black.<\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"ROFM_SET1_NORTHANTS_16_04_2023_DSC_0909.jpg\"\n <\/div><\/div>
\n

<\/p>\n

The tribute band Rumours of Fleetwood Mac appealed to audiences’ sense of nostalgia at Overture Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n


\n COURTESY OF OVERTURE CENTER<\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n


\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cEven Justin Willman, while more magician than comedian, has a very humorous bent to this show,\u201d Schuknecht wrote.<\/p>\n

Family shows, like \u201cBluey\u2019s Big Play,\u201d and some nostalgia acts did well, like Rumours of Fleetwood Mac and the Red Hot Chili Pipers, a Scottish band that covers rock hits. \u201cThe big thing right now with all the agents is tribute, tribute, tribute,\u201d Sauers said.<\/p>\n

Combining a live orchestra with pop culture, like the \u201cHarry Potter\u201d live score series, also tends to draw crowds. \u201cAvatar the Last Airbender\u201d sold out quickly, a \u201cbig surprise\u201d to Sauers, though a similar event with the anime series \u201cNaruto\u201d didn\u2019t sell as well.<\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"Capitol\n <\/div><\/div>
\n

<\/p>\n

In the Capitol Theater, magician Justin Willman was the top seller of the Overture Presents season during the 2024-25 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n


\n BRANDON RAYGO<\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n


\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Sauers aims to give the season as much variety as he can, while paying attention to what audiences are saying \u2014 both in surveys and with their dollars. Schuknecht noted the rise of branded \u201cexperiences\u201d to go along with the shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis past season saw more shows with different VIP experiences\/options,\u201d he wrote, \u201cwhether a soundcheck pre-show, a post-show meet and greet or even a seat in a section where you were guaranteed to be roasted by the comedian on stage. Our OzDust Lounge pre-show event before \u2018Wicked\u2019 also was a great success.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an increased demand for people to have experiences over things, looking for offerings that are shareable on social media and give more than (a) physical item by which to remember a show.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Lindsay Christians<\/a>\u00a0is the food and culture editor at the Cap Times. She earned a master’s degree in theater research from UW-Madison and has been a member of the American Theatre Critics\/Journalists Association since 2007.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Email story ideas and tips to Lindsay at\u00a0lchristians@captimes.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Please consider supporting Lindsay\u2019s work by becoming a\u00a0Cap Times member<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0sponsor<\/a>. Sustaining local journalism in Madison depends on readers like you.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source captimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Madisonians want two things from their live entertainment \u2014 familiarity and humor. \u201cPeople need to laugh,\u201d wrote Jess Schuknecht, director of ticketing at Overture Center, in an email detailing the most-attended shows of the 2024-25 season at the downtown arts center. Overture leadership observed a continued trend of \u201cpeople largely going for shows that make […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2043346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[348091],"class_list":["post-2043345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-arts-and-theatre"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/These-were-Overtures-most-popular-shows-this-season-Entertainment.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2043345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2043346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2043345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2043345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2043345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}