How lucky we are to be alive right now! 

The Lied Center brings Hamilton, American Ballet Theatre, Yo-Yo Ma, and more to Lincoln in 2023.

by Matthew Boring

For more than three decades, the Lied Center for Performing Arts has been serving the state as Nebraska’s home for the performing arts. 

As Yo-Yo Ma (who will make his return to the Lied stage in March of 2023) put it, “The Lied Center takes the world and puts it on one stage!” 2023 will bring unforgettable moments with top artists and events from around the world… all right here in Lincoln at Nebraska’s Performing Arts Center.

The Lied Center is especially excited to welcome back several world-renowned artists who have thrilled our audiences in past seasons. In March, the spectacular Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will bring their beloved masterwork Revelations to the Lied stage. As mentioned, Yo-Yo Ma will once again perform on the Lied stage in the spring, this time joined by acclaimed pianist Kathryn Stott. Following their historic Pioneers Park performance for an audience of 6,000+ in the summer of 2021, American Ballet Theater returns to Lincoln in May. This time, the full ABT company of more than 70 dancers will be joined by Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra to perform the classic romance Giselle. 

Broadway is the most popular art form at the Lied, and this season’s Glenn Korff Broadway Series is the biggest in Lied history. At the center of it all is the Lincoln premiere engagement of pop-culture phenomenon Hamilton for 16 performances in August, when tens of thousands of people will travel to Lincoln from across the state to experience this revolutionary piece of American theater. Lied Center Executive Director Bill Stephan said, “Our goal at the Lied Center for Performing Arts is always to provide the University of Nebraska and our community with the greatest artistic presentations in the world. Hamilton is a musical masterpiece that audiences of all ages will be thrilled to see for the first time in Lincoln. The creation of the Glenn Korff Broadway Series has provided the foundation to build our Broadway audience and hosting Hamilton is part of the historic journey of bringing joy to thousands and thousands of Nebraskans.”

The Glenn Korff Broadway Series will also include the much-anticipated return of The Book of Mormon, the Nebraska premiere of Alanis Morissette’s groundbreaking new musical Jagged Little Pill, the Lincoln debut of Broadway icon and Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell, and more.

As always, nearly every artist who appears on the Lied stage will also engage with students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and in the community, nurturing the next generation of great artists. In recent seasons, students have had life-changing opportunities to work with artists including Danny Elfman, Misty Copeland, Boston Pops’ Conductor Keith Lockhart, Bernadette Peters, Harry Connick Jr., musicians from St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra, casts of Broadway touring shows, and many, many more. 

Stephan said, “We have a thrilling season of music, theater and dance programs to look forward to in the upcoming year, all right here at Nebraska’s Performing Arts Center! From the return of iconic artists from the Lied Center’s 25th Anniversary Season including Yo-Yo Ma and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to the biggest shows currently on Broadway