Greenville’s performing arts community in 2024 saw major changes and enjoyed robust ticket sales but also mourned the loss of a prominent arts leader.
Among the most significant arts events of the year was a major changing of the guard at the Greenville Symphony Orchestra. Lee Mills began his tenure in September as conductor and music director of the orchestra with triumphant performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Mills succeeded Edvard Tchivzhel, the charismatic leader of the orchestra for almost a quarter of a century — a notably long tenure for an American orchestral conductor.
Meanwhile, Bing Vick, longtime artistic director and conductor of the Greenville Chorale, began his final full season leading the 160-voice choral ensemble. Vick concludes his tenure in September 2025, marking his 45th year conducting the chorale.
In July, the Greenville arts community mourned the death of Christian Elser, 53, an iconoclastic arts leader who with his then-wife Jenna Tamisiea created Glow Lyric Theatre in 2009. Glow was known for staging bold, daring productions of opera and musical theater that grappled with contemporary social and political issues. Elser, Glow’s executive director, died July 20 at Duke University Hospital after a long battle with a rare lung disease. It’s uncertain whether Glow will be revived.
Throughout 2024, the Peace Center’s Broadway Series continued to bring world-class musical theater to the Upstate. Greenville has long punched above its weight with Broadway tours. The same blockbuster musicals that play at the Peace Center also tour to Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta and other major metropolitan areas.
The 2024-25 Broadway Series opened in September to packed houses with Disney’s ever-popular “The Lion King.” In October, “& Juliet” raised the rafters with a story that imagines what might have happened if Shakespeare’s Juliet had not died but lived to enjoy a life set to a pop-rock soundtrack. The theatrical dazzle continues in 2025, with eight musicals, including “Hamilton” and “Moulin Rouge,” scheduled at the Peace Center in the next eight months.
Record-breakers
Centre Stage enjoyed record-breaking ticket sales for “Legally Blonde” and “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.”With 22 actors on stage, plus two dogs, “Legally Blonde” spotlighted one of the largest casts ever for the theater. The theater’s second Fringe Festival, with fringe plays performed in the span of several weeks, proved an artistic and box office success.
Greenville Theatre’s staging of the thriller “Dial M for Murder” was an audience favorite. Its recently completed “Anastasia,” meanwhile, is likely one of the theater’s top-selling shows of all time. The latter show was particularly ambitious, with dozens of lavish costumes designed and created in-house.
The Warehouse Theatre burnished its reputation for edgy and thought-provoking fare in 2024 with big hits such as Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins” and Stefano Massini’s “The Lehman Trilogy,” the latter featuring tour-de-force performances by Thomas Azar, Matt Reece and Christopher Joel Onken.
The South Carolina Children’s Theatre brought in new patrons with its ambitious production of “The SpongeBob Musical,” with a big cast that included Carter Allen, Adell Ehrhorn, Mitchell Smith and Javy Pagan.
The Mauldin Theatre Company, led by Kristofer Parker, staged ambitious and well-received musicals such as “A Chorus Line” and “Sweeney Todd.”
Will Ragland’s Mill Town Players performed to more than 25,000 patrons in Pelzer, featuring musicals, comedies and concerts. The company offered its most ambitious summer musical to date with “Bonnie & Clyde,” spotlighting 21 local actors and eight onstage musicians.
Clemson’s Brooks Center for the Performing Arts offered a variety of entertainment, including a sold-out performance of the biographical musical “The Cher Show.” The center’s acclaimed Utsey Series, meanwhile, continued to host admission-free performances of world-class chamber music.
Arts groups finished the year strong with seasonal offerings. International Ballet sold out three performances of “The Nutcracker” at the Peace Center, inspiring the ballet company to schedule four performances of the popular ballet next year. Carolina Ballet Theatre also enjoyed strong ticket sales for its Greenville-centered “Nutcracker.” A near-capacity audience attended the Greenville Chorale’s Dec. 14 performance of Handel’s “Messiah” at Furman University’s McAlister Auditorium.
Other Upstate community theaters, arts groups and university theaters reported strong attendance and notable artistic accomplishments in 2024.
With the considerable disruptions of the pandemic now a distant memory, Greenville arts groups are optimistic and poised to build on their successes in 2025.
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