Published June 20, 2025

Connecting Our Community Through Broadway

by Dennyse Sewell

The Pioneer Center just completed production of our second annual Curtain Up event to celebrate the upcoming season of Broadway Comes to Reno. This free community event brings together local Broadway fans, including season subscribers, artists, media, business owners, and supporters, to learn more about the exciting shows we will bring to Reno direct from Broadway next year.  During the Curtain Up event, I take the audience through some of the history of our Broadway series, recognizing the important roles our partners, corporate sponsors, and loyal subscribers play in the success of Broadway touring shows at the Pioneer Center. Curtain Up also allows us an opportunity to do something we love – connecting the northern Nevada arts community with Broadway in a different way.

This year’s Curtain Up featured special guest performers we flew in from New York: Jill-Christine Wiley who has played Maria in the new touring production of The Sound of Music, and Juliette Ojeda from the original Broadway cast of The Notebook as well as NBC’s The Voice. In addition to the Broadway talents on stage, Curtain Up also featured local artists who shared in the celebration by singing some of their favorite Broadway tunes from our upcoming season. 

Current University of Nevada, Reno Theater and Dance students in the Elysia Martinez, Ora Harris, and Zoe McCracken blew the roof off with their renditions of Stronger from & Juliet and Independently Owned from Shucked. Our opening number was by Great Futures Productions, the resident children’s theater company from the Boys and Girls Club of North Lake Tahoe, under the direction of Sara Turner. Following their spectacular Broadway medley, the performers from Great Futures Productions came back to close the show with Do-Re-Mi, performing side-by-side with our Broadway guest artist, Jill-Christine Wiley. This wasn’t just a way for us to create an entertaining concert for the audience – it was a chance for young local performers to have the experience of working alongside top-notch New York talent. That’s not something that happens in Reno every day!

Broadway musicals have been a major part of the Pioneer Center’s programming for over 30 years. As we continue to expand our educational offerings and partnerships with other local organizations, the Broadway tours provide us with the opportunity to engage the community further and expand the inspirational connections that these shows bring to our region. In a previous PBS Reno Art Views blog, I introduced you to Behind the Curtain, our education program that provides local students with opportunities to observe technical load-ins, shadow stage managers backstage, and learn choreography and acting techniques from Broadway touring professionals. Earlier this month, 75 local students (ages 14-77) enjoyed a master class with the dance captain of the touring production of Mamma Mia. 

Needing space to accommodate that many students led us to a partnership with one of our incredible downtown neighbors: The National Automobile Museum. We held two Behind the Curtain events there this year in their Hollywood room, including a dance workshop back in February with a member of the touring production of Some Like It Hot. Not only do participating students get to learn from amazing Broadway professionals firsthand, but they are also able to experience another of our city’s great cultural resources – the National Automobile Museum – through these dance workshops. Special thanks to our Behind the Curtain title sponsor, Customers Bank, for helping to make this possible!

Our Nonprofit Spotlight program is another way that we give back to fellow members of our nonprofit community in northern Nevada – one that our 501(c)3 is proud to be a part of. During several Broadway productions each year, we highlight a fellow local nonprofit whose work inspires us.  We organize collections of donated items and invite our patrons to participate by bringing contributions with them when they attend Broadway performances here at the Pioneer Center  – and boy, do they!  I still find myself in awe of the generosity of the Broadway patrons in our community. We have partnered with Eddy House, STEP 2, Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation, The Children’s Cabinet, Nevada Humane Society, and others.  Several recipient organizations have remarked that our Broadway week collections are among the largest they have ever received.  In July, we will partner with Food Bank of Northern Nevada for the third time during A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical. 

Crossovers have been a fun way to bring these touring Broadway productions together with local businesses for creative collaborations. From ticket contests to branded culinary creations, matching Broadway shows with local small businesses has been a successful and truly enjoyable process for our team.  Some of our favorites have included Mamma Mia at Swoon and  Lady Luck bridal salons, Waitress at Mix Bakeshop, and The Lion King at Dorinda’s Chocolates. And, of course, Wild River Grille is well-known by Broadway patrons for their pre-fixe themed menus before every show! Broadway At the Bars is another example of how Broadway can interact with the local bar and restaurant scene. Participating establishments create their own specialty cocktail themed to the show. Customers who purchase the themed cocktail can enter to win free tickets to the opening night performance of that show. The mixologists who create the cocktails compete for the most popular drink – the winner also receives free tickets. Our Broadway at the Bars promotion for A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical is currently underway; details can be found on our social media channels.

Speaking of A Beautiful Noise, I am excited to tell you about a new crossover that brings together two things I personally LOVE: Broadway and baseball!  On July 4^th, the Reno Aces have invited American Idol winner and star of A Beautiful Noise, Broadway’s Nick Fradiani, to sing the National Anthem at the evening’s home game! Not only that, but he will also perform Sweet Caroline! The Reno Aces are an incredible hometown asset and downtown neighbor. We are honored to be partnering with them in new and exciting ways this year.

All of these community collaborations are examples of the infinite ways in which we can continue to deepen and expand the regional impact of the Broadway Comes to Reno series. As a local nonprofit organization, the Pioneer Center is more than just the building that hosts these world-class touring productions. We are also driven by our mission, vision, and values in every decision we make, and we are continually inspired and energized by the possibilities of future community collaborations with our Broadway series. None of this magic would be possible without our partners in Broadway Comes to Reno: the hardworking team at Nederlander National Markets. We are also deeply grateful to our corporate sponsors of the Broadway Comes to Reno series, First Independent Bank and Tolles Development. Their support of the series helps us to bring the best of Broadway to northern Nevada year after year.

Season subscription packages for the Broadway Comes to Reno series are on sale now, only at pioneercenter.com. We hope we will see you at A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical this July and for all the shows in our 2025-2026 Broadway Comes to Reno lineup! As I said at Curtain Up, Reno loves Broadway – and it shows!

 

Dennyse Sewell is the CEO of the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts in Reno, Nevada

The Making of a Broadway Season by Dennyse Sewell — May 9, 2025

Reno Little Theater Celebrates 90 Years of Community Theater by Dennyse Sewell — March 21, 2025
 

The Pioneer Center’s Free Family Series Takes the Mainstage  by Dennyse Sewell — February 7, 2025
 

Ring in the New Year with the Performing Arts!  by Dennyse Sewell — December 27, 2024

Arts, Culture … and Cocktails!  by Dennyse Sewell — November 15, 2024

Arts for All Ages: Lifelong Learning and Entertainment for Our Region’s Seniors  by Dennyse Sewell — October 4, 2024
 

A Busy Fall Season at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts  by Dennyse Sewell — August 30, 2024

Dance, Dogs, and Downtown Reno  by Dennyse Sewell — July 26, 2024

The Rebirth of (Light) Opera in Reno  by Dennyse Sewell — June 21, 2024

Celebrating 30 Years of Broadway Comes to Reno by Dennyse Sewell — May 17, 2024
 

Bringing Reno to Broadway – And Beyond by Dennyse Sewell — April 12, 2024

Giving Students an Up-Close Look at Broadway by Dennyse Sewell — March 8, 2024

Inspiring the Next Generation Through the Performing Arts by Dennyse Sewell — February 2, 2024

Happy 56^th Birthday, Pioneer Center! by Dennyse Sewell — December 29, 2023

The Transformative Potential of Opportunities in the Arts by Dennyse Sewell — November 17, 2023