Each year, the Orpheum Theatre hosts the Summer Institute. The institute is a workshop designed specifically for high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors, as well as college freshmen to experience the inner workings of the theatre and performing arts business. Summer Institute runs from 8:45am-4:00pm each day. Classes are taught by local artists, Orpheum staff, and Broadway actors. Tuition includes lunches, field trips, all supplies, and Master Classes.

Summer Institute 2009 will feature the Broadway show Wicked. Classes will explore the subjects of marketing, technical design, promotion, development, and box office operations, along with classes exploring stage adaptation, movement, songwriting, and acting techniques. Classes will be taught by local performing artists, Orpheum staff, and Broadway actors from the cast of icked! Students may choose one of two Summer Institute Sessions.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Acceptance notifications will go out February 27, March 31, and April 29. Scholarships are available. Email us to inquire about scholarship details.

Questions? Email us

Download the 2009 Summer Institute Application Here (pdf)

Menopause The Musical is back in Memphis for a four day run. Since March 2001, the hilarious show Menopause The Musical® has entertained and inspired women from coast-to-coast and internationally. The work of writer Jeanie Linders, Menopause The Musical® is a 90-minute production which includes 25 re-lyricized tunes from the ‘60s and ‘70s and culminates with a salute to women who are experiencing The Change.

Set in a department store, where four women with seemingly nothing in common but a black lace bra meet by chance, the musical pokes fun at things such as hot flashes, memory loss, mood swings, wrinkles, night sweats and eating binges.

The show’s intended message is that menopause is a passage, but it should no longer be The Silent Passage. It is a stage in every woman’s life that is perfectly normal.

To purchase your $25 ticket to Menopause The Musical call the Orpheum box office, 525 3000, or Ticketmaster at 1-800-982-2787 and make sure to mention the code "MTM25".

To enter, go to www.myfoxmemphis.com and click on the “Orpheum Valentines Greeting Giveaway” link in the scrolling text located near the top of the home page(if you don't see it at the top look towards the bottom of the page). Follow all instructions to complete the online entry. Entry constitutes an assignment to Sponsor of all intellectual property rights in the entry materials, if any. Except where prohibited by law, entry constitutes permission to use winners’ names, hometowns, likenesses, and photographs for online posting, and/or any advertising and publicity without additional compensation.
 

The One. The Only. The Original.

Cats has been seen by millions of viewers - in 300 cities across 26 countries, translated into 10 languages - and it returns to the Orpheum Theatre on June 20-22. We want you to be there!

As Cats celebrates over 25 years of being the best-loved family musical, the Orpheum Theatre celebrates its 80th anniversary as a cultural icon to the Memphis region. The Orpheum Theatre is home to Broadway touring shows, a Family Series, Opera Memphis and Ballet Memphis performances, various concerts, comedians, gospel productions, and an annual classic movie series, all of which bring more than 250,000-300,000 patrons through the doors each year.

We want to celebrate this musical phenomenon and the Orpheum's 80 years of entertainment - and the support of our friends and patrons - by offering an exclusive opportunity to win two tickets to the opening performance of Cats on Friday, June 20.

©2006 Joan Marcus

Share with us your favorite Orpheum Theatre memory or story, by adding a comment to this post. Everyone who contributes their own piece of Orpheum history will be entered into a drawing for tickets.

The contest runs through Monday, June 16 at noon. The winner will be contacted via MySpace that afternoon. Thank you as always for your support!

The season everyone has been waiting for is here! Three Best Musical Tony® Award winners! The hottest shows on Broadway! Two encore engagements of audience favorites! The 2008-2009 Orpheum Broadway Series absolutely has something for everyone:

Avenue Q
September 30-October 5, 2008

The Pajama Game
December 9-14, 2008

The Drowsy Chaperone
January 13-18, 2009

Legally Blonde
March 3-8, 2009

The Color Purple
March 31-April 5, 2009

Fiddler on the Roof
May 5-10, 2009

Wicked
June 24-July 12, 2009

Popular fan favorites Mamma Mia! (November 18-23, 2008) and Riverdance (February 20-22, 2009) will return to the Orpheum stage and serve as add-ons to the Broadway series.

Tickets are currently available only through season subscriptions. See our website for more information about each of these shows, or for subscription details. We thank you for your support of the Orpheum Theatre, and look forward to seeing you at these amazing shows next season!

In 2008, the Orpheum celebrates 80 years of entertainment. To help commemorate our anniversary, we announce a call for entries to area artists for two design contests:

80th Anniversary Commemorative Poster
A limited edition 18" x 24 ¾" poster will be printed in full color and distributed during anniversary festivities in the fall 2008.

80th Anniversary Commemorative Silk Scarf
A limited edition 36" x 36" scarf will be created in full color and distributed during anniversary festivities in the fall 2008.

The winning artist in each category will receive $500 and an Orpheum gift package valued at $250. All artists who enter will receive four tickets to our 2008 Orpheum Summer Movie Series.

The deadline for entries is Thursday, May 15. Please click here for submission guidelines and contest rules.

What TV shows do you never miss? Which blogs do you read regularly? Where do you find out about what to do on a Saturday night?

The Orpheum Theatre has just launched a new online survey to find out about your entertainment and media habits, so that we can get information to our fans in the most effective way possible.

Please take a few minutes to complete this survey. We so appreciate your time and valuable feedback so that we can better serve our friends and patrons!

What a fun and fabulous week we have ahead as we welcome The Wedding Singer live on stage from February 12-17! We want to tell you about a few of our special events:

Tuesday, February 12: We still have great seats at an even greater price through our paperless Cellfire offer.

Wednesday, February 13: Student Rush offers $20 tickets to students and teachers who arrive at 7:15, who bring cash, and who bring proof of student or teacher status.

Thursday, February 14: Join us from 6:30-7:15 in the Broadway Club for "Broadway Thursday," where for only $10 you get hors d'oeuvres and hurricanes from Pat O'Briens, and 1980s karaoke with Kennedy! Check out the Q107.5 site for more information. And remember that there will be a live engagement on stage following the Valentine's Day performance!

Photo by Phil Martin.

The year was 1985. The Goonies and Back to the Future scored big at the box office, Wham! topped the charts, and Live Aid raised $70 million for Ethiopian famine relief. Ronald Reagan was sworn in for his second term, and Mikhail Gorbachev became general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party during the height of the Cold War.

But something else happened: Robbie Hart met Julia Sullivan. And the rest was just history!

The Orpheum Theatre is proud to present The Wedding Singer live on stage from February 12-17. The musical comedy, based on the Adam Sandler film and filled with 1980s pop culture, has been called "Awesome!" by People and "One big party!" by Newsday.

We are looking for some wedding planners to help us spread the word! We need three individuals in the Memphis area who can serve as a MySpace marketing team for The Wedding Singer. If selected, you will be asked to do what you already do: send bulletins, post comments, and add information to your profiles. In return, you will receive 2 tickets to the opening night performance of The Wedding Singer at the Orpheum.

Interested? Please send us a message here on MySpace, explaining why you are perfect for the job. We will select our team based on criteria such as your current level of MySpace activity... but being first to submit doesn't hurt! Specific details of this promotion will be discussed with interested applicants. Please note that, due to the holiday, we will not follow up until Tuesday, January 22.

Photo by Phil Martin.