Season Announcement

Broadway at the Bass peppers 2022-23 season with new hits and old faves

Go way down to Hadestown in 2023.

Photo by T Charles Erickson

Performing Arts Fort Worth, the nonprofit owner and operator of Bass Performance Hall, lifted the curtain on the six shows coming to Fort Worth as a part of the 2022-23 Broadway at the Bass Season presented by PNC Bank.

"As we look forward to celebrating the 25th anniversary of Bass Hall, we are thrilled to welcome PNC Bank as a premier partner on the 2022-23 Broadway season," says Performing Arts Fort Worth president and CEO Dione Kennedy. "As the industry continues to come back from the pandemic, we are extremely grateful to all of our sponsors, patrons, and community for their continued support."

The season kicks off in November with Lincoln Center Theater's critically acclaimed production of Lerner & Loewe's My Fair Lady. Boasting such classic songs as "I Could Have Danced All Night," "The Rain in Spain," "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," and "On the Street Where You Live," My Fair Lady tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flower seller, and Henry Higgins, a linguistics professor who is determined to transform her into his idea of a "proper lady" — but who is really being transformed? It runs November 29-December 4, 2022.

Disney's The Lion King is next, where the Serengeti comes to life as never before. More than 100 million people around the world have experienced the awe-inspiring visual artistry, the unforgettable music, and the uniquely theatrical storytelling of this Broadway spectacular, which features the extraordinary work of Tony Award-winning director Julie Taymor, Tony Award-winning choreographer Garth Fagan, and Tony Award-winning artists Elton John and Tim Rice. It runs January 18-29, 2023.

Pretty Woman, The Musical, based on one of Hollywood's most beloved romantic stories of all time, springs to life with a powerhouse creative team led by two-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell. It features an original score by Grammy winner Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance and a book by the movie's legendary director Garry Marshall and screenwriter J. F. Lawton. It runs February 7-12, 2023.

Holding onto hope when times are tough can take an awful lot of determination, and sometimes, an awful lot of determination comes in a surprisingly small package. Annie has reminded generations of theatergoers that sunshine is always right around the corner, and now the best-loved musical of all time is set to return in a new production – just as you remember it and just when we need it most. It runs March 28-April 2, 2023.

Tootsie tells the story of Michael Dorsey, a talented but difficult actor who struggles to find work until one show-stopping act of desperation lands him the role of a lifetime. It runs May 9-14, 2023.

Hadestown, the big winner at the 2019 Tony Awards, intertwines two mythic tales — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. It runs June 27-July 2, 2023.

There is one season add-on that actually plays before any of the other shows: Elf the Musical. Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts, is transported back to the North Pole. With Santa’s permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father, discover his true identity, and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas. It runs November 11-13, 2022.

Current 2021-22 Broadway at the Bass season ticket-holders have until May 31 to renew online at www.basshall.com or by phone at 817-212-4450. New season tickets go on sale July 12, 2022. Patrons can sign up for the new season ticket waitlist now by visiting www.basshall.com/waitlist.

On-sale dates for individual tickets will be announced at a later date.

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Ancient Sculpture News

Fort Worth museum one of only 3 in U.S. to get rare sculpture exhibit

Lorenzo di Masi/Torlonia Collection

The Torlonia Nile

A major exhibition of ancient Roman masterworks is coming to the U.S. for the first time to be viewed at only three museums — including the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.

Called Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection, it's an assemblage of works stewarded by the Torlonia Family beginning in the early-19th century, and will be installed at the Kimbell from September 14, 2025 – January 25, 2026.

As part of the Foundation’s mission to showcase these historical works to the public, the exhibition will premiere at the Art Institute of Chicago on March 15 through June 29, before traveling to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. Its third stop will be at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, from March 14 - July 19, 2026.

The Torlonia Collection was established during the course of the 19th century by the Franco-Italian banker Prince Giovanni Torlonia and his son Alessandro, then handed down over generations, eventually growing into the largest private collection of ancient Roman sculptures.

Today, the Torlonia Foundation represents the culmination of the Family’s continued passion for art. Created at the behest of Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1925–2017), the Foundation’s mission is to preserve and promote the Torlonia Collection and Villa Albani Torlonia.

In 1876, Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1800-1886) created a museum to house and exhibit the Family’s holdings, which was open to small groups until its closure at the onset of World War II. The sculptures remained unseen by the public from that time until the Foundation’s first exhibition at the Musei Capitolini in Rome in 2020. That was followed by a stint at the Louvre, the first presentation of the collection outside of Rome, where it has drawn more than 600,000 visitors to date, an unprecedented feat.

The exhibit
The curators of Myth & Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection are Lisa Ayla Çakmak and Katharine A. Raff of the Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition is co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Torlonia Foundation, in collaboration with the Kimbell Art Museum, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and The Museum Box. All of the sculptures in the exhibition have been restored by the Foundation with the support of Bvlgari.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue co-published by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Torlonia Foundation, edited by Lisa Ayla Çakmak and Katharine A. Raff, with essays by Silvia Beltrametti and Salvatore Settis.

The North American presentation will feature 58 highlights from the Torlonia Collection, including 24 newly restored works that have not been on view in nearly a century. The sculptures date from approximately the 5th century BCE to the early 4th century CE, with the majority of the works dating to the High Imperial period (1st–2nd centuries CE). Highlights include examples of the most emblematic genres of ancient marble sculpture, acquired by the Torlonia Family from the most prominent collections of Rome’s patrician families, as well as from excavations made on the Family’s own estates throughout Italy.

“The Foundation is excited to be sharing the Torlonia Collection with audiences in North America for the first time. This exceptional group of ancient sculptures is a testament to the enduring cultural legacy of ancient Rome, as well as the vision and passion of multiple generations of the Torlonia Family,” said Alessandro Poma Murialdo, President of the Torlonia Foundation.

The presentation is organized thematically in six sections, featuring sculptures found on the Torlonia Family’s properties in Rome and the surrounding suburbs and their estate in Porto, Portugal, as well as a number of exceptional sarcophagi (stone coffins), among the largest sculpted works in marble to survive from ancient Rome.

The tour reinforces the work of the Foundation to advance the appreciation and understanding of this unparalleled collection and the rich cultural heritage it represents. The Foundation’s mission is carried out through a continuous joint effort between the public and private sectors, including with the cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The Foundation is supported by a longstanding collaboration with Bvlgari as the principal sponsor of the restoration project since its inception in Rome and throughout the global tour, and Chiomenti, who has lent invaluable support to the Foundation’s core activities.

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