‘Water for Elephants’ helps kick off Broadway in Wichita’s upcoming season

If there’s a common thread in the 2025-2026 Broadway in Wichita season, Craig Aikman says, it’s great storytelling.

“They’re all story-driven,” said Aikman, senior director of booking and operations for American Theatre Guild, which programs the touring seasons for Wichita and 13 other markets nationwide. “You get to be a part of the story, a part of what’s happening on stage.”

On stage at Century II will be “Water for Elephants” (Jan. 12-14), “Hadestown” (March 20-22), “The Music Man” (April 24-26) and “Clue” (May 15-17).

Aikman said he is especially excited about “Elephants,” which is making a rare stop in Wichita on its first national tour, and “Hadestown,” winner of eight Tony Awards in 2019 and still running on Broadway.

‘Water for Elephants’

“Water for Elephants” is based on the novel by Sara Gruen’s novel, which also inspired the 2011 film with Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, about a troubled young man who runs away with the circus in the 1930s.

“The music is just unique and fun and beautiful, and it really propels the story forward,” Aikman said. “You get sucked into this amazing story, because who hasn’t wanted to run away with the circus?”

Its book was written by Rick Elice, who was also the playwright for “Jersey Boys,” “The Addams Family” and “The Cher Show,” the latter of which is playing Century II this weekend.

Aikman said he was stunned by the visual aspects of the Broadway show, which ran in 2023-2024 and was nominated for seven Tony Awards.

“It’s going to be a spectacle for the eyes, I’m super excited about that,” he said.

“Elephants” is also on the first leg of its Broadway tour, and a Wichita stop is rare in the first run, he said.

“This is one of the beginning stops on the tour, which is huge for us,” he said.

‘Hadestown’

“Hadestown” is based on two intertwining mythic tales, with young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and King Hades and his wife Persephone.

“I say it to everyone who will listen that ‘Hadestown’ is the closest thing to pure art that I’ve seen on stage in years,” Aikman said. “I know the story, I know what happens, I know how it ends, and still at the end of the show I caught myself catching my breath and being transformed. It’s a transformative show, it changes you.”

Aikman said he was weary of the hype before he saw “Hadestown” on Broadway, and watching it was beyond his expectations.

“It’s not just fun and not just a cool story. It’s going to change people a little bit,” he said. “It’s a love story that’s beyond the ages, that you find something about yourself in this show.”

‘The Music Man’

First staged in 1957, “The Music Man” embarks on a new tour that, Aikman said, is not a recreation of the 2022 revival with Hugh Jackman as con man Harold Hill.

“’The Music Man,’ as far as I’m concerned, is the perfect Broadway musical,” he said. “It stands the test of time, there’s nothing offensive in it, there’s nothing that doesn’t resonate today the way it did when it first came out.”

It’s also a personal favorite of Aikman, a Haven native whose first exposure to musicals was “Music Man” at Greensburg High School in 1975.

“I fell deeply in love with musical theater at that moment,” he said. “It’s the thing that made me realize this art form existed.”

‘Clue’

“Clue,” which wraps up the season, is a stage play based on the board game that has gotten great response in other American Theatre Guild markets, Aikman said.

“The show is at a breakneck pace,” he said of the plays that’s 90 minutes with no intermission. “It moves like you’re in the game. It takes all of the wonderful things and iconic moments of the film and it combines it with the game. This Rubik’s Cube set that kind of has a life of its own and it feels like you’re moving from room to room like a game piece.”

Like the 1985 film, where three different endings were shown in movie theaters, this version will show all three outcomes.

“How they do it is incredibly unique and so much fun,” Aikman said.

‘Stomp’

One add-on show for season ticket holders is announced as well – the return of “Stomp” on March 4.

“You’re not going to be seeing the same ‘Stomp’ the last time you saw ‘Stomp,’” Aikman said of the percussive dance performance, which opened on Broadway in 1994. “It’s a perennial favorite and it’s a favorite for a reason. It speaks across generations; it speaks without ever saying a word.”

‘The Cher Show’ this weekend

Although billed as the 2025-2026 season, no Broadway in Wichita shows – with “The Cher Show” closing out the current season April 25-27 – will be at Century II for the rest of the calendar year.

Aikman said bookers such as himself are at the mercy of producers and their tour routing schedules.

“We are dependent on when the shows are available and when they’ll be routing through the area,” he said. “We try to get something in the fall, but we’re juggling what we have available and what Century II has available as far as dates.

“The good news is gives people plenty of time to plan.”

This story was originally published April 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM.