MODESTO — The Gallo Center for the Arts has announced its 26/27 season, marking the 19th anniversary of the downtown Modesto performing arts center, consistently named a Top 10 venue globally by Pollstar Magazine.
Advance ticket sales to Gallo Center donors are already underway. Tickets go on sale to the public on June 1.
The Gallo Center prioritizes its members as the season is launched and is offering advance sales to them through May 22. Ticket sales for the public start Monday, June 1, at 10 a.m.
Tickets will be available online at GalloArts.org, by calling (209) 338-2100, or at the ticket office, 1000 I Street in downtown Modesto.
The full 26/27 season line-up will be posted to the Gallo Center website at GalloArts.org on May 6, including an interactive, digital version of the season brochure. Current and past patrons will receive printed season brochures in the mail beginning in mid-May.
This year’s official season opening event, on September 19, features Broadway and film star Idina Menzel, best known for her Tony Award-winning performance as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the smash musical Wicked. Menzel, who previously appeared at the Center in 2012, is also celebrated for her role as Elsa in Disney’s Oscar-winning Frozen, in which she sang the international phenomenon “Let It Go.”
Another Broadway icon, Audra McDonald, will appear in March 2027. Raised in Fresno and currently starring in HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” McDonald has won a record six Tony awards for Best Actress to go along with two Grammy awards and an Emmy.
The Gallo Center is setting its own record when it comes to Broadway. With its newly rebranded 26/27 Sutter Health Broadway Series, the Center will present six Broadway touring productions, the highest number in its history. They are The Music Man, Jersey Boys, Kinky Boots, Shucked, Waitress and A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, the latter of which, along with Shucked and Waitress are being presented for the first time.
Other scheduled performances include standup comics Lily Tomlin, Henry Cho and Terry Fator; dance companies Alonzo King LINES Ballet and MOMIX; pop, rock and R&B stars including Art Garfunkel, Rick Springfield, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, David Foster & Katharine McPhee, Bonnie Raitt, and Jake Shimabukuro; country music’s Montgomery Gentry featuring Eddie Montgomery and the Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra; jazz artists Dave Koz, Ledisi and Wynton Marsalis on his last tour with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra; Latino artists including Conjunto Primavera and Camilia Fernández; family shows such as Bluey’s Big Play and Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock Live; Food Network star Alton Brown; the “Long Island Medium,” Theresa Caputo; Burn the Floor’s Maks & Peta Live; contemporary Christian artist Ben Fuller, and classical artists New York Philharmonic String Quartet and Miloš.
“Our truly remarkable 26/27 season lineup reaffirms our commitment to bringing the very best in arts and entertainment to the Central Valley,” said Hilligus. “There’s something for everyone.”
The GCA Cabaret series, which debuted last season, returns with Haley Reinhart, Cheyenne Jackson and Dez Duron. These performances feature on-stage table seating and complimentary cocktail service. The Center’s in-house Gallo Center Repertory Company had previously announced its 26/27 season on March 23, with productions of The Play That Goes Wrong, She Loves Me, The Importance of Being Earnest and Urinetown the Musical.
“Make sure you don’t overpay for tickets,” Hilligus said in cautioning patrons about the online ticket scams and third-party ticket brokers that continue to cause problems for both consumers and performing arts organizations. “Remember that the Gallo Center is the only authorized ticket dealer for our performances. Be sure to purchase only from
