Heart-throbbing experiences are what Performing Arts Serving Acadiana (PASA) has lined up for the 2024-25 season, which rolls out six distinct performances of music, drama, dance and the spoken word in three different venues, beginning in late September.
The sweeping lineup guarantees a rich array of artists—local to global—whose performances will surely bring laughs, gasps, cheers, and maybe a few tears.
The season kicks off with OperaCréole on September 29 at Angelle Hall, in partnership with the UL Concert Series. Pop-up performances in the historic theater at Baranco Elementary follow when R&B singer Nebu Nezey performs on October 18. Actor Roger Guenveur Smith portrays Otto Frank, the father of diarist Anne Frank on November 14 and fiddler Michael Doucet joins poet John Warner Smith on February 20. 2025.
At the Heymann, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble partners with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra for a performance that includes PASA’s visionary project, Sacred Spaces on January 29, 2025, and the breath-taking Omnium Circus on March 14, 2025, round out the season. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for PASA shows—regardless of the venue--are available at the Heymann Center box office and online at www.heymanncenter.com.
“Choosing artists to bring to our community is quite fun, but at the same time is challenging. Budgets, available artists and finding dates on venue calendars feed the booking formula. The hallmark of our mission is local access to great performing arts, so we look for performers and ensembles who would not likely appear here unless PASA brings them in,” says PASA Executive Director Jacqueline Lyle.
While the PASA series represents a diverse mix, from dance to jazz, from drama and R&B—yes, there’s circus, too—a common theme ties the programs together: exceptional live experience.
The days of touring opera are essentially over, yet PASA’s programming sleuths have turned up OperaCréole and the six singers and pianist—all classically trained will perform at 7:30 p.m. on September 29 at Angelle Hall on the UL Campus, in partnership with the UL Concert Series. Angelle Hall is located at the corner of E. St. Mary Blvd and McKinley St.
It’s a chance to hear history: OperaCréole, based in New Orleans, has uncovered music written by free people of color—most living in New Orleans--that was banned during the Jim Crow era. OperaCréole has revived these lost operas and other rarely performed work. OperaCréole performs these works across the US and in Europe. The program for the evening, "The Creole French Connection" includes an array of opera scenes, arias, and Créole Folk Songs, by the composers Lucien Lambert, Edmond Dédé, and Camille Nickerson. The performance will last approximately 90 minutes.
The New Yorker Magazine, National Public Radio and NBC Nightly News have given nods to OperaCréole’s unique musical pursuit.
“If you’ve never been to an opera, don’t let that keep you away. Attending one is way different from only listening to a recording, “says Lyle. “Opera can be very romantic, dramatically tragic, salacious or down-right funny.”
“With supertitles translating the Créole lyrics, the audience won’t miss a beat,” says Lyle.
Nebu Nezey kicks off PASA’s new Pop-ups at Baranco series on October 18. A spectacular performer who belts out blues, R&B and jazz, Nebu Nezey and her backup band and singers promise a top-notch show, with covers of popular hits that audiences know and love.
There are about 400 seats in the Theater at Baranco, so PASA advises fans to order tickets early. The Theater at Baranco is located inside Baranco Elementary (formerly N.P. Moss Middle School), located at the intersection of Moss St. and Mudd Ave. in the Sterling Grove neighborhood.
“We hope you’ll be there to help PASA usher in live entertainment to this relatively dormant venue that’s tucked away in one of Lafayette’s historic buildings,” says Lyle.
The drama Otto Frank follows on the Pop-ups at Baranco lineup on November 14. Anne Frank’s father Otto Frank was the only member of his immediate family to survive the Holocaust. Actor Roger Guenveur Smith performs this moving one-man show, portraying a father addressing his daughter beyond her time and his own, navigating his shattering loss.
Smith’s credits range from the small screen (A Different World) to the big screen (Malcolm X, Get on the Bus and more), working with directors Spike Lee, Stephen Soderberg and other marquee names. He wrote, starred in and produced A Huey P. Newton Story, a one-man performance based on the life of Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton.
Otto Frank fits perfectly in the Theater at Baranco. Intimate in scale, this performance draws the audience in. As PASA Operations Director Maleah Bocage and board member Daniel Wiltz attest, Smith’s performance of Otto Frank is a passionate portrayal that draws on the emotions of theater goers and drama lovers.
Emotions will be high when PASA heads to the Heymann Center on January 29, 2025, with the legendary troupe Cleo Parker Robinson Dance opening the show with stirring modern dance. As the curtain rises on the second half of the program, the dancers join the prestigious New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) for a breathtaking performance of “Sacred Spaces,” inspired by the burning of three Black Churches in St. Landry Parish, and the reconciliation and redemption of the congregations that followed.
This powerful combination of modern dance and exquisite jazz was originally envisioned by PASA Executive Director Jackie Lyle, who proposed the idea to Cleo Parker Robinson and and to Adonis Rose, NOJO’s artistic director. Sacred Spaces combines dance, live music, and the spoken word, against a backdrop photography by acclaimed Louisianian Debbie Fleming Caffery.
Cleo Parker Robinson is one of the most important women in dance and Adonis Rose, artistic director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, is making tracks around the globe. Robinson and Rose collaborated on every phase of this inspiring work.
Beausoleil’s front man Michael Doucet breaks out his fiddle and joins former Louisiana Poet Laureate John Waner Smith for the first time, ever, at the Theater at Baranco on February 20, 2025. Music and the spoken word come together in this pop-up show that was dreamed up by PASA and its team of thinkers.
Doucet has been a fixture on stages large and small and near and far for more than fifty years. John Warner Smith has blazed trails through local government, the banking world, then stretched his talents into poetry and writing. Smith now is the executive director of the Shadows-on-the-Teche in New Iberia, LA.
Gravity-defying aerial acts, mind-blowing contortion, unbelievable acrobatics, hysterical comedy, and dazzling dancers take center stage when the curtain raises on Omnium Circus jaw-dropping show, I’m Possible, to the Heymann Center on March 14, 2025. It’sa lively night of comprehensively inclusive and accessible fun.
The New York Times calls Omnium Circus’s lively performances “Genuinely Extraordinary,” and DC Metro declares it “Truly the circus of the future."
This show assures that everyone is in on the action in a spirited limit-defying and life-affirming spectacle, with award winning artistry, memorable music, a heartwarming story and a host of performers. The troupe thoroughly provides access for audiences of all ages and abilities.
Lisa Lewis, the founder and executive director of Omnium Circus, began her career as a graduate of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. With a Master’s Degree in Clown/Circus History from NYU, she co-founded the Super Scientific Circus, and spent many years working with the Big Apple Circus in multiple capacities. Lisa founded Omnium Circus as a place where the magic of circus meets the power of inclusion. Much to the delight of “children of all ages”
“Omnium Circus is a perfect match for us because it ties directly to our accessibility initiative, PASAble,” says PASA board president Tim Basden. “Its audio descriptions and integrated American Sign Language fit hand-in-hand with our early seating, Quiet Zone, assisted listening devices, large print programs and other offerings that are available at every PASA performance.”
In addition to the public performances, PASA will also stage four daytime performances for students, which are supported by a grant from Love Our Schools. The first daytime performance is at 10:30 a.m. on September 28 when OperaCréole performs for students in grades 6 – 12 at Angelle Hall. In order to attend, school groups must register through the PASA office. Call PASA at 337-769-3231 or email for more information or to receive a registration form.
PASA is committed to an inclusive theater and community experience for all of its patrons. The Heymann Center and other venues are ADA compliant with accessible seating areas and a designated accessible entrance. Early seating is offered for those who need additional time to get to their seats and large print programs are available at all performances. Infra-red listening devices are available free-of-charge for those with low hearing at the Heymann Center lobby. Patrons with disabilities who have additional accessibility requests or who are in need of additional information are encouraged to contact the PASA office at 337-769-3231 or email info@pasaonline.org. The Heymann Center can be reached at 337-291-5540.
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