Karen Morgan. Photo by Kristin Chalmers
The Wortham Center for the Performing Arts has announced its full 2024/2025 season featuring more than 30 performances in music, theatre, dance, magic, comedy, cirque and spoken word. The season kicks off on Thursday, September 26, at 7 p.m. with stand-up comedian Karen Morgan.
A proud member of Gen X, the generation between Baby Boomers and Millennials, Morgan fills her shows with nostalgic observation of this era from the perspective of a wife, mother and Southerner. “All of us are going through something,” she says. “It’s nice to know that we are not alone and that we can laugh about things together. I also hope my show will remind them of childhood experiences so that they remember how lucky we were to grow up back in the day.”
Launching the season with comedy was an intentional decision for Wortham Center. “With the busy pace of life and the stress of this time of year, laughter is a balm for our senses,” says Rae Geoffrey, Wortham’s managing director. “Karen Morgan reminds audiences to take themselves, and life, less seriously, while providing a dash of nostalgia for those born prior to the internet.”
Stand-up comedy, says Morgan, “is such a pure form of entertainment: just one person with a microphone talking to a live audience. It’s a conversation. There is a connection with the audience that has direct and immediate feedback.”
The remainder of the season includes a new series for family audiences featuring magic, science and light puppetry. “We’re proud to offer accessible programming at affordable prices to provide cultural enrichment and wonder to the next generation of leaders and citizens,” says Geoffrey.
The Wortham Center for the Performing Arts is located at 18 Biltmore Avenue in downtown Asheville. To learn more and purchase tickets, visit WorthamArts.org or call 828.257.4530.
