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How Gammage is bringing Broadway back, even as the pandemic continues

Colleen Jennings-Roggensack at Gammage Auditorium
Arizona State University
Colleen Jennings-Roggensack

Arizona State University's landmark Frank Lloyd Wright-designed arts center, Gammage Auditorium, has had a tough year and a half.

Colleen Jennings-Roggensack is executive director of Gammage. For her, running the auditorium was an exercise in building the plane as they were flying it. She — and everyone in the theater world — had to re-learn how to do what they do and how to do it safely amid a pandemic.

But now, Broadway is back. Performers are taking the stage in New York City and around the country. And earlier this month, Gammage welcomed the cast of "Hamilton" to the stage.

The Broadway hit opened in September at Gammage, and now, they’re getting ready to debut the tour of "Mean Girls," which opens Nov. 2. 

The Show spoke with Jennings-Roggensack about what it’s like to bring back Broadway as the pandemic continues, and what it was like to get to this point over the last 18 months.

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Lauren Gilger, host of KJZZ's The Show, is an award-winning journalist whose work has impacted communities large and small, exposing injustices and giving a voice to the voiceless and marginalized.