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Editors note: This article has been updated to accurately reflect the timeframe in which author Jane Smiley wrote her novel “A Thousand Acres.”
The start of the new year means a new lineup of events on the horizon for venues in central Iowa.
Though COVID-19 remains a concern going into the new year, there is no shortage of touring acts and other performances already on the calendar for 2022. Here’s a look at some of the upcoming highlights.
Iowa State Fair remains stalwart
Dates: Aug.11-21
The Iowa State Fair remains one of the most anticipated events of the coming year. In 2021, the event managed to draw more than 1 million visitors despite ongoing COVID-19 concerns over the summer.
Announcements regarding the 2022 State Fair will be rolled out over the course of the year, but already country star Keith Urban, known for his hits such as “Somebody Like You,” “Stupid Boy” and “Days Go By,” plans to take over the Grandstand Aug. 20 after he canceled last summer’s appearance.
In 2021, the State Fair broke its record for the most attended Grandstand performance after country superstar Chris Stapleton drew 17,320 fans at the renovated space.
More:Keith Urban announced as Iowa State Fair’s first 2022 Grandstand act after his 2021 cancellation
Tony-winning Broadway in Des Moines
“Hadestown”: March 22-27
“Hamilton”: May 17-June 5
Before the pandemic turned the world upside down, touring Broadway performances of “Hadestown” and “Hamilton” planned to arrive in Des Moines in 2020. Now, both Tony-winning shows have new 2022 dates at the Des Moines Civic Center.
“Hadestown” takes the old tale of Orpheus and Eurydice and tells it as a vibrant folk opera. Though the story of the greatest musician who ever lived and his love who’s stolen away to the underworld is Greek in origin, “Hadestown” borrows its visual aesthetic from American mining towns of the early 1900s.
Half a decade after Linn Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” took home 11 Tony awards, including Best Musical, and propagated months of sold-out shows, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard (much less heard of) the musical phenomenon that modernizes the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton through rap.
More information about these events and other shows in the Willis Broadway Series can be found at desmoinesperformingarts.org.
‘A Thousand Acres’ — opera adaptation
Date: July 9
This July marks the world premiere of the opera adaptation of “A Thousand Acres,” based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Jane Smiley, a University of Iowa grad. This modern re-telling of Shakespeare’s “King Lear” that Smiley wrote while teaching at Iowa State University is set on an Iowa farm.
The story follows a farmer who decides to hand over his land to his three daughters. When his youngest daughter expresses doubt about the plan, she ends up getting cut out of the deal.
In 1997, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange starred in the film adaptation of the novel.
More information on the performance can be found at desmoinesmetroopera.org.
More:Des Moines Metro Opera to premiere adaptation of Pulitzer-winning Iowa novel ‘A Thousand Acres’
Return of 80/35 Music Festival
Date: July 8 and 9
After not holding the 80/35 Music Festival in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19, the Des Moines Music Coalition announced plans to bring the two-day festival back for 2022 in full force.
Though acts are yet to be announced for the upcoming festival, past years have drawn names such as hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, alternative band Wilco, rock band the Decemberists and a variety of other big acts. Typically, 80/35 draws more than 30,000 people to multiple stages in and around downtown’s Western Gateway Park.
More information about the festival can be found at 80-35.com.
Wells Fargo Arena concerts
Winter Jam: Jan. 22
Eric Church: Feb. 12
Elton John: March 26
Justin Bieber: April 24
Morgan Wallen: April 29
In any given year, Well Fargo Arena boasts an array of impressive touring acts, and 2022 is no different.
Winter Jam brings an annual Christian music tour with performers such as Skillet, Tauren Wells, KB, Colton Dixon and others on Jan. 22.
Country music singer-songwriter Eric Church is known for songs such as “Drink In My Hand” and “Talladega.” This upcoming performance on Feb. 12 is part of the artist’s “The Gather Again Tour.”
Elton John is the famous British musical icon known the world over for songs such as “Tiny Dancer” and “Bennie and the Jets.” His life was the subject of the 2019 film “Rocketman,” named after his song of the same name. This appearance on March 26 is part of his Farewell Yellowbrick Road tour, which was originally scheduled for 2020.
Justin Bieber’s “Justice World Tour” will bring the Canadian pop star to Wells Fargo Arena on April 24 with special musical guests Jaden Smith, ¿Téo? and Eddie Benjamin. Bieber is famous for songs such as “Baby” and “Sorry,” and in 2021, he charted with his song “Yummy.”
Country music star Morgan Wallen released his album “Dangerous: The Double Album” in January 2021 and sings hits such as “The Way I Talk.” Wallen’s April 29 show is part of his “Dangerous” tour and includes an appearance from special guest and fellow country singer Larry Fleet.
More information about these and other concerts coming to Wells Fargo Arena can be found at iowaeventscenter.com.
More:Controversial country star Morgan Wallen announces Des Moines tour date
Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival
Date: Feb. 26
The event that brands itself as world’s top bacon festival returns when Blue Ribbon’s annual bacon festival returns to Horizon Events Center in Clive on Feb. 26.
The theme of this year’s event will be “Bacon Gras” and features bacon-infused iterations of Cajun-style dishes. The event also includes local music acts, a silent disco and a bacon-eating contest.
Only 5,000 tickets are available for the 2022 event, now on sale through blueribbonbaconfestival.com.
Hinterland Music Festival
Date: Aug. 5-7
Sam Summers, owner of the music venue Wooly’s in Des Moines, organizes Hinterland Music Festival in St. Charles, one of the largest music festivals in the state, drawing an estimated 14,000 attendees in 2021.
Typically the three-day festival invites more niche artists such as progressive bluegrass band Yonder Mountain String Band, multi-genre group Lake Street Dive and indie folk band The Head and the Heart.
More information about the event can be found at hinterlandiowa.com.
More:2020 Hinterland Music Festival canceled because of COVID-19 concerns; event will resume in 2021
‘Gospel At Colonus’ at Riverview Park
Date: Spring 2022
Originally slated for a fall 2021 performance, “Gospel At Colonus” by Pyramid Theatre Co. and Des Moines Performing Arts has plans to run in spring 2022 at Riverview Park in Des Moines.
The 1980s adaptation of the Greek playwright Sophocles’ “Oedipus at Colonus” is reinterpreted as a gospel musical. The story follows the mythical King Oedipus toward the end of his life as he searches for a place to be buried.
This local iteration of “Gospel At Colonus” was first scheduled for Sept. 17, 2021. However, due to concerns about COVID-19 paired with a cast that would combine local and national talent, the producers canceled the show in late August.
More information about the event can be found at pyramidtheatre.org.
More:Pyramid Theatre Company delays ‘Gospel at Colonus’ production because of COVID-19 resurgence
‘Of Gravity and Light’ from Ballet Des Moines
Date: April 22
Ballet Des Moines’ new artistic director Tom Mattingly rolls out his new choreography for “Of Gravity and Light,” with new compositions from Beau Kenyon for a show that explores the science of space through music and dance. More information about the upcoming original performance can be found at balletdesmoines.org.
More:Ballet Des Moines’ new characters add modern twist to Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Nutcracker’
Des Moines Civic Center concerts
Tedeschi Trucks Band: Jan. 19
Bernadette Peters in Concert: April 30
Steven Martin and Martin Short: May 14
The Des Moines Civic Center offers its own lineup of touring acts ranging from comedians Steve Martin and Martin Short to Tedeschi Trucks Band, the 12-piece soul and blues band that’s been performing for more than a decade. The Tedeschi Trucks show on Jan. 19 brings the band’s songs such as “Everybody’s Talkin'” and “They Don’t Shine.”
Bernadette Peters, famous for her roles in the musical work of the late Stephen Sondheim such as “Sunday In the Park With George” and “Into the Woods,” appears in Des Moines for an in-concert performance on April 30. Across her storied career, Peters received three Tony Awards and a Golden Globe, with three Emmy and four Grammy nominations.
Famed comedians Steve Martin and Martin Short arrive with “You Won’t Believe What They Look Like Today!” the latest of the touring live shows the pair have performed since 2015. The comedic duo appeared together in numerous projects including the 1986 comedy “Three Amigos!” and the Netflix special “Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life.” This year, the duo teamed up with singer Selena Gomez for the Hulu mystery-comedy series “Only Murders in the Building.”
Isaac Hamlet covers arts, entertainment and culture at the Des Moines Register. Reach him at ihamlet@gannett.com or 319-600-2124, follow him on Twitter @IsaacHamlet.