(bright music) - A giant man-eating plant, a high school comedy phenomenon, and one of the most beloved musicals ever written all share the same stage this season.

Karen Azenberg joins us now to discuss Pioneer Theater Company's 65th anniversary celebration.

First off, congratulations on 65 years.

That's incredible.

- Thank you.

Yeah, it's very exciting.

It's hard to believe this institution has been around for that long.

- And kicking things off kind of with one of my favorite shows, "Little Shop of Horror," like.

- We like to celebrate the other holiday season, Halloween.

And that's sort of a bloody good time, and a man-eating plant is a great way to start that off.

- [Liz] Absolutely.

You guys have been delighting audiences season after season.

What does it mean for you to do this here in Utah in this community and continue to kind of bring the arts here for people to enjoy?

- It's so exciting to be a part of professional live theater.

You know, you get that absolute response from your audience every single night.

They are there experiencing it together and together with our cast and our company that, you know, works so hard to create everything we do here in Utah for a Utah audience.

- [Liz] Yeah, and the live response from the audience kind of feeds the artists on the stage as well as they're performing, right?

- It's very exciting.

It's very exciting.

It's really people coming together, which is amazing.

- Yeah, and you guys have an incredible list of shows that will be coming out throughout the season.

And I love that you guys also give people options on how they choose like the packages of what they're gonna see for the year.

- There's sort of pricing and opportunities for every schedule and every ticket price availability.

And it's a diverse season of different kinds of offerings, so you are certain to find something, some combination of shows you're gonna love.

- Absolutely.

I think I saw that "Mean Girls" is a part of it as well.

- "Mean Girls the Musical," "The Man Who Came to Dinner," which is a classic holiday movie that everybody loves.

A play called "Eureka Day," and then "Les Mis" at the end of the season.

- So many great options.

Well thank you so much for stopping by.

If you would like to learn more about the 2026-2027 season at Pioneer Theater, just head to the website that's on your screen, that's pioneertheater.org, for more ticket details.

I'm Liz Adeola, and thank you for watching "Contact."

(bright music) Philanthropy, Arts, culture.

It's what brings us together.

Hi, I'm Liz Adeola, the host of Contact, a show that connects you with local events and organizations that serve your community.

If you work for a nonprofit and would like to be on Contact, please visit pbs.org/contact