‘BRIGHT STAR’ NAMED 2026 SCHMECKFEST MUSICAL

“Bright Star,” a musical that opened on Broadway in 2016 and was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best New Musical, has been selected as the 2026 Schmeckfest musical.

The Schmeckfest Program Committee has named Will Ortman as artistic director for the production, part of the annual ethnically themed festival scheduled on the Freeman Academy campus on April 10 and 11, 2026. Tickets will go on sale Jan. 1.

“We are looking forward to presenting this gentle-spirited, easygoing, heartwarming show as the 46th new show to take the stage as part of the 65th Schmeckfest,” said Jill Hofer, co-chair of the committee that oversees the production.

Inspired by a true story and written by Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin) and Edie Brickell, “Bright Star” is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Described as “a beautiful story of love lost and found,” it travels between 1923 and 1945. It tells the story of Billy Cane, a young soldier just home from WWII, who meets Alice Murphy, the editor of The Asheville Southern Literary Journal. They discover a powerful secret that alters their lives.

Committee co-chair Dan Graber describes the music as “emerging from bluegrass, traditional folk and other American roots music. The variety is similar to ‘Big River,’ the Schmeckfest musical in 1992 and 2015.”

Ortman says the music was a big part of what drew him to the show.

“It’s so catchy and accessible that it was hard for me to forget it,” he said.

And he noted the powerful story as “one that will make a person both laugh and cry.”

No stranger to Schmeckfest musicals, in addition to being an actor in 13 shows, Ortman directed “Lucky Stiff” in 2004, co-directed “Joseph and Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” in 2010, and “Matilda, the Musical,” which fell victim to Covid-19 twice — in both 2020 and 2022 — and never took the stage.

Details on characters and auditions will be announced later this year.