- “The Spirit Bride” — a partnership performance between Newman University Theatre Department and Ballet Wichita
- Performance dates: Friday and Saturday, Oct. 9 and 10
- Performance time: 7 p.m.
- Location: Performance Hall, DeMattias Fine Arts Center, Newman University
- Tickets available
A village gathers by firelight. Marigold petals mark the way home for the spirits who return. That is the world audiences walk into when “The Spirit Bride” opens in October in the DeMattias Performance Hall at Newman University.
Ballet Wichita and Newman University will present the new contemporary ballet Oct. 9 and 10. Tickets are on sale now.
“The Spirit Bride” reimagines “Giselle,” the classic story of a betrayed love that is haunted beyond death. Here the story unfolds on the night the veil grows thin, drawing on Día de los Muertos and its themes of remembrance, love and connection. Betrayed in life, Giselle passes into a lake ruled by the Spirit Brides, souls bound to this world by love left unfinished. Albrecht follows her into the land of the dead with only until dawn to face the truth of his choices.
The production is danced to Adolphe Adam’s original “Giselle” score alongside new contemporary music.
“‘The Spirit Bride’ is a ghost story about love and forgiveness,” said Logan Pachciarz, producing artistic director at Ballet Wichita. “Setting it on the night the veil thins lets us follow that story into the land of the dead, where grief and beauty share the same stage. We wanted something haunting and human at once, and a production Wichita can see itself in.”
Built from the first rehearsal
“The Spirit Bride” is being co-created by Ballet Wichita and Newman University, built together from its first rehearsals, and students are in the room with the artistic team and the professional company while the piece takes shape.
By opening night, Wichita audiences will be watching a ballet these students helped build from the ground up.
“Newman students will have an opportunity to work side by side with professional dancers, which will expose them to a performing art that they will not normally get at Newman except through our cheer and dance team,” said Director of Theatre Mark Mannette.
Newman University students participating in the production include Steven Brown, Jessica Carroll, Joseph Kiley, Lily Oberly and Nevaeh Palmer.
Additionally, eight students are part of an adjacent course providing design support for the performances, such as marketing materials and dancers’ masks. Peyton Childers, Daniel Graber, Luke Jones, Aiana Martin and Riley Roots join Brown, Kiley and Palmer in the class.
Kiley, a sophomore sports media major and Pathmaker student, credits his involvement in theater as a difference maker in his Newman experience.
“My time here in Newman theater has been nothing but a blessing,” Kiley said. “The people I’ve met, the things I’ve been able to do. The opportunities I’ve had are short, then a blessing from God.”
“It was something new and unique that allowed me to be more involved with theater and see it from multiple sides,” Kiley said about being part of the art course and cast of “The Spirit Bride.”
The collaboration is part of Newman University Theatre’s 2026-27 season; two of this season’s six productions pair students with professional performing artists.
If you go
“The Spirit Bride” runs at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, and Saturday, Oct. 10, in the Performance Hall inside the DeMattias Fine Arts Center on the Newman University campus.
Tickets are on sale now.
Founded in 1973, Ballet Wichita operates a professional company and the Ballet Wichita Academy, which trains dancers from early childhood through pre-professional levels.
