“Chicago the Musical” is coming to Stephens Auditorium this weekend. There will be three shows. 

“One show is typical, three shows is fortunate,” Tammy Koolbeck said regarding the Broadway musical tour. 

Koolbeck is the executive director of the Iowa State Center and a Southeastern Iowa native. She has been coming to Ames long before she moved here. She loves working with all of the different events that come through the Iowa State Center, and every day at work is different.

She has worked with the production of “Chicago” three times in her career, but this time she is looking forward to seeing NFL legend Eddie George play the leading male role, Billy Flynn. 

“I watched him play football and he did very well,” Koolbeck said. “[Eddie George] isn’t performing the whole tour, so we are fortunate to have him.”

The Iowa State Center, which is managed by VenuWorks, hosts numerous productions each year in Fischer Theater, the Scheman Building, or, in this case, Stephens Auditorium. There are four to six broadway productions that come to Stephens Auditorium each season.

Koolbeck said this gives the Iowa State community multiple opportunities to access the arts and expand the horizons of the students. Koolbeck wants students to know the opportunities that are available to them and the wide variety of programming that comes through their campus.

The Iowa State Center has done a lot to get students through its doors, like keeping the rush ticket program from last season. Rush tickets provide $25 tickets to Iowa State students. The Iowa State Center works with Student Government to keep the discounted rate for students.

“We work hard to secure that funding to get the student rush tickets available,” Koolbeck said. 

There is a text club that students can join to receive those exclusive deals. Students may text “RUSHTIX” to “313131” to receive those text deals. 

The Iowa State Center staff worked with the touring production team to bring the rush ticket price from $25 to $20 for “Chicago.” 

The performing arts council works with students on their board to sort through events during their selection process, to see what other students would enjoy. 

“Stephens is really a crown jewel of the campus, and we really want it to stay around with the help of the student body,” Koolbeck said. 

“Chicago” runs at 7:30 p.m. Friday, 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are available through the Iowa State Center Ticket Office, ticketmaster, or by phone: 1-800-745-3000.