World-famous comedian Jerry Seinfeld plans to return to Springfield on Feb. 17

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld will make his return to Springfield in 2023 with an appearance at Sangamon Auditorium on Feb. 17.

The University of Illinois Springfield Performing Arts Center announced Friday that Seinfeld would be coming to the school for a 7 p.m. performance. Tickets go on sale Monday for Starring Role and above members of the FRIENDS of the UIS Performing Arts Center group, Thursday, Oct. 6 for all other FRIENDS members and Friday, Oct. 7, to the general public. They can be purchased online at the PAC website, over the phone at 217-206-6160 and at the UIS Ticket Office.

Prices range from $67.50 in the balcony up to $175 for Gold Circle and Orchestra seats.

Seinfeld will be making his fourth appearance in Springfield, having performed at the Sangamon Auditorium in 2003, 2009 and 2018. PAC director Bryan Rives said ticket sales for 2018 were so good the comedian decided to add a second performance that same evening.

"He sold out his performance the first day that tickets were on sale," Rives said. "Luckily, we were able to convince him to add a second show because of the demand."

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The comedian is known the world over for his eponymous TV show, created as a way for him to show the audience how someone like him uses their daily life to get their material. Debuted without fanfare in the summer of 1989 and nearly canceled after the airing of its pilot – known as "The Seinfeld Chronicles" – the show went on to become arguably the greatest live-action sitcom of all time over the course of its 10 seasons on NBC.

Seinfeld has largely focused on his stand-up work in the years after the show's conclusion, although he has appeared in works like "Bee Movie," a 2007 computer-animated comedy about a bee that sues humanity for exploiting his race. Most recently, he created the online series, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," an interview series with friends of his discussing their lives and careers.

Rives said the fact that Seinfeld is coming to Springfield for a fourth time exemplifies the effort the university has taken in drawing big name talent. For instance, Seinfeld isn't the only comedian with a much-anticipated show upcoming, as John Mulaney has a Nov. 20 show scheduled. "Weird Al" Yankovic also has a performance two weeks prior to Seinfeld's appearance on Feb. 4, one that was rescheduled from May of this year because of COVID-19-related issues.

"The management team here has been working really hard over the past five years to attract big-name artists and commercial promoters who want to come in and rent our facility and bring top-name artists to our community," Rives said. "We are not paying him to perform. His production company is renting the Performing Arts Center, so we're excited to have that business."

Rives felt that Seinfeld was confident enough in the market that he and his management were willing to rent out the auditorium for the performance.

"That says a lot about the strength of the community," Rives said. "Big name artists are realizing that Springfield is a place that they can come to and have a sold-out house."

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Seinfeld's return to Springfield is a good test for Rives and the traditional business model of performing arts shows. He feels that people in a post-COVID environment may be more comfortable purchasing tickets to events such as the Seinfeld show earlier than they had been doing in the last year.

"Coming out of COVID, the performing arts industry is trying to adapt because all of our sales models pre-COVID don't necessarily apply now," Rives said. "For other types of shows, we've seen that (ticket) sales seem to happen closer to the event as opposed to right when it's announced. I'm talking about events that were a year ago when people were still unsure about COVID.

We're just now starting our season and I'm hoping that we're returning to normal (and) people are less concerned about the idea that, 'Oh, if I buy a ticket today, because of COVID, the show might be postponed. I'll just wait until we're closer on (to the date).' I think we're past that."

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Jerry Seinfeld to return to Springfield, Illinois on Feb. 17