Glema Mahr Center for the Arts announces 2012-13 season

Going 'Wild': Glema Mahr announces 2012-13 schedule

By Erin Schmitt, Messenger Staff Writer eschmitt@the-messenger.com,
Published: Wednesday, June 20, 2012 8:16 AM CDT

The Glema Center for the Arts is preparing to take a walk on the wild side for its 2012-13 season.

This year s theme Wild for the Arts! might best be personified by the Oct. 23 presentation of Jungle Jack Hanna s Into the Wild LIVE!.

We ve never had anybody quite like Jack Hanna before, but so many children in our area wake up to (his show) Saturday morning, said Lynn Curtis, the center s community director and marketing coordinator.

Other big draws this season include Grammy-winning pop icon Michael Bolton on Dec. 10 and the musical Monty Python s Spamalot on March 7.

Bolton might be best known for crooning smash hits, When A Man Loves A Woman and How Am I Supposed to Live Without You, but he displayed his wild sense of humor in the Saturday Night Live digital short Jack Sparrow, said Glema Center Director Brad Downall.

Most of the musicals the Glema Center presents are fairly tame, but Spamalot definitely fits this year s Wild for the Arts! theme, Curtis said.

This is just crazy fun and wild, she said.

The Glema Center switched how it booked shows this season. Usually the conventional wisdom was to book the two headlining acts to kick off and close the season, but Downall said he decided to take a different approach.

What we found is that by April, people are kind of unpredictable, he said. If the weather is good, they are going to be on the lake.

So, the two higher-priced shows, Bolton and Spamalot, were scheduled in December and March respectively, Downall said. Other quality acts are also sprinkled throughout the year.

The advisory committee tries to come up with a balanced season where something will appeal to just about everyone, he said.

The season officially kicks off with the Back to School Bash from 4-10 p.m. Aug. 18. The free outdoor festival will feature top local bands as the Glema Center commemorates the start of a new school year at Madisonville Community College.

The Center Stage Series will kick off with the up and coming country band, The Farm, at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13. Central City-based band Mudd River Union will be the opening act. Tickets are $15 or $20.

They are really moving up the ladder quickly, Curtis said about The Farm. A lot of the younger people know well what their music is all about.

An Evening with Michael Bolton will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10. Tickets are $50 or $55.

Orchestra Kentucky will perform Blood, Sweat, Tears, Earth, Wind, Fire ... and A Little Chicago! at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1. Tickets are $25 or $30.

The orchestra performs with the band Jeans n Classics to take the audience on a trip down memory lane.

If you close your eyes and listen, what you hear is what came on the airwaves 30 years ago, Downall said. They try to re-create the sound.

Tickets to Monty Python s Spamalot are $33 and $38. The show will be held at 7:30 p.m. March 7.

For the past three years, the Glema Center has booked contemporary dance troupes, Curtis said. The Center went in a different direction this year by scheduling the Russian National Ballet Theatre to present Swan Lake.

I think that s really going to attract a whole different audience that love classic dance, she said.

The ballet company will perform at 7:30 p.m. March 12. Tickets are $20 and $25. Children 12 and under will be admitted at half-price.

Gary Puckett amp; the Union Gap with special guest Lynn Trefzger will be the season s closer and final act in the Center Stage Series.

Puckett garnered six consecutive Gold Records and Top 10 Billboard hits, including Young Girl, and Lady Willpower. Trefzger is a ventriloquist/comedienne.

Tickets are $20 or $25. The show will be held at 7:30 p.m. April 20.

The Family Specials will kick off with Jack Hanna: Into the Wild LIVE! at 7 p.m. Oct. 23. Tickets are $20 and $25. Children 12 and under will be admitted half-price.

A Community Christmas featuring MCC Singers, the Glema Center Youth Chorale and the Hopkins County Central and Madisonville-North Hopkins choirs will begin at 7 p.m. Dec. 15. Tickets are $9 and $12, with children 12 and under being admitted for half-price.

The Berenstain Bears in Family Matters! will be presented at 7 p.m. April 16. Tickets are $9 and $12, with children 12 and under admitted at half-price.

The Glema Mahr Chamber Music Series will again sell $18 tickets for general admission.

Guitarist Paul Galbraith will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 5. Galbraith is internationally renowned as a brilliant innovator of classical guitar.

The Poulenc Trio, featuring a bassoon/oboe/piano combination, perform at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4. The Poulenc Trio is considered the most active touring piano-wind chamber music ensemble in the world.

Trumpet player Allen Vizzutti will perform with Laura Vizzutti on piano at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 19. Vizzutti s sound can be heard in more than 150 movies and games and his Allen Vizzutti Trumpet Method is a standard music education treatise worldwide.

With the wonderful band program we have in Hopkins County, I think that s going to be a big draw, Curtis said.

The Euclid Quartet will play at 7:30 p.m. April 15. The quartet is known for performances filled with vibrant color and personality, Downall said.

The Coffeehouse Series kicks off with the Panorama Jazz Band at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20. Tickets to the New Orleans jazz band s show are $18.

The Makings of a Master: Kentucky Folk Art Apprenticeships will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 16 and Nov. 17. Tickets are $18 or $9 for each concert.

Carla Gover and Maiden Radio will perform traditional music the first night, while Kentucky Wild Horse, Mitch Barrett and Rossi Clark will take the stage the next night.

Madisonville native Darryl Van Leer brings his Rubycat Lawson s Roadhouse Lounge to the Glema Center at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7. Tickets are $18.

The foot-stomping musical tells the story of Matthew Porter, proprietor of a famous Blues and Rock and Roll juke joint. Van Leer has 21 costume changes, performing as Elton John, Little Richard and many more.

The DePue Brothers Band will play at 7:30 p.m. March 21. Tickets to the instrumental blend of classical, bluegrass, Americana and folk are $18.

Community Theatre will begin with a dinner theatre showing of The Foreigner by Larry Shue at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 14-16.

The show is about a pathologically shy Englishman who finds himself in a fishing lodge in rural Georgia while pretending not to speak a word of English.

Rodgers and Hammerstein s The King and I will be performed at 7 p.m. on July 19-20 and at 2 p.m. on July 21 in 2013. Tickets are $15 and half-price for children 12 and under.

The classic musical tells the story of an English widow summoned to be tutor to the King of Siam s many children and wives.

The Center s Proud Partnerships series will begin with Central s musical department s performance of Annie! at 7 p.m. on Nov. 2-3 and 2 p.m. on Nov. 3. Tickets are $10, but students get in half-price.

North s musical department will be performing Annie, Get Your Gun! at 7 p.m. on April 26-27 and at 2 p.m. on April 27. Tickets are $10 and students get in half-price.

Tickets go on sale to past package buyers on July 5. Single-ticket sales begin July 23. The Everything Ticket is $300 for 21 performances.