Celebrity Attractions Launches New Season
By NANCY HERMANN
MODERN DANCE: Keigwin+Company will take over the stage of the PAC Nov. 18-19. Choregus Productions will host the unique performance filled with dance.
Have you seen a new movie lately? I haven’t. Perhaps there aren’t many good ones out right now. Or maybe I’ve seen more live entertainment than usual because there’s so much. I can’t stockpile nights at the theater in my “Watch If I Get The Flu” stack of films. Live entertainment is temporal, and that makes it even more precious.
Before the tickets are gone, plan to catch one or several of the late October and early November events at the .
Halloween-time fare includes a modern take on a tale of mental torture with Theatre Tulsa’s staging of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Oct. 28 through Nov. 5. And there’s American Theatre Company’s The Full Monty, with six out-of-work steelworkers showing their softer sides when they bare it all, emotionally and physically, in an attempt to upstage the Chippendales and make money. Catch that show Oct. 21-29.
Make room on your calendar for Tulsa Ballet’s Nine Sinatra Songs Oct. 28-30. A new soloist with the company, Argen-tina’s Sofia Menteguiaga, who I hope you had a chance to see in The Merry Widow, is a joy to watch. And she’s just one reason to see this three-piece showcase of dance.
Celebrity Attractions Broadway series kicks off an extraordinary season Nov. 1-6 with the 2010 Best Musical Tony Award winner, Memphis. Travel back to the 1950s to relive the music. This is a story about a white radio D.J. and a talented black club singer who want to be together despite the consequences of an interracial union. Bon Jovi’s keyboard player David Bryan wrote the score.
You can spot more people cuddling up at a Jim Brickman concert than almost any other event staged at the . A superb pianist and entertainer, Brickman is back Nov. 18, presented by Celebrity Attractions.
Celebrity also returns the Beatles show Rain to the stage, but for only two nights this time, Nov. 29-30. I’m a Beatles fan and I loved not only the music in Rain but also the entire historical framework that was so artfully incorporated with the music.
Tulsa Symphony has concerts in both October and November. And people are still talking about their September performance of Tchaik 4. The Symphony’s Larger Than Life on Oct. 22 features Crescendo Music Award-winning violinist Siwoo Kim performing Sibelius’ only concerto. Completing the evening is Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, made famous by the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
There’s also a film connection for Tulsa Symphony’s Nov. 12 concert, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl. See Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, along with Johnny Depp channeling Keith Richards, when the Symphony plays and the men of the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus sing in front of the silver screen.
Choregus Productions is back with two events in November, beginning Nov. 5 with the amazing young trio Time for Three. They call themselves a classically trained garage band. There is no way you can see this group and not come away raving. Then, Nov. 18-19 Choregus hosts the contemporary dance group Keigwin+Company. I’m expecting some fairly sexy and interesting dance pieces.
The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio returns to Tulsa for Chamber Music Tulsa Nov. 6. This is one of the top chamber music groups in the country. They’ve built a solid reputation through the years, ever since they played at President Carter’s Inauguration.
We have more than our usual share of celebrities in November. On Nov. 8 is a show that is suited for grandparents as well as kids, and that’s because Buddy Valastro, the Cake Boss, is all about family. Buddy will tell stories about his family, friends and life in the bakery business, bring people on stage and demonstrate cake-decorating techniques. If you’ve watched his show, you know he’s one charismatic guy.
Improv geniuses Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood of Whose Line Is It Anyway? fame put on a family show too, and they are hilarious. Their “Two Man Group” appearance in Chapman Music Hall is Nov. 19.
Also at the are theatre performances with the Trust-sponsored children’s show The Borrowers, Nov. 4-5 and Playhouse Tulsa’s Third Annual 24-Hour Play Festival Nov. 19.
One other theatrical performance that will be worth your time and money is The Guys, presented by Theatre Pops, Nov. 10-13. Based on a true story, The Guys is about a New York City fire captain who is working with a ghostwriter to craft eulogies for the men he lost on 9/11. The bond the two develop helps them both grapple with the world-changing event and loss.
Live entertainment may be impermanent in form, but the experience is lasting.
Nancy Hermann is Director of Marketing at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.
Updated 10-22-2011
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