from staff reports
September 30, 2007 01:34 am
—
MSU Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts’ 2007-08 season continues to get better.
At the announcement of the new season in July, the center’s officials promised more — a more diverse lineup of artists and art forms, and more educational performances and special offerings such as residency programs and workshops for college students and the public.
“We’re providing more opportunities for the center to create connections throughout the community and reach this area’s young people through the arts,” said Dennis Sankovich, executive director of the Riley Center.
Including shows that will showcase the amazing qualities of the theater — from the extraordinary acoustics to the rich, intimate environment.
“All of this serves to create a one-of-kind experience that sticks with people well after they leave,” Sankovich said.
The season kicked off Sept. 9 with a concert by multi-platinum and award-winning country music artist Trisha Yearwood. Performing to a packed house, Yearwood raved about the theater from the stage, referring to it as “about the prettiest theater anywhere,” said Penny Kemp, marketing director of the center.
“Later in the show, as many other artists have done (Wynton Marsalis, Sandi Patti, Hal Holbrook, Kathy Mattea, to name a few), she (Yearwood) began talking about how wonderful the acoustics are,” Kemp said.
“In fact, she changed her set on the spot. After whispering the new direction to her band, she explained to the audience that she was changing her set list because she wanted to perform a song she typically does with all acoustic accompaniments, simply because our theater sounded so good.”
Kemp said the crowd loved it, Yearwood clearly loved it, and both fed off each other.
“We received phone calls and e-mails the entire next week from patrons telling us how much they enjoyed the show,” the marketing director said.
Yearwood’s performance was followed by presentations by The Princely Players, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and Time for Three — each receiving enormous audience response.
October promises to be just as exciting, with performances by The Capitol Steps, The Hot Club of San Francisco, The Count Basie Orchestra and Robert Earl Keen.
And more has been added to the month’s offerings, including a Threefoot Arts Festival and the Short Circuit Traveling Film Festival.
Following are details of shows for October, as well as a listing of shows for the remainder of the calendar year:
The Capitol Steps
Friday, Oct. 5, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $32 and $26
Hilarious ensemble pokes fun at the state of politics today with satire and parody. Particularly fitting for an election year! They’ve recorded 27 albums, been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS, and can be heard four times a year on National Public Radio stations nationwide during their Politics Takes a Holiday radio specials.
Visit: www.capsteps.com to hear excerpts from their albums.
The Hot Club of San Francisco’s Silent Surrealism Show
Presented in conjunction with the San Francisco Silent Film Festival
Oct. 12, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $22 and R16
Inspired by the music of Django Reinhart, rightly hailed as one of the greatest guitar players who every lived.
Described as sophisticated yet sentimental and delicate — but with rhythms played at breakneck speed — the music has a swinging, jazzy feel, but many of the songs are actually waltzes.
To add to the experience, several short silent films will air along with the live gypsy jazz, as part of a special collaboration with San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Included are a couple of films by Charlie Bowers, an unknown who was a contemporary of Charlie Chaplin; Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, a bittersweet film about a little boy who gets an opportunity to go on a field trip to the big city. For more information, visit www.hcsf.com.
Short Circuit Traveling Film Festival
Oct. 13, MSU Riley Center Studio Theater
Tickets: General admission: $10
In conjunction with the Threefoot Arts Festival and to piggy back off of the Oct. 12 Hot Club of San Francisco Silent Surrealism show featuring short silent films, the MSU Riley Center is bringing Short Circuit Traveling Film Festival to the center’s Studio Theater.
The Short Circuit Traveling Film Festival spotlights recent short films by filmmakers living and working in the Southeastern United States. Selected for their artistic merit by an esteemed panel of media arts professionals, the two and a half hour event will include 12 engaging short films in categories of animation, documentary, experimental and fiction.
For more details about the films, visit: http://www.southarts.org/site/c.guIYLaMRJxE/b.2951861/k.8291/Festival_Films.htm
Shows through the end of the calendar year:
The Capitol Steps
Friday, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $32 and $26
www.capsteps.com
The Hot Club of San Francisco
Oct. 12, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $22 and $16
www.hcsf.com
The Count Basie Orchestra
Oct. 20, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $28 and $22
www.countbasie.com
Robert Earl Keen
Oct. 27, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $35 & $29
www.robertearlkeen.com
Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and Chorus — Celebrating Mississippi’s American Master Composer, William Grant Still
Nov. 9, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $22 and $16
Mary Wilson of The Supremes
Nov. 17, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $39 and $33
www.marywilson.com
A Garfield Christmas
Dec. 8, 7 p.m.
Tickets: $20 (adults) & $12 (children 12 & under)
www.bsoinc.com
Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers “Christmas Concert”
Dec. 15, 8 p.m.
Dec. 16, 4 p.m.
Tickets: $41 and $35
www.gatlinbrothers.musiccitynetworks.com
When/where/how to purchase tickets
• To purchase a season package: Mail, fax or deliver an order form with payment to the MSU Riley Center box office.
• To purchase tickets to an individual show:
Purchase at the MSU Riley Center box office in person, by phone or online.
Season brochures, order forms and complete artists listings will be available through the MSU Riley Center box office and on-line at
www.msurileycenter.
For tickets, visit the MSU Riley Center, 2200 Fifth St. Or, call (601) 696-2200; fax: (601) 696-2300. Box office hours are Monday-Friday, from
10 a.m.-6 p.m.
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