Smith Center announces winter/spring schedule
Maybe your tastes run to the London Symphony Orchestra — or Engelbert Humperdinck. Maybe you’d love to hear “A Prairie Home Companion’s” Garrison Keillor — or Broadway legend Hal Prince. Craving a taste of “Re-Animator the Musical”? Or all of the above?
They’re all on The Smith Center’s schedule for the first half of 2015 — and you can “Design Your Own Series” to include multiple performances. (Excluding Broadway tours, performances by such resident companies as Nevada Ballet Theatre and the Las Vegas Philharmonic and shows at Cabaret Jazz, that is.)
Never fear — that still leaves plenty to choose from, whether it’s music (Bruce Hornsby), dance (Momix), theater or returning acts, from Burt Bacharach to NPR’s Ira Glass.
Graduated discounts for the design-your-own series offer discounts of 5-15 percent when tickets for more than three shows are purchased. (The more shows you see, the more you save.)
Series and individual tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at The Smith Center box office, 361 Symphony Park Ave., by phone (702-749-2000) or online (www.thesmithcenter.com). For preferred seating and group rates, call 702-749-2348.
And now, on with the show(s) …
REYNOLDS HALL
Jan. 17 — Ira Glass: Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host
NPR’s “This American Life” host invents a show that combines two art forms that “have no business being together,” Glass says, “dance and radio.”
Jan. 30 — An Evening With Burt Bacharach
The multiple Oscar and Grammy winner returns to The Smith Center (with three singers and seven musicians) to revisit all-time hits from “Alfie” to “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.”
Jan. 31 —Jackie Evancho
The teen vocalist extends her range from classical crossover to touch on folk (“The Rains of Castamere” from HBO’s “Game of Thrones”), rock (U2’s “With or Without You”) and originals.
Feb. 4 — Dinosaur Train Live! Buddy’s Big Adventure
Embracing the fascination that preschoolers have with dinosaurs and trains, the interactive show takes Buddy, Tiny, King, Don and more back in time to an age when dinosaurs roamed the earth — and rode the railroad.
Feb. 12 — Kodo One Earth Tour: Mystery
Through the music of Kodo, a “mystery” unfolds, conjuring the spirit of the Japanese people and leading to a realm where sacred beasts appear.
Feb. 15 — Engelbert Humperdinck
The showroom veteran makes his Smith Center debut, performing such hits as “Release Me,” “The Last Waltz” and more. (And speaking of more, an “After the Lovin’ VIP Lounge” package includes, among other goodies, a 30-minute post-show meet and greet, a photo op, Q&A session and autographed greatest-hits CD.)
March 10 — Momix Alchemia
A new work featuring the dancer-illusionists of Momix manipulates the elements of earth, air, fire and water to produce a phantasmagorical multimedia spectacle full of invention, beauty, sensuality and humor.
March 12 — “ImaginOcean”: The Live Glow-in-the-Dark Family Musical
This live, black-light puppet show musical follows best friends Tank, Bubbles and Dorsel as they swim off in search of treasure.
March 30 — London Symphony Orchestra and Michael Tilson Thomas
Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas leads the orchestra — and pianist Yuja Wang —in Gershwin’s “Piano Concerto in F,” Britten’s “Four Sea Interludes” from “Peter Grimes” and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2.
April 15 — “Ivy & Bean”
Two very different second-graders form an unexpected friendship in this adaptation of the best-selling children’s book series by author Annie Barrows and illustrator Sophie Blackall.
April 16 — An Evening with Garrison Keillor
The longtime host of “A Prairie Home Companion” shares anecdotes about growing up in the Midwest, the people of Lake Wobegon, and “late-life fatherhood.”
April 18 — Bruce Hornsby
The idiosyncratic musician explores varied musical terrain, reflecting a 25-year recording career that’s included collaborations with everyone from Bob Dylan to Bela Fleck.
May 14 — Hal Prince’s Broadway: An Evening in Word and Song
The Broadway legend — whose producing and/or directing credits include “West Side Story,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Cabaret,” “Evita,” “Sweeney Todd” and “Phantom of the Opera” — will reflect on his career, illustrated by live performances of musical highlights.
CABARET JAZZ
Jan. 23-24 — Tony DeSare’s “Night Life”
The singer, pianist and composer presents a postmodern version of an elegant 1950s New York nightclub show, featuring sophisticated, romantic and swinging tunes by everyone from Cole Porter and Duke Ellington to Bob Dylan and Paul Simon.
March 26-29 — “Girls Night: The Musical”
The off-Broadway and touring hit explores the lives of a group of female friends through hits of the ’80s and ’90s.
May 15-16 — “Horizons”: An Evening with Composer/Pianist Lisa Hilton and her Band
Composer-pianist Lisa Hilton brings her impressionistic “sound paintings” to Cabaret Jazz, reflecting jazz, blues, minimalist, classical, pop, rock and modernist influences.
May 29-30 — James Torme Celebrates the Greats
Singer James Torme returns to Cabaret Jazz, saluting musical legends from Ella Fitzgerald and Nat “King” Cole to Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra, along with his own legendary father, Mel Torme.
TROESH STUDIO THEATER
Jan. 6-18 — “Re-Animator the Musical”
The bizarre story of Herbert West, a young medical student who has discovered a glowing green serum that can bring the dead back to life — with catastrophic results — gets a musical twist in this award-winning horror comedy directed by Stuart Gordon, who also helmed the 1985 cult movie.
Feb. 5-15 — “Dixie’s Tupperware Party”
Fast-talking Tupperware queen Dixie Longate returns to The Smith Center with more comedy, giveaways and audience participation.
April 29-May 3 — Steve Solomon’s “Cannoli, Latkes and Guilt … The Therapy Continues”
The author and star of the award-winning “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m in Therapy” returns to The Smith Center, once again portraying multiple characters from his extended family.
