The Alys Stephens Center Presents New Show, "An Evening with Jewel, Solo Acoustic" Oct. 30

Acclaimed American singer/songwriter and poet Jewel has just been added to the new Alys Stephens Center (ASC) season lineup.

The Alys Stephens Center will present “An Evening with Jewel, Solo Acoustic,” at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30 in the center at 1200 10th Ave. South. Singer-songwriter Meiko will open for Jewel. VIP tickets are $75. Performance tickets are $56, $46, $36 and $20 for students. Tickets go on sale to Alys Stephens Center subscribers and ASC Junior Patrons only on Tuesday, Aug. 18 and can be purchased by calling 205-975-2787. Tickets can be purchased online at www.AlysStephens.org, by calling 205-975-2787, at the ASC Box Office, and at Tickets.com.

Jewel’s personal odyssey, partly chronicled on one of the best-selling debut albums of all time, the 12-time platinum “Pieces of You,” comes full circle with her latest work “Lullaby.” The 15-track album, her first independent release, features 10 self-penned songs and a few standards, including “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and “Somewhere over the Rainbow.”

It comes as no surprise that Jewel, a singer, songwriter, actress, poet, painter, philanthropist and daughter of an Alaskan cowboy singer-songwriter, also finds herself in the embrace of country music these days. Jewel is set apart for singing and writing all of her songs, with hits like “Who Will Save Your Soul,” “You Were Meant for Me,” “Foolish Games” and “Stronger Woman.” She has received three Grammy Award nominations and has sold 27 million albums worldwide. The show is sponsored by WBHM, Viva Health and The Birmingham News.

About the Alys Stephens Center
Located on the UAB campus, the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center is one of the Southeast’s premier performing arts centers, hosting the best in international, national and local performance. Home to the UAB departments of Theatre and Music and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the ASC also presents its own season, bringing the world’s best music, dance, theater, comedy and family entertainment to Alabama.

O.A.R. at Monmouth University

NJ.com
The Star-Ledger
By Jay Lustig

New Jersey has major new concert venue: the MAC (Multipurpose Activity Center) at Monmouth University in West Long Branch. It’s a 153,200-square-foot, 4,100-seat arena, and international concert-promotion powerhouse AEG Live, in conjunction with the New Jersey-based concert company Concerts East, will present shows there.

The first, by rock band O.A.R., takes place on Nov. 8. Tickets are $30-$35; call (800) 919-6272 or visit AEGLive.com or Tickets.com.

Metropolis Connecting Chicago Students with Big Name Artists

Metropolis School of the Performing Arts has announced three workshops with big artists, giving aspiring musical theatre actors, songwriters and playwrights a chance to learn from professionals in the business.

On October 3rd, aspiring adult playwrights can work with local playwright Will Dunne in a free two-hour class at Metropolis. Will Dunne is the Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists, has led nearly 1,600 playwriting workshops and twice attended the Australian National Playwrights Conference as guest instructor. His plays have been selected by the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center for three National Playwrights Conferences, and generated a Charles MacArthur Fellowship. West coast productions of his plays have earned four Bay Area Theatre Critics Awards and two DramaLogue Playwriting Awards. Students will learn the basic principles of playwriting and get a technical look at how scenes are constructed. The workshop is 10 a.m. – Noon on Saturday, October 3 and is free. Students can register by calling 847.577.5982 x221.

On October 11 & 12, musical theatre performers and singers ages 8-16 can attend the two-day Singing for the Stage II workshop, which culminates in a showcase with Jersey Boy Michael Ingersoll. This second in the series of exciting workshops will prepare young vocal performers for singing on the stage. It will focus on vocal technique, stage presence and acting the song. This workshop will end in a final showcase with Jersey Boy Michael Ingersoll who will provide individual feedback to each student. Time is 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sunday and Monday, October 11 & 12. Cost is $175 and students can register by calling 847.577.5982 x221.

Aspiring songwriters can work with Grammy Nominated singer/songwriter Shawn Mullins on Sunday November 22. Mullins has had two number one songs, sold over a million albums, been nominated for a Grammy and performed thousands of live shows. Now students can study songwriting with him at Metropolis. This is a great chance for songwriters to learn from someone that knows how to write lyrics and weave hit melodies. Mullins performs an acoustic show at Metropolis on Saturday, November 21 at 8 p.m., and holds this Master Class on Sunday, November 22 from Noon – 4 p.m. Cost is $150. Students can register by calling 847.577.5982 x221

Metropolis is supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council. In addition, Metropolis receives generous sponsorship from American Airlines, Daily Herald, Doubletree Hotel of Arlington Heights and FastSigns of Arlington Heights..

Metropolis is located in the heart of Chicago’s northwest suburbs in downtown Arlington Heights at the intersection of Campbell and Vail Avenue (111 West Campbell Street). Street parking is available. Free parking is available in the public garage behind the theatre. For more information about Metropolis and a complete 2008/2009 performance schedule, go to MetropolisArts.com or call the Box Office at 847.577.2121.

Kanye West, Lady Gaga plan HSBC Arena show

The Buffalo News
Jeff Miers

Kanye West and Lady GaGa will perform at HSBC Arena on Sunday, Dec. 20th, promoter Live Nation announced.

Tickets for the show will go on sale at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 3rd through LiveNation.com, the HSBC Arena box office, and Tickets.com. Charge-by-phone tickets will be available through 888-223-6000.

Dubbed the "Fame Kills Tour starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga," the show brings West to town hot on the heels of the abundant controversy saturating the media in the wake of his behavior at this year's MTV Video Music Awards, which took place last week. West, not exactly a stranger to shooting off his mouth during televised awards shows, grabbed the microhone from a stunned Taylor Swift and proceeded to suggest that Beyonce should've won the "Best Female Video" award, and not Swift.

Aside from the fact that they have both broken the platinum barrier in terms of album sales, West, who specializes in a creative, collage-art, pop-based form of Hip-Hop; and Lady GaGa, a dance-pop diva in the Madonna mold have little in common. Still, the tour has been in the planning stages for months, and in the process, has become one of the most buzzed-about bills of the year. The jaunt will take West and Lady GaGa to 34 cities between early November and late January.

Tickets for the "Fame Kills Tour" are priced $129.50, $99.50, $69.50, and $39.50.

Curiouser and Curiouser! Alice in Wonderland Comes to Chicago

Enter the whimsical world of Alice in Wonderland at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, October 13 – 21, 2009.

All the characters from the beloved tale will be there: the kooky Caterpillar, the grumpy flowers and of course that White Rabbit who’s running rather late. Join Alice as she has tea with the Mad Hatter, gets crazy advice from the Cheshire Cat and plays croquet with the Queen of Hearts. It’s a musical, magical world of nonsense that’s sure to put a smile on your face.

Performances of Alice in Wonderland, a Chicago Kids Company production, will run October 13 – 16 at 9:45 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., October 17 at 11 a.m., and October 19 – 21 at 9:45 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $9.50 for students under 12 and $12 for adults. Suggested for grades K – 3.

Alice in Wonderland is part of Metropolis’ Stories in Action! series – educational productions designed to feed the minds and imaginations of young audiences and bring families together through the performing arts. Watch for other upcoming Stories in Action! productions including The Magic Ofrenda, Frindle, Peter Pan, The Diary of Anne Frank and Seussical Jr.

Metropolis is located in the heart of Chicago’s northwest suburbs in downtown Arlington Heights at the intersection of Campbell and Vail Avenue (111 West Campbell Street). Street parking is available. Free parking is available in the public garage behind the theatre. For more information about Metropolis and a complete 2008/2009 performance schedule, go to MetropolisArts.com or call the Box Office at 847.577.2121.

National Theater Town Hall Meeting Added to Arts Marketing and Development Conference

National Arts Marketing and Development Conference: Thursday, October 8 – Sunday, October 11, 2009 presented by Arts Reach at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.

The overall theme for the conference is

“Are You Ready for the Wave of Change? Breakthrough Strategies for Growing Audiences, Donors, and Boards in the Coming Decade”

Breakouts during the Regular Conference will follow THREE TRACKS, with at least one breakout at any given time as part of the Arts Marketing Track, the Arts Development Track and -- new this year -- the Theater Track for the theater professionals in attendance. Delegates may follow a single track or "jump the track" as they please.

The Theater Track will begin on Friday, October 9 with a National Town Hall Meeting: Theater 2009 led by Paul Stuart Graham, General Manager, Los Angeles Theater Center. Theater professionals are invited to attend this important theater town hall meeting; voice your opinions and hear the responses that could affect theater’s collective future.

During the conference there will be two featured ticketing sessions:

The Box Office/Marketing Partnership: Building Successful Audience Development Strategies

and

Leveraging Front Line Marketing Data

EARLY BIRD DEADLINE – GET 2 FOR THE PRICE OF 1 by September 24

In addition to receiving the lowest price, when one person from your organization registers by September 24, another person gets to go for free to the Regular Conference and the Pre-Conference E-marketing Day.

See conference details, including registration and lodging, at http://www.artsreach.com/conference.html

Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats to Perform at Caltech

The Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats will perform on Friday, October 9, at 8 p.m. in Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium.

Under the direction of acrobatic legends, the Hai Family, the company interprets the precision and grace of an art form honed by years of training and discipline: Chinese acrobatics. Their multi-faceted and multi-cultural production features acrobatic displays, feats of daring and balance, Kung Fu, brilliant costumes, and even a touch of Chinese comedy.

Along with several television appearances, including That’s Incredible, the troupe was awarded the Performing Arts Campus Entertainment Award by the National Association for Campus Activities (1986), and was nominated for the 1998 Campus Activities Today Reader’s Choice Award for Best Live Novelty Act.
Tickets to this performance are priced at $29.00, $24.00, and $19.00; youth (high school age and younger): $10.00. Senior rush tickets will go on sale for $10.00, beginning one-half hour before the performance (subject to availability). Tickets can be purchased at the Caltech Ticket Office, 332 S. Michigan Avenue, Pasadena.

Parking for Beckman Auditorium is located at 332 South Michigan Avenue, Pasadena (south of Del Mar Boulevard). For information, call (626) 395-4652.