Kimmel Center Brings Summertime Performances to Philly, June to August
MAY 11, 2009
Summertime fun arrives in Philadelphia with tickets now on sale for performances at the Kimmel Center, Academy of Music and Merriam Theater of the University of the Arts.
From June through August, an eclectic array of summer performances include: Cirque du Soleil KÀ creator Robert Lepage bringing the U.S. East Coast premiere of The Andersen Project to Philadelphia; 15-hour annual Summer Solstice Celebration; Broadway's Tony® Award-winning Spring Awakening and Grease.
Global Grooves world music dance parties are back with Samba Mapalanga and Virunga beating the rhythms of Central and East African Congolese rumba and soukous; CuCu Diamantes' New York latin fusion; Bollywood's Indian Idol judge Kailash Kher; and Balkan gypsy brass music of Slavic Soul Party!; and, internationally acclaimed organists including Philly native Ann Elise Smoot, take to the stage to perform on the renowned Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ in Verizon Hall.
Single tickets for all Kimmel Center Presents and Broadway Series performances can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999; online at www.kimmelcenter.org; at the Kimmel Center box office, open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings; and at the Academy of Music box office on performance evenings only. For group sales please call 215-790-5883.
Summer events at the Kimmel Center, Academy of Music and Merriam Theater include:
SUMMER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION
Summer Solstice Celebration sponsored by Citibank
Saturday, June 20, 2009 from 3pm to dawn
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Price: $10 for adults; $5 for kids ages 12 and under
Summer Solstice Celebration sponsored by Citibank heats up in Philly
with the 7th annual 15-hour festival at the Kimmel Center from 3pm on
Saturday, June 20 until dawn on Sunday, June 21, 2009. Audiences of all
ages can enjoy live music and entertainment including R&B,
classical, pop, jazz and dance performances, and face-painting for
kids. The Solstice celebration kicks off with an outdoor
canine-friendly Yappy Hour serving menu items for four-legged furry friends, and continues to offer something for everyone, from Miss Amy's Fitness Rock & Roll for kids to late-night fun with hip-hop duo Christian Rich and Philly's own Grateful Dead tribute band Splintered Sunlight. InLiquid will host an outdoor art show, Art for the Cash Poor,
featuring photographs, paintings, jewelry, clothing and handmade books
on Spruce Street. And don't forget to BYOD (bring your own drum) for
the annual drum circle at dawn. Up-to-date artist confirmations will be announced on the Kimmel Center web site, www.kimmelcenter.org/solstice
GLOBAL GROOVES
Samba Mapangala and Virunga
Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Price: $20
Samba Mapangala and his group Virunga have become one of the most
popular bands from Central and East Africa throughout the last 25
years. Singing in both Congolese Lingala and Kenyan Swahili languages,
Samba created an innovative mix of the best Congolese rumba and soukous
with an earthier Kenyan style. Samba's incendiary live show features
complex, interlocking guitar lines; rapid-fire bass; and light,
fast-paced percussion all with horn or sax overlays. The songs begin
with Samba's melodic lines and evolve through vocal harmonies and
brilliant guitar and horn soloing. Samba's most recent album, African Classics, was released in June 2008.
CuCu Diamantes
Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Price: $20
Cuban-born CuCu Diamantes, vocalist and co-founder of the highly
acclaimed Latin funk collective Yerba Buena, heats up the Kimmel
Center's Global Grooves world music dance parties in Perelman Theater
with her downtown New York Latin fusion. CuCu's new solo album, CUCULAND,
was released in March 2009. "There's always a touch of sass when CuCu
Diamantes sings, whether she's bemoaning a lover's lies, playing the
gold digger or touting her inner strength” (New York Times).
"...sassy, classy party music...a little more trip-hop and cumbia, a
touch or two of Latin balladeering, and a dose of high energy. Cucu's
voice is clear as a bell but tender, too.”
Kailash Kher's Kailasa
Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Price: $20
Beloved in Bollywood for his superb popular renditions of Sufi songs,
Kher's voice and dynamic performances have earned him a judge's spot on
Indian Idol,
as well as adoration across the Indian diaspora. Kher has recently
teamed up with brothers Naresh and Paresh Kamath—both fixtures of the
Indian rock and jazz scene—to create Kailash Kher's Kailasa. A
combination of Kailash's strong traditional folk sensibilities and
lyrics that invoke Sufi-mystical dimensions, with Naresh and Paresh's
more modern rock, electronic and funk influences, the trio has released
critically and commercially acclaimed albums Kailasa and Jhommo Re and toured worldwide to sold-out audiences. Kailash Kher's Kailasa is scheduled to release a new album in 2009.
Slavic Soul Party!
Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Price: $20
Fiery brass, Balkan anthems, hip-gyrating American funk, and the voice
of Eva Salina Primack: Slavic Soul Party! holds true to its name. Ten
people strong – gadjo and Gypsy, black and white, male and female —
SSP! has forged a virtuosic new brass sound in the heart of New York
City with Gypsy, Eastern European, Mexican, Asian and American jazz and
soul influences, and "a reputation for delivering a great time" (New York Times).
"Of all the NYC dance bands that draw on Eastern European music,
Slavic Soul Party! is the coolest… Live, the band's members prove they
are acutely aware of the common principle that unites the traditions
they borrow from: Music out to move you.”
SUMMER ORGAN SERIES
Chelsea Chen
Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 7pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $10
"Stunning" and possessing "lovely lyrical grandeur" (Los Angeles Times),
Chelsea Chen has electrified audiences throughout the United States and
Asia. A Juilliard graduate and former Fulbright scholar, Chen has
broadened the classical organ repertoire with her own Asian-inspired
compositions. In 2009 she received the prestigious Lili Boulanger
Memorial Prize, rarely awarded to an organist. Beginning this fall she
will be Artist-in-Residence at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in
Manhattan.
"[Chen] rattles the seats with the mightiest of them. But not all
organists have her delicacy as well, her ability to paint a line with a
poetic brush stroke before—or after—she lets rip.”
Alan Morrison
Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 7pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $10
One of America's premier concert organists, he has the distinct honor
of having been chosen by his peers to perform for four national
conventions of the American Guild of Organists, and has won top prizes
in numerous competitions, among them the Silver Medal at the Calgary
International Organ Festival and First Prize in both the Mader and
Poister National Organ Competitions. Morrison currently serves as head
of the Organ Department at The Curtis Institute of Music, adjunct
assistant professor of Organ at Westminster Choir College, and college
organist at Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pa.
"...Alan Morrison knows something about igniting audience passions.
Without hesitation and throughout, Morrison's playing is consummate and
dazzling...”
Ann Elise Smoot
Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 7pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $10
Native Philadelphian Ann Elise Smoot has received wide critical acclaim
for her ability to move between musical eras, styles and genres with
elegance and flair. Passionate about bringing organ music to a wider
audience and injecting new ideas into the organ world at large, Smoot
has been involved in founding several initiatives, including the London
Organ Forum, which encourage organists to look at their repertoire in a
wider musical context. Smoot is the winner of the 1998 National Young
Artists Competition in Organ Playing of The American Guild of
Organists, and resides in London, England.
"Ms. Smoot's performance demonstrated a deep musical maturity . . .
she communicated her musical intentions with a rare clarity. She led
the listener to know in advance her every rhythmic nuance, each of
which was supremely tasteful and satisfying.”
Eric Plutz
Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 7pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $10
Eric Plutz is currently the University organist at Princeton
University. He has also served as organist and director of music at the
Church of Epiphany in Washington, D.C., since 1995, as well as organist
at Temple Sinai in Washington and accompanist of the Cantate Chamber
Singers. Additionally, he has worked as accompanist at the National
Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Ballet, among others. Plutz
received a bachelor of music degree, magna cum laude, from Westminster
Choir College in 1989 and a master of music degree from the Eastman
School of Music in 1991.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS
Robert Lepage's
The Andersen Project
Thursday-Saturday, June 11-13, 2009 at 8pm
Merriam Theater at the University of the Arts
Price: $38-$48
From acclaimed Canadian writer-director Robert Lepage comes The Andersen Project,
a boundary-pushing work freely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's
stories "The Dryad" and "The Shadow," as well as anecdotes drawn from
the famed Danish author's Parisian travels. This spellbinding one-man
show starring French-Canadian actor Yves Jacques draws on some of
Lepage's favorite themes: the juxtaposition of past and present, of
Romanticism and Modernism, and of established and underground art
forms. In this fascinating piece, Lepage also delves into more personal
territories—sexual identity, unfulfilled fantasies, and the thirst for
recognition and fame—that derive from Andersen's life and writings,
only to serve as a filigree to the modern tale.
This presentation of The Andersen Project was funded by The Pew Center for the Arts and Heritage through the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative.
"...A theatrical conjurer, whose dazzling shows have captivated
audiences aground the world with their mixture of storytelling and
stunning imagery.”
Peter, Paul and Mary
Sunday, June 14, 2009 at 7:30pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $38-$75
Folk icons Peter, Paul and Mary perform works from their canon of
classics at the Kimmel Center on Sunday, June 14, 2009 in Verizon Hall.
At the forefront of a new wave of folk poets, the "folk-pop supergroup”
introduced the work of Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver, Phil
Ochs and Tom Paxton to a wider audience, popularizing such works as
Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'” and "Blowin' in the Wind.”
Their program at the Kimmel Center will turn the spotlight on folk
classics such as "Puff (The Magic Dragon)” and Pete Seeger's classic
"If I Had a Hammer."
Jerry Seinfeld
Friday and Saturday, June 19 and 20, 2009 at 7pm and 9:30pm
Academy of Music
Price: $65-$80
By popular demand, America's premier comedian is hitting the road in a
return to stand-up comedy! Recently hailed as "the master stand-up
comic of his generation" by The Washington Post, Seinfeld has an uncanny ability to joke about the little things in life that relate to audiences everywhere.
BROADWAY SERIES
Spring Awakening
Tuesday-Thursday, June 23-25, 2009 at 7:30pm
Friday, June 26, 2009 at 8pm
Saturday, June 27, 2009 at 2pm and 8pm
Sunday, June 28, 2009 at 1pm and 6:30pm
Academy of Music
Price: $25-$100
Broadway's most talked about new musical is now the biggest Tony
Award®-winner in years. Spring Awakening is the groundbreaking fusion
of morality, sexuality and rock & roll that has awakened Broadway
like no other musical in years. Winner of eight Tony Awards® including
Best Musical, Spring Awakening celebrates the unforgettable journey
from youth to adulthood with a power, a poignancy and a passion you
will never forget. We agree with the New York Times, 'Broadway may never be the same again!' Recommended for ages 13 and up.
"Haunting and electrifying! This brave new musical has a shivery
sensual allure unmatched by anything in the theatre right now.”
Grease
Tuesday- Sunday, Thursday, July 7- 19, 2009
Times Vary According to Performance
Academy of Music
Price: Tickets on sale May 15
"I had such a great experience performing on Broadway,' says American Idol winner Taylor Hicks. 'This is such a great opportunity to visit old fans and new fans across the country while bringing them a great Broadway show!'
Nominated for 2008 Tony Award® for Best Revival of a Musical. The one that you want is back! GREASE, Time Magazine's 2007 pick for '#1 musical of the year,' is rockin' across the country in this new production direct from Broadway. Take a trip to a simpler time of poodle skirts, drive-ins, and T-birds. 'Bad boy' Danny and 'the girl next door' Sandy fall in love all over again to the tune of your favorite songs: 'Summer Nights,' 'Greased Lightnin'' and 'We Go Together' as well as additional songs from the hit movie: 'Grease,' 'Hopelessly Devoted to You' and 'You're the One That I Want.' So throw your mittens around your kittens and Hand Jive the night away with the show that'll make you want to stand up and shout, 'A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop A-wopbam- boom!' GREASE!
Kimmel Center Presents' 2008/2009 Season is sponsored by Citi. Additional support is provided by Penn Medicine, American Express, and Interpark. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. NBC-10 is a media partner for Kimmel Center Presents.
Free in the Plaza programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from the Wachovia Foundation.
The Kimmel Center is the recipient of partnership funding through the nationally recognized PNC "Grow Up Great" initiative, a ten-year, $100 million investment in preparing children for success in school and life. Funding gives support to the Kimmel Center's early childhood program "Bop and Swing," an arts program for children 1-5 years old, designed to promote an appreciation for American culture.
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