Sizzling Summer Performances and Events Now on Sale at the Kimmel Center and Academy of Music
May 6, 2008
Tickets Now on Sale for Summer Solstice Celebration, Global Grooves, Cadillac Broadway Series, Summer Organ Recitals and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra!
Escape the stifling city heat this summer with a sizzling summer line-up of performances at the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music, the oasis for summertime entertainment and dancing.
Tickets are now on sale for the annual Citibank® Summer Solstice Celebration, Global Grooves dance parties, the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Summer Organ Recitals and Cadillac Broadway Series!
Whether it is traveling to an idyllic Greek island in the Broadway musical MAMMA MIA! featuring ABBA’s greatest hits; experiencing the international appeal of world music artists like Algerian Rachid Taha or Serbian trumpeter Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar’s "unbeatable Balkan dance party" at this year’s Global Grooves in Perelman Theater; enjoying the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra’s tribute to the musicals of Leonard Bernstein; or cooling off to the rich textures of The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ, the Kimmel Center and Academy of Music have something to offer everyone with diverse summer programming.
Single tickets for all Kimmel Center Presents and Cadillac 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.
Below is a complete list of summer events at the Kimmel Center and Academy of Music:
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS
Citibank® Summer Solstice Celebration
June 21-22, 2008
3pm to dawn
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Price: $10 for adults; $5 for kids ages 12 and under
Summer Solstice Celebration heats up in Philly with the 6th annual all-day, all-night musical extravaganza at the Kimmel Center from 3pm on Saturday, June 21, 2008 until dawn on Sunday, June 22, 2008. Audiences enjoy up to 15 hours of live music and entertainment including R&B, classical, pop and jazz performances, as well as dance, storytelling, jugglers, face-painting and rooftop gardening demonstrations. Interactive Guitar Hero competition; a Quizzo tournament; Showroom 77 fashion show; and Bob & Barbara’s Drag Show are just some late-night highlights. Patrons are encouraged to BYOD (bring your own drum) for the annual drum circle at dawn. InLiquid art gallery vendors and artisans will display their art and crafts outdoors. Spruce Street will be closed from 2pm to 7pm between Broad and 15th Streets.
CADILLAC BROADWAY SERIES
OPRAH WINFREY PRESENTS THE COLOR PURPLE
June 17- July 13, 2008
Times vary according to performance
Academy of Music
Price: $28-$138
Oprah Winfrey Presents The Color Purple, a soul-stirring musical based on the classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker and the Oscar nominated film by Steven Spielberg. It is the unforgettable and inspiring story of a woman named Celie, who triumphs over tremendous odds to find joy in life, and her true inner beauty. Nominated for 11 Tony Awards®, The Color Purple is a landmark theatrical event, a celebration of love and a Broadway phenomenon. With a joyous Grammy®-nominated score featuring jazz, gospel and blues, The Color Purple is capturing the hearts of young and old, and uniting audiences in a celebration of love.
MAMMA MIA!
July 15-27, 2008
Times vary according to performance
Academy of Music
Price: $28-$100
Mamma Mia! is the ultimate feel-good show that has audiences coming back again and again to relive the thrill. Now it's your turn to have the time of your life at this smash-hit musical that combines ABBA's greatest hits, including 'Dancing Queen,' 'S.O.S.,' 'Super Trouper,' 'Take A Chance on Me' and 'The Winner Takes It All,' with an enchanting tale of love, laughter and friendship. Whether it's your first visit or your fourteenth, see the show that has the whole world coming back for more, because every time feels like the first time at Mamma Mia!
MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT
August 14-31, 2008
Times vary according to performance
Academy of Music
Price: $30-$138
Winner of the 2005 Tony Award® for Best Musical, Monty Python’s SPAMALOT is the outrageous new musical comedy lovingly ripped off from the film classic Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Directed by Tony Award®-winner Mike Nichols, with a book by Eric Idle and music and lyrics by the Grammy® Award-winning team of Mr. Idle and John Du Prez, SPAMALOT tells the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as they embark on their quest for the Holy Grail. Flying cows, killer rabbits, taunting Frenchmen and show-stopping musical numbers are just a few of the reasons audiences everywhere are eating up SPAMALOT.
PARENTING 101
August 13-31, 2008
Times vary according to performance
Innovation Studio
Price: $50
Making its Philadelphia premiere, PARENTING 101 is the hilarious new musical that takes a loving and screamingly funny look at the joyous and crazy ride of raising your kids all the way from their (amazing!) birth to your (at long last!) freedom. The show's Emmy-winning writers take you through a full generation of life—from labor, sleep deprivation, potty training (yuk!), puberty (yikes!), and finally, to sending them out of the nest and into their own new lives (whew!). This one is for Moms and Dads (and Grandmas and Grandpas) of all ages. You'll catch yourself nodding your head in recognition as your own life with your kids sings and dances its way across the stage, while the show warms your heart with the silliest, funniest and sweetest stuff that life has to offer.
GLOBAL GROOVES
RACHID TAHA
Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Price: $20
Algerian worldbeat artist Rachid Taha creates a musical melting pot which incorporates everything from traditional Arab zithers to modern electric guitars. A former member of hit French rock trio Carte de Séjour, Taha mixes Algerian raï music with Western flavors, often performed in Arabic. In 2008, Taha won the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music in the Middle East & North Africa.
PISTOLERA
Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Price: $20
NYC-based band Pistolera defines the Latin alt-folklorico genre. Drawing from traditional Mexican music and fusing it with a pop-rock sensibility, the electrifying quartet features the Spanish songs of vocalist and guitarist Sandra Lilia Velásquez, the driving accordion melodies of Maria Elena, and the unbeatable rhythm section of bassist Inca B. Satz and drummer Ani Cordero.
"Pistolera melds the sass of indie rock with traditional Latin sounds to create compelling pop melodies, all of it sung entirely in Spanish."—Billboard Magazine
BOBAN I MARKO MARKOVIC ORKESTAR
Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Price: $20
Feted at home and abroad as the greatest of Balkan trumpeters, Boban Markovic has led his Orkestar to international acclaim, enhancing the traditional repertoire with elements of the wider world from jazz to Latin to pop. The legendary Boban and his son Marko lead the Orkestar into ever new directions with their trail-blazing musical mix.
"…a stunning blast of exuberance and virtuosity."—New York Times
STILL BLACK, STILL PROUD: AN AFRICAN TRIBUTE TO JAMES BROWN
Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Price: $25
Pan-continental funk/soul show Still Black, Still Proud features an extraordinary line-up of international talent paying tribute to the Godfather of soul and performing with original James Brown band members led by Peewee Ellis and Fred Wesley. Special guests Senegalese vocalist Cheikh Lo and Malian vocalist Vieux Farka Toure will join the ensemble on stage.
"I only got seventh-grade education, but I have a doctorate in funk, and I like to put that to good use."—James Brown
SUMMER ORGAN SERIES
BRADLEY HUNTER WELCH, Organ
Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 7pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $10
Organist Bradley Hunter Welch explores the rich, tonal textures of The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ as part of the Kimmel Center’s series of summer organ recitals. Upon completion of the Artist Diploma at Yale in May 2000, Welch was awarded the Horatio Parker Memorial Prize, the most prestigious prize awarded by the Yale faculty. He is the 2003 First Place winner of the Dallas International Organ Competition and was also awarded the Audience Prize for the second time. Program to be announced.
"A world-class virtuoso. A breathtaking performance...intensely moving."—The American Organist
FELIX HELL, Organ
Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 7pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $10
Twenty-three-year-old German organ phenomenon Felix Hell makes his Kimmel Center debut on The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ. An organ prodigy, Hell has performed more than 500 recitals in his native Germany and abroad since the age of nine. Hell studied on a full scholarship at Curtis Institute of Music under Dr. John Weaver and Alan Morrison. Other career milestones include performances of the entire organ works of Bach both in the United States and Germany in 2006 and 2007. Program to be announced.
SCOTT MONTGOMERY, Organ
Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 7pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $10
The Kimmel Center’s Summer Organ recitals continue with organist Scott Montgomery performing on The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ. In July 2006, Montgomery won first prize in the National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance at the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Chicago. Montgomery currently serves as Director of Music and Organist for Holy Cross Catholic Church in Champaign, Illinois.
"[Montgomery] is a confident performer who conveys musical ideas not through flamboyance but through super-solid playing."- The American Organist
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS
THE BOSTON POPS
ESPLANADE ORCHESTRA
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Make Mine Bernstein
Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 8pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $39-$85
One of the world’s most distinguished collections of musicians, the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra will perform selections from Leonard Bernstein’s Broadway musicals On the Town, Wonderful Town, and West Side Story and symphonic works. In his 14th year as conductor, Keith Lockhart will lead the ensemble cast featuring America’s most talented rising stars.
Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season is sponsored by Citi. Support for the Mellon Jazz Series comes from the Bank of New York Mellon. The Great Orchestra Series is supported by ARC Wheeler. Additional support is provided by the University of Pennsylvania Health System and American Express. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Mellon Jazz, Mellon Jazz Up Close and World & Pop.
The Kimmel Center also receives support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The William Penn Foundation, The Wachovia Foundation, Verizon Foundation, PNC Foundation, The Philadelphia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and the Philadelphia Music Project and Dance Advance, Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trust administered by The University of the Arts. In-kind support is generously provided by Deloitte. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents, and additional media sponsors include WDAS, WRTI, WJJZ, Afro-pop, WXPN and WXPN’s Kid’s Corner 20th Anniversary.
All performances of the Cadillac Broadway Series are supported by Cadillac, CITI, Target, WPVI-TV 6, The Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Company, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Cadillac Broadway Series.
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