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The Marshall Artists Series started 75 years ago with one show - albeit one very cool show.
Celebrating then-named Marshall College's 100th anniversary in 1936, the late professor Curtis Baxter kicked off the first series at Huntington City Hall Auditorium with a talk and film starring famous Antarctic explorer Rear Admiral Richard Byrd whose Sept. 15 event was so important the Naval Reserve accompanied Byrd from Gallipolis, Ohio, to Huntington with a motorcycle squad escort.
Performed first for school kids and then adults, "Conquering the Antarctic" was a hit, and Baxter followed up that first season with entertainment that traipsed around the globe - the Kedroff Quartet of Russian singers, the Miriam Winslow Dancers, Margaret Speaks of NBC Radio Firestone Theatre and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
Marshall College president James Allen was so impressed he asked Baxter to continue the series that is still wrapped in town and gown - sponsored by the university, and paid for with both student fees and community donations.
Seventy-five years later, the series continues to bond Marshall and its home city in a common love of the arts, and in doing so, has proven itself one of the Mountain State's top shelf arts presenters whose legacy ranks up there with Mountain Stage, The Wheeling Jamboree and the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis and Elkins College.
Recognized as the second oldest college-based artists series in the country, the Marshall Artists Series has hosted a who's who of the world's best performers, such as the world's greatest mime Marcel Marceau; actors such as Bette Davis and Henry Fonda; speakers Robert Frost, Alex Haley, Langston Hughes and Eleanor Roosevelt; dancers such as Alvin Ailey and Bolshoi Ballet; and the world's best musicians such as Little Richard, Duke Ellington, Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Van Cliburn, Yo-Yo Ma and Liza Minnelli.
From Broadway's best musicals to the world's best symphony orchestras and opera companies, they have all performed inside the historic Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center, the nearly 3,000-seat theater built in 1928 that has been the series' home from nearly the beginning.
Randall Reid-Smith, commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, grew up attending the Marshall Artists Series, and still loves catching a variety of Artists Series shows in the Keith-Albee.
A native of Barboursville who went on to tour the world as an opera singer and concert soloist, Reid-Smith said the Artists Series planted his head full of dreams of being a professional on stage.
"I would never have had a career in the performing arts if my mother would have not had a subscription to the Marshall Artists Series some 40 years ago," said Reid-Smith, who first began attending performances when he was in fifth or sixth grade. "I grew up on it, so I know it is one of those things that is a true treasure not just for the Tri-State but for the entire state of West Virginia. It is so important and crucial that Marshall University continues to support it to the fullest."
Marshall University President Stephen Kopp said the university could not be prouder of its Artists Series and its iconic home in the historic Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center.
"The Marshall Artists Series is one of the nation's premier and longest running university-affiliated programs of its kind," he said. "It has been a showcase for the performing arts that continues to enrich our community and region each season. Memorable performances from world-renowned entertainers have defined the Artists Series' rich history over the last 75 years. The university's affiliation with and annual support for the Artist Series has been instrumental in its longevity and success. So, too, has been the Keith-Albee Theater, which has served as an timeless performing arts venue and an icon of the cultural landscape of our state and region."
This season, which kicks off with a Sept. 8 special event with red-hot Grammy Award winning pop artist, Cee Lo Green, features an eclectic mix of top shelf entertainment and education including rare performances by Larry King (on his first stand up tour), Glen Campbell (on his last tour), Jack Hanna, Michael McDonald, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Elvis Costello and a new multi-media Andy Warhol film and music show.
The season, which features 18 shows, also has two International film festivals, two hot and current Broadway tours, and also celebrates the best of West Virginia as Mountain Stage is putting together a show for the spring and Beckley native filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock will be kicking off the Fall International Film Festival with a lecture and showing of his latest documentary.
Larry Groce, the founder and artistic director of Mountain Stage, knows a thing or two about putting on a show as he is also executive director of the state's premier arts festival, the annual FestivALL Charleston.
"It's truly an honor for Mountain Stage to be a part of the Marshall Artists Series 75th Season," he said. "When I look at the quality and variety of this year's line-up, I am seriously impressed. This outstanding series has been, and continues to be, a cultural touchstone in West Virginia, and (current executive director) Penny Watkins has done a fantastic job of producing and promoting a yearly schedule of world class offerings. In a time of cutbacks and financial challenges at every turn, the opportunity to experience high quality arts entertainment should not be taken for granted. In today's world, cultural offerings like this are barometers of community desirability and a real part of economic development. We salute the long and distinguished history of the Marshall Artists Series and applaud Penny (Watkins) and everyone else who helps that tradition continue."
In addressing the legacy and to pay homage to the first Artists Series show, an educational and adventure-themed lecture, The first Mount Series show, which takes place Sept. 29, will be a talk and multi-media presentation by Pulitzer Prize winning writer and journalist, Lawrence Wright, whose best-seller "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11" has been translated into 25 languages.
In a letter addressing the Artists Series patrons, Watkins said bringing in such presentations continues that educational component of the Series.
"Marshall Artists Series will celebrate its 75th anniversary this season by taking our patrons on an artistic and intellectual journey filled with many varied excursions along the way," Watkins wrote to the patrons in the anniversary program.
Ken Bannon, who has worked on the Artists Series for 18 years with MPE Entertainment, which technically helps the Series, said he was excited to see the Artists Series bring in more lectures.
"I was pleased we had a lecture on the series, and I think it is incumbent upon us to offer that homage to its history," Bannon said. "I think you have to offer that. I know every year there are several of the films that I can't wait to see, and I think having one of the filmmakers here to introduce and talk about their film really punches it up a level."
Keeping the Artists Series punched up a level since 1997 has been Watkins, who continues a line of women directors that include Celeste Winters (1988 to 1996) and Nancy Hindsley (1977 to 1985).
An area native, Watkins came back home to run the Artists Series after working in New York City for years as the producer/director of Rockette Operations and Franchise Development at Radio City Music Hall Productions.
Blessed with an innate knowledge of the Tri-State and a slew of contacts across the globe, Watkins has continued to turn up the Artists Series' game bringing in such diverse and big name acts as Savion Glover, Bill Cosby, Marcel Marceau, Liza Minnelli, Def Comedy Jam and Jean Michel Cousteau.
Last year, it featured Video Games Live, an edgy multi-media concert with the world's greatest video game music designer, Tommy Tallarico, who has written and performed music for more than 275 video games. Armed with video screens, rock 'n' roll light production and a 28-piece symphony orchestra live at the Keith-Albee, Tallarico played to sold-out school shows using Skype to talk live with Ralph Baer, who invented the first video game, and on stage, rocked with the symphony turning a next generation onto the power of symphonic music.
Marshall Artists Series Marketing Director Angela Jones said whether it is snagging the hottest comics out like Jim Gaffigan and Daniel Tosh or securing emotion-packed musicals like The Color Purple, Watkins and the Artists Series board have a great feel for building compelling series that engage and educate.
"Penny is great, "Jones said. "She's skilled and has a lot of contacts, and she listens and talks to students about what they want to see. And she has no fear. She just puts in an offer."
Bannon agrees.
"In an organization that is better funded or endowed you would have a development director, a programming director and an executive director," Bannon said. "We have Penny, and she is a pearl of great price for keeping all of those balls in the air."
An anniversary season
Here's the complete 2011-2012 Marshall Artists Series Season Schedule:
Cee Lo Green, 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, Harris Riverfront Park
Lawrence Wright, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, Keith-Albee
Elvis Costello & The Imposters, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, Keith-Albee
Jungle Jack Hanna, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, Keith-Albee
World Music Cabaret, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, Keith-Albee
Comedy Central on Campus, 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14, Keith-Albee
An Evening with Morgan Spurlock, 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, Keith-Albee
Fall International Film Festival, Monday Oct. 17-Sunday Oct. 23, Keith-Albee
Broadway's "Young Frankenstein," 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, Keith-Albee
13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, Keith-Albee
An Evening with Michael McDonald, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, Keith-Albee
Glen Campbell, 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, Keith-Albee
100 Years of Broadway, 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, Keith-Albee
Spring International Film Festival, Friday, Feb. 3-Thursday, Feb. 9, Keith-Albee
"In the Heights," 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, Keith-Albee
Larry King, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 1, Keith-Albee
"Oh! What a Piano Can Do," 6:30 and 9 p.m. Friday, April 13, Keith-Albee
Mountain Stage Salutes Marshall Artists Series 75th Anniversary, artists to be announced, 7 p.m. Sunday, April 29, Keith-Albee.
Individual tickets are on sale now. The Marshall Artists Series accepts all major credit cards. Season tickets may be ordered via telephone by calling 304-696-3326. Orders may also be mailed in to Marshall Artists Series, One John Marshall Drive, Huntington, WV 25755-2210, be faxed to 304-696-6658 or emailed to artistsseries@marshall.edu.
The Marshall Artists Series office is located in the Jomie Jazz Center on 5th Avenue across from Marshall University's Student Center. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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