The New Season for the Marshall Artists Series

My pal Dave Lavender writes this story in today's Herald-Dispatch, spelling out the upcoming season for the Marshall Artists Series:

Angela Jones isn’t sure they could have survived another super-sized season like the last one.

The Marshall Artists Series, which has a whopping three people in its office, put on a mammoth 75th anniversary season that featured 16 events, plus two week-long film festivals and not to mention three event fundraisers including the recent, Uncorked Wine Festival.

Thankfully for the Artists Series, which managed to produce six events in a little over a week last October, the 76th season of the Marshall Artists Series is down to its normal size. That includes nine events plus two international film festivals at the historic Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center.

Executive director Penny Watkins said the new season strives to provide the community with culturally significant and educationally-driven entertainment for Marshall University and the surrounding community.

“From the 100 year anniversary of the voyage of the Titanic, to the election of a new president, to discussions about social justice and solving poverty in America, the events offered this season are a sign of our times,” Watkins said.” The Occupy Wall Street movement had its roots from the protests of the ‘Hair’ generation, and the documentary ‘Skateistan’ shows how a seeming small effort in Kabul, Afghanistan, can have a big impact on the world we live in.

“We invite you to come along on our journey this season to hear some timeless Motown tunes sung by the man himself, Smokey Robinson, see the much-loved TV icon, Ed Asner, take on one of our country’s most beloved presidents and hear a current pop star use his music and influence to effect change in our world. Join us. It is sure to be an exciting journey.”

The deadline to purchase or renew season tickets is Friday, Aug. 3.

After that date, all orders will be processed in order of date and time received. Individual tickets go on sale at noon Thursday, Aug. 30. Season tickets may be ordered at 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 Fifth Avenue across from Marshall’s Student Center.

Jones, the marketing director for the Artists Series, said having the regular amount of shows Watkins made sure every one was a knockout.

“We are coming back to a normal size season and getting back to what we normally do year in and year out, and so we’ve got some of the Broadway shows that are touring, and we’ve got some great music and film and we throw in some legends here and there,” Jones said.

She’s not kidding on the legends part.

Kicking off the 76th season is nine-time Grammy Award-winning R&B artist, John Legend, who will be in concert at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, with his “Show Me Campaign,” a non-profit organization fighting poverty around the world.

Jones said that Legend, the multi-platinum selling singer/songwriter and activist who was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, will be playing and sharing his mission with students and the community.

“He will be doing some discussion and weave in some music to underscore his thoughts on how people can get involved and take charge, and we all need that.”

The Artists Series rachets up the legends quota in the 2013 portion of the season with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member and Songwriters’ Hall of Fame member, Smokey Robinson, who will be performing at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center.

Jones said they’re super excited to get the Motown legend, who not only wrote such hits for the Miracles like “Shop Around” “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “Ooo Baby Baby,” “The Tracks of My Tears,” “Tears of a Clown,” and “I Second That Emotion” but also wrote many of the other Motown greats including: “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “My Girl,” “Get Ready,” and “My Guy.”

TV legend, Ed Asner will be here at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 30, in his one-man drama, “FDR,” based on the long-running Broadway hit, “Sunrise at Campobello.”

The TV Academy Hall of Fame member is, of course, known of late for being the voice of Carl Fredricksen in Pixar’s award-winning animated film, “Up.” Asner is best known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Lou Grant on both “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and its spin-off series, “Lou Grant.”

“What’s neat about this show is that it will be at the Playhouse, so it will be really small and intimate,” Jones said. “People of course know him from all of his TV work, and this is a historic year with the presidential election, so this performance will come right on the heels of the Inauguration.”

One of the backbones of the Artists Series has long been reeling in touring Broadway shows and this year, there will be three tours coming through including “Titanic: The Musical,” which plays on Oct. 1 in this, the 100th year anniversary of the Titanic sinking.

Also playing the historic Keith-Albee will be the Broadway revival of “Hair,” which won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival with such sing-a-long songs as “Aquarius,” “Let the Sun Shine In,” and “Good Morning, Starshine.”

Created by the monster hit, “Jersey Boys,” (Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice) with Drama Desk-winning composer/lyricist Andrew Lippa, comes “The Addams Family,” a Broadway smash musical comedy based on the hit TV show that starred the campy world of Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Grandma, Wednesday, Pugsley and, of course, Lurch. “The Addams Family” plays April 28.

A couple of 2012/2013 shows are back by popular demand.

Mountain Stage, the Charleston-based National Public Radio show heard weekly around the world, drew a great crowd this spring to pay homage to the 75th anniversary season with such American music icons as Arlo Guthrie (who paid tribute to his late father Woody) at the Keith-Albee.

Hosted by Grammy Award-winning host, Larry Groce, Mountain Stage will be returning for a concert at 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, at the Keith-Albee with music acts to be announced later.

Mountain Stage is a two-hour music radio show produced by WV Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio (NPR) and the Voice of America’s satellite radio service.

Jones said one constant feedback they hear is on people’s love of Celtic shows, so they’ve reeled in the renowned Irish Tenors (Ronan Tynan, Finbar Wright, Anthony Kearns) who will be performing an Irish Holiday Celebration with a 30-piece orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3.

Tucked into both the fall and the spring semesters is the Marshall Artists Series International Film Festivals.

The Fall Film fest will run Oct. 12-17, at the Keith-Albee with award-winning films from Iran, Belgium, Denmark, Israel, the United States and Norway. Headlining that will be “A Separation,” the Iranian film that won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2011.
Jones said they’re experimenting in the fall with a 10:30 a.m. showing on the Saturday and Sunday, and have punted the late show (9:45 p.m. on those nights).

The Spring International Film Festival runs Feb. 22 -28, and features films from Japan, Spain, France, Brazil, Lebanon and England. The fest features “The Deep Blue Sea,” starring Rachel Weiss in an English remake of the 1955 film that Vivien Leigh made famous.

Kicking off the Fall International Film Festival will be a special one-night-only showing at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 11, of “Skateistan,” a documentary that tells the story of the skateboard park in Kabul, Afghanistan, that has been transforming the lives of young people in Kabul.

“Skateistan” won the Cinema for Peace Award of Most Valuable Documentary, was an official selection of the Santa Barbara Film Festival and won a Jury Prize at the Woodstock Film Festival.

A post-film lecture will take place featuring Huntington native and skateboard industry veteran, Bryan Ridgeway, who is the global skateboarding advisor for the Skateistan project. Ridgeway will be speaking at the public screening as well as a special screening for high school students.

Jones said they are really proud to host “Skateistan,” which has only been screened in a handful of theaters and film festivals around the world.

Jones said Ridgeway has to Fed Ex the copy of the film the next day to Lithuania.

“I am really proud of the lineup for the festival,” Jones said. “It’s my baby, but I think it’s a really strong lineup, and I’m really excited about the diversity. And, I am really excited about ‘Skateistan,’ and I know Bryan couldn’t be more proud to be coming back.”