Stephen Sondheim, Idina Menzel and More to Lead Smith Center's Summer Music Lineup
By: Kelsey Denette Apr. 19, 2012
The Smith Center for the Performing Arts announces an all-star summer line-up set to kick off in June. The summer will feature the legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, jazz songstress Diana Krall, instrumentalist Chris Botti, the multi-talented Steve Martin and many more. Tickets to all performances go on sale Friday, April 27. Season sponsors include Bank of Nevada and the Las Vegas Design Center.
Tickets to individual shows begin at $26 and can be purchased online at www.thesmithcenter.com or by calling (702) 749-2000.
THE SMITH CENTER’S SUMMER LINE-UP:
Reynolds Hall
June 10, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
Garnering huge critical acclaim, Menzel reached superstardom on Broadway with her Tony Award-winning performance as Elphaba, the misunderstood green girl, in the blockbuster Wicked and in her Tony-nominated role as Maureen in the revolutionary Rent. This season, Menzel reprised her role on “Glee,” FOX’s smash hit television series, as Shelby Corcoran, Rachel’s biological mother. Amazing audiences with her captivating performances, Menzel has a diverse career on the stage, in film, television, and in music. With the recent release of her CD and DVD entitled Idina Menzel LIVE: BAREFOOT AT THE SYMPHONY, Menzel presents a special journey through a diverse repertoire of classic pop and musical theater favorites, including a fresh spin on contemporary songs, led by legendary composer/conductor Marvin Hamlisch, filmed at The Royal Conservatory’s beautiful Koerner Hall in Toronto, Canada.
Reynolds Hall
July 6, 2012, 8:30 p.m.
Trumpeter Chris Botti, the world’s largest selling jazz instrumentalist, will perform at The Smith Center in support of his latest album release, Impressions (Columbia Records, April 17, 2012). Melody has always been at the heart of Botti’s music. Whether applying the lush sounds of his trumpet to the long, lyrical phrases of a familiar ballad or the arching, rhythmic lines of a jazz improvisation, his solos tell evocative stories, finding their way into the very heart of a song. The colorful array of music Botti has selected forImpressions reaches across stylistic areas and national boundaries with works by classical composer Frédéric Chopin, American songwriters George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, R. Kelly, Randy Newman, Bob Thiele and David Weiss, Brazilian songwriter Ivan Lins, Argentine composer Astor Piazolla, Cuban composer Cesar Portillo de la Luz, as well as a pair of songs co-written by Botti. Many of the tracks are deeply enhanced by the superb orchestrations of William Ross, Vince Mendoza, Gil Goldstein and Jaques Morelenbaum.
CTA featuring Danny Seraphine
Reynolds Hall
July 6 at 8:00 p.m., July 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Wowing audiences with the classic Chicago songs along with CTA (California Transit Authority) originals, CTA has been described as “Chicago on Steroids.” Fresh, soulful and jazzy arrangements mixed with pop classics leave audiences on their feet calling for more. Danny Seraphine, founding member of both Chicago and CTA, has an instantly recognizable style and sound. He is ranked by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the top rock drummers of all time. According to Billboard chart statistics, Chicago is second only to The Beach Boys as the most successful American rock band of all time, in terms of both albums and singles. From 1967 to 1990, Seraphine played on and helped produce 18 Gold and 13 Platinum albums, 50 Top 40 hits, including 20 Top 10 singles, and 5 number ones. It's not unusual to find three generations of music lovers dancing in the aisles at CTA shows.
k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang
Reynolds Hall
July 13, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
k.d. lang’s tour with her new band, the Siss Boom Bang arrives in Las Vegas in style for an incredible evening of music spanning her entire career, featuring classics like “Constant Craving” and songs from her new album Sing It Loud. Named “Album of the Week” bySydney's Daily Telegraph, Sing it Loud is lang's first studio album since 2008's “Watershed” and her first record made entirely with a band of her own since her early albums with the Reclines. Sydney's Daily Telegraph also hailed it as “back-to-basics lang recorded as a band, mostly in one take, just like the old days: raw and immediate.” In 2010, lang marked the 25th anniversary of her recording debut with Recollection, a career retrospective. She has won four GRAMMY® awards, eight Juno Awards, a BRIT, an AMA, a VMA, and four awards from GLAAD. In 1996, lang received Canada's highest civilian honor, the Order of Canada. She has appeared alongside such musical luminaries as Roy Orbison, Bonnie Raitt, Elton John, Loretta Lynn and Tony Bennett. lang has also contributed to numerous soundtracks, including Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Happy Feet, and has appeared in such films as Salmonberries, The Black Dahlia and Eye of the Beholder.
Stephen Sondheim, A Life in the Theater: An Evening of Music and Conversation
Reynolds Hall
July 14, 2012, 8:00 p.m.
The composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim is the most important artist to work in the American musical theater over the past half-century. He has not only collaborated on more than a dozen landmark shows and written countless standard songs but has also been the single most influential force in bringing the Broadway musical into the modern age. During the live, unscripted conversation, Sondheim and guest host will reminisce about Stephen Sondheim’s career including his collaborations with Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins and Tim Burton; predecessors, including his mentor Oscar Hammerstein II; the state of American musical theater; the differences between film and theater; and, in a very personal series of reflections, his own creative process, speaking specifically on works ranging from his early shows Gypsy and West Side Story to such later classics as Company, Follies and Sweeney Todd. Punctuating their conversation will be performances by Christine Ebesole and Brian Stokes Mitchell. It is an evening conversation which offers a most personal and engaging view of Sondheim and his life in the theater.
Reynolds Hall
August 13, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
Diana Krall, the multi-platinum, GRAMMY®-winning musician with an unprecedented nine #1 Billboard Jazz chart debuts, will bring her “Summer Nights 2012” tour to The Smith Center. Since her GRAMMY®–winning tenth studio album Quiet Nights (Verve) was released in 2009, Krall has performed on four different continents, produced Barbra Streisand’s “Love Is the Answer,” contributed “Simple Twist of Fate” to the charity album Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International and performed on Paul McCartney’s new album, Kisses On The Bottom.
Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers – An Evening of Bluegrass and Comedy
Reynolds Hall
August 22, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers swing into Las Vegas in support of their #1 bluegrass album, Rare Bird Alert, which recently received a Grammy® nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. The tour comes on the heels of a banner year that saw Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers winning “Entertainer of the Year” at the 2011 International Bluegrass Association Awards. In the roughly three years since Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers have been touring together they have delighted audiences at Bonnaroo, New Orleans’ Jazzfest and The Newport Folk Festival to name a few. They’ve embarked on four widely acclaimed tours with many critics noting Martin’s “exceptional musicianship.” The OC Register said “what’s so heartening and wonderful to see is Steve Martin back on stage, doing both things he does best – playing banjo and being funny.”
Symphonic Rock Show
Reynolds Hall
August 24, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
The Symphonic Rockshow (SRS) is the vision of Brody Dolyniuk. As a renowned vocalist, musician and entertainer, Dolyniuk has produced a stage show that combines his unique blend of vocal dynamics and charisma, along with a huge cast of superior musicians/vocalists, stunning visuals and special effects. At the heart of the show is an amazing group performing a catalogue of songs that spans the classic rock spectrum, ranging from supergroups such as Aerosmith to Led Zeppelin, and everything in-between. Delivered with amazing attention to detail, the show is a faithful representation of rock’s most influential, time-tested anthems, but with the added sonic arsenal of a 21-piece orchestra and a quartet of backing singers. Patrons will hear songs like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Stairway to Heaven” and many more, like they have never heard them before. A huge 40-foot video screen creates a backdrop utilized to show close-up video feeds along with graphics and multimedia imagery. Laser projectors and pyrotechnics complete the rock concert atmosphere.
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