Music star Benise and his Emmy-Award winning Nights of Fire cast return to Jacksonville and the Times Union Center's Moran Theater with The Spanish Guitar on Wednesday, November 3rd at 7:30 p.m. Part of a 45-city tour, the event follows a PBS pledge special and a highly viewed performance on "Dancing With The Stars."
The Spanish Guitar features Benise's guitar as protagonist in a story of lost love and mysterious workings where the enchanted Spanish Guitar can transport Benise to the far ends of the world. Hailed as the Latin equivalent of such beloved theatrical music and dance spectacles as Riverdance and Celtic Women, the show incorporates an ever-changing multi-media stage set with actual footage of Benise in his voyage across the globe. This epic tale was filmed over three years and across 10 countries with scenes from the cobblestone streets of Old Havana, an Arabian Desert, the romantic canals of Venice, the oldest bullring in Spain, a Parisian café and a 2,000 year-old sacred Buddhist temple in India.
The Spanish Guitar is directed by
Raj Kapoor (
Josh Groban, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and
Britney Spears) and choreographed by Alex Magno (Madonna, Yanni, Pussycat Dolls, Ballet Hispanico) with lighting design by Bud Horowitz (
Bette Midler,
Natalie Cole, Yanni). Benise's band is made up of such world-class musicians as Norfolk-native violinist Karen Briggs (Yanni) and Walter Rodrigez (Stomp, Yanni). The Gitanas, Benise's female dancers in The Spanish Guitar, were carefully handpicked from a global pool of some of the most brilliantly diverse talent to be found including traditional Flamenco dancers, Broadway dancers, and featured soloists from Madonna,
Celine Dion and
Ricky Martin. Breathtaking couture fashion and the unparalleled beauty of the dancers themselves complement the beautiful Spanish dancing.
Accompanying the tour is the release of The Spanish Guitar CD and DVD via Rosanegra Music and PBS video. Guest artists featured in the filming of The Spanish Guitar include smooth jazz icon
Dave Koz; from her own PBS special, Giorgia Fumanti singing Evermore ("The Wedding Song"); American Idol's
Kimberly Locke with the Los Angeles Gospel choir singing "Spanish Guitar;" and a Parisian waltz by Dancing with the Stars couple Nick Kosovich and Lena Bacheva. The Spanish Guitar is Benise's eighth CD, third DVD and second PBS special (he won an Emmy for his first, Nights of Fire).
A former street musician, Benise began composing original works with powerfully emotional arrangements that are both wild and refined, producing a sound that is as edgy and exotic as it is romantic and sensual. Benise redefined the ordinary and started to promote his own concerts. His grassroots approach led to sold out 2000-seat theaters and now to multi-city national tours.
BENISE - THE SPANISH GUITAR will be performed at the TIMES UNION CENTER'S MORAN THEATER Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 7:30PM.
To order by phone with Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover call The Artist Series Box Office at
(904) 632-3373 (toll-free outside of Jacksonville 1-888-860-BWAY)
Tickets are also available online with Instant Seat Selection by visiting the
The Artist Series' website: www.artistseriesjax.org
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