Vicki Lawrence And Mama, Giselle, And Peg + Cat Come To MPAC In Early April

Don't look now, but here comes Mama!

Vicki Lawrence & Mama: A Two Woman Show
Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Vicki Lawrence and her alter ego, "Mama," perform at Mayo Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, April 3 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $29-$59.

"My show will not be a retrospective," she explains. "The show is a mixture of stand-up comedy, music and my observations about real life." Lawrence, who currently stars in the Fox comedy series, The Cool Kids, is also a multi-talented entertainer who earned a gold record for the 1973 hit, "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia."

"I think people will get a kick out of the things Mama has an opinion about. We're creating new material with a more modern and cutting edge. Where Mama is concerned, expect the unexpected. There's really nothing she can't do," she says. "I hope people will be pleasantly surprised by a side of Vicki they may never have seen.I know they will be looking forward to Mama, and for her part, that crazy old gal will be up to the challenge."

The Emmy Award winning comedienne is one of the most beloved television personalities of her generation. Plucked out of total obscurity as a high school senior, Vicki went on to become part of the now-legendary cast of the "Carol Burnett Show." "I went to the Harvard School of Comedy in front of America," says Ms. Lawrence of her Burnett Show training.

In the seventh season, and hundreds of hilarious sketches later, at the ripe, old age of 24, Vicki created her most endearing character to date, Thelma Harper, or "Mama" as she is better known to her fans. After the Burnett Show, Vicki went on to star in "Mama's Family," which consistently topped the ratings for its entire six-year run of original shows. "Mama" has attained almost a cult status among her legions of loyal television viewers, who still enjoy her in reruns twice daily throughout most of the country and the world.

Russian National Ballet: Giselle
Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 pm

The Russian National Ballet presents Giselle at Mayo Performing Arts Center on Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $29-$59.

Giselle is a story of unrequited love, betrayal, madness, revenge and forgiveness, and is one of the most famous, revered and enduring of the Romantic ballets.

Giselle debuted in Moscow in 1843, just two years after its creation in Paris, and a year after it was staged in St. Petersburg. The ballet's history in Russia since that time has shown a continuous sequence of performances, with Jules Perrot - one of the great originators of the choreography - providing a basic text which has been illuminated by the care and genius of generations of ballerinas and producers. When Giselle was forgotten everywhere else in Europe - it was dropped from the Paris Opera repertory in 1868 - Russian dancers and ballet-masters preserved and honored it. The Russian National Ballet's production maintains the Russian tradition of scrupulous production and loving concern for this gem of the Romantic ballet.

The Russian National Ballet was founded in Moscow during the transitional period of Perestroika in the late 1980s, when many of the great dancers and choreographers of the Soviet Union's ballet institutions were exercising their new-found creative freedom by starting new, vibrant companies dedicated not only to the timeless tradition of classical Russian Ballet, but to invigorate this tradition as the Russians began to accept new developments in the dance from around the world.

The company, then titled the Soviet National Ballet, was founded by and incorporated graduates from the great Russian choreographic schools of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Perm. The principal dancers of the company came from the upper ranks of the great ballet companies and academies of Russia, and the companies of Riga, Kiev and even Warsaw. Today, the Russian National Ballet is its own institution, with over 50 dancers of singular instruction and vast experience, many of whom have been with the company since its inception. In addition to their extensive tour history, beginning in January 2017 the company will embark upon a 4-month coast-to-coast tour of the United States.

In 1994, the legendary Bolshoi principal dancer Elena Radchenko was selected by Presidential decree to assume the first permanent artistic directorship of the company. Ms. Radchenko is the founder of the Russian National Ballet, and she has focused the Company on upholding the grand national tradition of the major Russian ballet works and developing new talents throughout Russia, with a repertory of virtually all of the great full works of Petipa: Don Quixote, La Bayadere, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Raymonda, Paquita, Coppelia and La Sylphide, as well as productions of, among others, The Nutcracker, Sylvia, and La Fille Mal Gardee.

Peg + Cat Live
Sunday, April 7 at 1:30 pm & 4:30 pm

Peg+Cat Live, based on the popular and award-winning PBS Kids series, comes to Mayo Performing Arts Center on Sunday, April 7 at 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm. Tickets are $12-25.

Based on the Emmy-winning PBS Kids show PEG + CAT, this all-new live theatrical stage production features wild comedy, countless favorite songs from the show, and Peg's super coolest pal Ramone!

When Peg's Mom asks Peg and Cat to mail some really important letters, they come face to face with a really big dog. Really Big Problem! To solve it, they'll need math-bar graphs, size comparison, position words, fair sharing, and a whole lot of counting. They'll also need to count on each other, and the audience too, for their problem to be solved. Opera Pig and Mermaid join in on the fun!

Peg + Cat is a book-based preschool series that follows an adorable spirited little girl, Peg, and her sidekick, Cat, as they encounter unexpected problems that require fun and creative solutions. Their adventures take them to historical far-away lands, art centers in bustling metropolises and the colourful cosmos, all while demonstrating it's never too early to start learning the magic of numbers.

Mayo Performing Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2018-2019 season is made possible, in part, by a grant the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the F.M. Kirby Foundation and numerous corporations, foundations and individuals. The Mayo Performing Arts Center has been designated a Major Presenting Organization by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Mayo Performing Arts Center was named 2016 Outstanding Historic Theatre by the League of Historic American Theatres, and is ranked in the top 50 mid-sized performing arts centers by Pollstar Magazine.

Mayo Performing Arts Center
100 South St., Morristown, NJ 07960
box office (973) 539-8008
online: www.mayoarts.org