Stars of pop and classical music, Broadway legends and more power Van Wezel’s season
As usual, Mary Bensel, the executive director of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, is excited about the hall’s just-announced 2017-18 season. It has lots of the classic rock acts that she loves, including Chicago (Oct. 30) and that band’s former lead singer, Peter Cetera, (Jan. 5), who, of course, has had an illustrious solo career. There’s The Beach Boys (with Mike Love, but without Brian Wilson, Feb. 14) and Rick Springfield (March 15)
There’s a week-long run of a Broadway show, “Motown:The Musical” (March 27-April 1). It can be tough for Van Wezel to book big Broadway shows because of competition from larger nearby venues and for other logistical reasons, but Bensel has been working to schedule more extended-run big-name shows.
There are some true Broadway legends, including Chita Rivera and Tommy Tune, together (Jan. 17) and Audra McDonald (March 14).
“She’s incredible,” Bensel said of McDonald. “Every time she steps on stage they just go ahead and hand her a Tony Award.”
And there’s the Jan. 16 return of opera superstar Renee Fleming. Other stars of classical music include Joshua Bell (with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, March 24) and Yo-Yo Ma (with the Silk Road Ensemble on April 19).
In the fall, there are some pop music stars coming to Van Wezel with Christmas shows, including LeeAnn Rimes (Dec. 3) and 98 Degrees (Dec. 11).
“I love the Christmas shows,” Bensel said, “because you get the Christmas songs, but you also get the hits.”
And early in the season (Oct. 17), Willie Nelson, one of country music’s most revered popular singer-songwriters, will be at the Van Wezel.
But there’s lots more to come that Bensel said she can’t talk about publicly yet because the acts aren’t confirmed yet. She’d love to announce the complete season all at once, she said, but it seldom works that way. Some major acts are almost certainly going to be announced soon.
She’s also looking forward already to the 2018-19 season, which will include Van Wezel’s first multi-week show (“The Lion King,” which will be at Van Wezel for three weeks) and perhaps a couple of other week-long runs of Broadway shows.
For now, though, Bensel and Van Wezel audiences have plenty to look forward to in the 2017-18 season. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on Sept. 9. Call 941-953-3368 or go to vanwezel.org.
Here’s the schedule that has been announced so far:
Oct. 13: “Neil Berg’s 50 Years of Rock & Roll”
Oct. 17: Willie Nelson & Family
Oct. 30: Chicago
Nov. 3: “So You Think You Can Dance”
Nov. 4: “Doo Wop Spectacular”
Nov. 15: Celtic Thunder Symphony
Nov. 16: Straight No Chaser
Nov. 17: “Decades Rewind”
Nov. 18: Three Dog Night
Nov. 28: Dave Koz 20th Anniversary Christmas Tour
Dec. 2: “We Three Kings — An Irish Tenors Christmas”
Dec. 3: LeAnn Rimes “Today is Christmas” Tour
Dec. 5: “Buddy — The Buddy Holly Story”
Dec. 11: “98 Degrees at Christmas”
Dec. 17: “A Charlie Brown Christmas”
Dec. 21: Cirque Dreams “Holidaze”
Dec. 22: “A Christmas Carol”
Dec. 29: Moscow Ballet “Great Russian Nutcracker”
Jan. 3: “Salute to Vienna”
Jan. 5: Peter Cetera
Jan. 6-7: “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder”
Jan. 8: “Night with Janis Joplin”
Jan. 9: “Cannoli, Latkes & Guilt” — Steve Solomon
Jan. 10: Ramsey Lewis & John Pizzarelli — Nat King Cole Tribute
Jan. 12: “Tango Fire”
Jan. 15: 5th Dimension
Jan. 16: Renée Fleming
Jan. 17: Chita & Tune — “Two for the Road”
Jan. 18: The Drifters, The Platters and Cornell Gunter’s Coasters
Jan. 21: “Musical Thrones: A Parody”
Jan. 23: “Tapestry: Tribute to Carole King”
Jan. 25: Paul Anka
Jan. 26: Masters of Illusion
Jan. 28: Michael Feinstein: “Celebrating The Crooners”
Jan. 30-31: “Cabaret”
Feb. 1: BalletBoyz
Feb. 5: “In the Mood”
Feb. 6: Diana Krall
Feb. 7: Travis Wall’s “Shaping Sound — After the Curtain”
Feb. 14: The Beach Boys
Feb. 15: George Benson
Feb. 17: Michael McDonald
Feb. 18: The Hot Sardines
Feb. 19: “Stayin’ Alive — One Night of the Bee Gees”
Feb. 27: Moscow Festival Ballet “Romeo & Juliet” and “Carmen”
March 4: Celtic Woman
March 6-7: “The Wizard of Oz”
March 11: National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba
March 12: “Dance to the Movies”
March 13: Neil Berg’s “109 Years of Broadway”
March 14: Audra McDonald
March 15: Rick Springfield
March 21: The Four Phantoms
March 22: America
March 24: Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell
March 26: “Peter Pan 3D Stage Spectacular”
March 27-April 1: “Motown The Musical”
April 4: Illusionist Rick Thomas — Nothing Happens Until You Dream!
April 5: Robert Dubac’s “The Book of Moron”
April 10-12: “Jersey Boys”
April 14: Wynonna & The Big Noise
April 15: Chris Botti
April 17: “Let It Be”
April 18: “ABBA the Concert”
April 19: The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma
April 22: Bill Engvall
April 24-25: “A Chorus Line”
April 26: Mummenschanz “you & me”
Marty Clear: 941-708-7919, @martinclear
This story was originally published August 28, 2017 at 10:48 AM with the headline "Stars of pop and classical music, Broadway legends and more power Van Wezel’s season."