‘Motown the Musical,’ Renee Fleming top Van Wezel season

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall unveiled its 2017-18 season on Monday. It’s an impressive season, highlighted by national tours of several big-name Broadway shows and some of the finest classical musicians in the world.

As always, even more shows will be added in the coming months. The far end of the 2017-18 season is more than a year away, and some artists and shows haven’t even announced tours yet.

“I am so honored to bring the dazzling Broadway musical ‘Motown’ to Sarasota,” said Mary Bensel, the hall’s exceutive director. “To present Yo-Yo Ma, Renee Fleming and Joshua Bell is really a thrill for me. Sarasota should know that this is only the beginning of a fantastic, diverse season of entertainment.”

“Motown the Musical,” the centerpiece of the Broadway season, is the popular musical that tells the story of the record label that gave us Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and the Temptations among others. The show is schedule for March 27-April 1 and it’s packed with Motown classics.

The 2017-18 Broadway series features seven remarkable other shows: “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder” (Jan. 6-7), followed by “Cabaret”(Jan. 30-31), “Circus 1903” (Feb. 5-6), “The Wizard of Oz” (March 6-7), “Peter Pan” (March 26), “Jersey Boys” (April 10-12, 2018) and “A Chorus Line” (April 24-25), along with Broadway specials “Buddy” (Dec. 5), “A Night with Janis Joplin” (Jan. 8) and “Neil Berg’s 109 Years of Broadway” (March 13).

The classical music season includes Fleming (Jan. 16), the China National Symphony Orchestra (Feb. 22) and the National Symphony Orchestra group, the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma, is scheduled for April 19, 2018. The ensemble pursues a more harmonious world through a cross-cultural collaborative performance.

The perennial favorite new year’s show, “Salute to Vienna,” is set for Jan. 3.

Dance offerings begin with “Tango Fire,” (Jan. 12), BalletBoyz (Feb. 1) and Travis Wall’s “Shaping Sound After the Curtain.” (Feb. 7.)

The Moscow Festival Ballet returns to Van Wezel with “Carmen” and “Romeo and Juliet” (Feb. 27). “Dance To The Movies” (March 12) celebrates some of the classic choreography from the silver screen. Performance art group Mummenshanz (April 26) rounds out the dance series with its newest creation “you & me.”

For tickets and further information, call 941-953-3368 or go to vanwezel.org.

This story was originally published April 3, 2017 at 6:23 PM with the headline "‘Motown the Musical,’ Renee Fleming top Van Wezel season."