April/May Places

Places

Takács Quartet with Marc-André Hamelin An Evening with Phil Vassar 1964 ... The Tribute Zoppé – An Italian Family Circus CSI: Live!

Takács Quartet

A preview of Performing Arts at Johnson County Community College www.jccc.edu/CarlsenCenter

April/May 2009

Marc-André Hamelin

Hamelin Adds Piano to String Quartet

Recognized as one of the world’s premier string quartets, the Takács Quartet performs with the French-Canadian piano virtuoso Marc-André Hamelin in a program featuring the Schumann Piano Quintet Op. 44 at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 18, in Yardley Hall.

Also on the program are Haydn’s String Quartet, Op. 77, No. 2 and Bartok’s String Quartet, No. 1 in A minor.

The talented Takács (pronounced TA-kash) are violinists Edward Dusinberre and Károly Schranz, violist Geraldine Walther and cellist András Fejér. The inherent relationship of the violin, viola and cello and the ongoing bond of these musicians make their performances both deeply moving and vigorously passionate.

The Takács Quartet was formed by Gabor Takács-Nagy, Gabor Ormai, Schranz and Fejér in 1975, while all four were students at Budapest’s Liszt Academy. Now based in Boulder, Colo., the quartet has held a residency at the University of Colorado since 1983. They are also a Visiting Quartet at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.

The quartet is known for its innovative programming, collaborating regularly with the Hungarian folk ensemble Muzsikas, in a program that explores the folk sources of Bartok’s music. The Takács performed a music and poetry program on a 14-city U.S. tour with the poet Robert Pinsky, and in October 2007, Takács played a Carnegie Hall concert called Everyman, based on the Philip Roth novel, with the Academy-Award winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Takács Quartet performs 80 concerts a year worldwide including two previous Yardley Hall concerts in April 2005 and October 2006.

The Quartet’s multiaward-winning recordings include the Late Quartets

by Beethoven which in 2005 won Disc of the Year and Chamber Award from BBC Music Magazine, a Gramophone Award and a Japanese Record Academy Award. Their recordings of the early and middle Beethoven quartets collected a Grammy, another Gramophone Award, a Chamber Music of America Award and two more awards from the Japanese Recording Academy.

Since signing with Hyperion in 2005, Takács has released a recording of Brahms String Quartet and Piano Quintet with Stephen Hough, piano, and Schubert’s Death and the Maiden.

Takács and Hamelin will be recording the Schumann Piano Quintet in May. Hamelin, who won the 2008 Juno Award (Canadian Grammy) for Classical Album of the Year: Solo or Chamber Ensemble, is a classical pianist known for his adventurous repertoire and as a composer.

In 1985, he won the Carnegie Hall International Competition of American Music. Since then he has had a flourishing international career although he did not receive wide recognition in the United States until recently. He had his New York Philharmonic debut in 2005 and played with the Kansas City Symphony in 2007.

Tickets $25 and $35

The Cohen Community Series is the result of a $1.3 million gift from Jon Stewart, college alumnus, trustee and former president of Metcalf Bank. Stewart designated the gift to initiate the speaker series in honor of Barton P. Cohen.

Cohen was a strong supporter of JCCC. He and his wife, Mary Davidson Cohen, served on the Foundation’s board of directors, and a gallery in the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art has been named for them. Cohen helped form the Johnson County Mental Health Association and Johnson County Human Relations Council.

He was first on the Fellows list of the Johnson County Bar Foundation, helped establish the University of Missouri Law Foundation, and has been a member of the Kansas Bar Association since 1955.

Vassar Sings with ‘Common’ Appeal

The Cohen Community Series presents An Evening with Phil Vassar at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 24, in Yardley Hall. The American country music star is the second presenter in the Cohen Community Series, inaugurated last year in honor of the late Barton P. Cohen, president of Metcalf Bancshares, vice chairman and general counsel of Metcalf Bank and an attorney with Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP. Vassar has produced 16 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including two No. 1s – Just Another Day in Paradise (2000) and In a Real Love (2004). With charisma and GQ-good looks (really, his photo was in the magazine), the baritone, pianist and songwriter will be performing his well-known hits, including those from his newest album, Prayer of a Common Man. Born in Lynchburg, Va., Vassar won a track scholarship to James Madison University, where he first began to take music seriously.

Hard work paid off for Vassar, scoring hits for artists Tim McGraw (For a Little While, My Next Thirty Years), Jo Dee Messina (Bye, Bye, I'm Alright), Collin Raye (Little Red Rodeo), and Alan Jackson (Right on the Money). In 1999, he was first named by ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) as Country Songwriter of the Year.

Cohen served two terms on the Prairie Village City Council and one term as president of the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce. He served either as a member or board member of the Johnson County Heritage Trust Grant Review Board, State Historical Society, Bleeding Kansas Historical Site Committee and Wyandotte County Historical Society and Museum.

His self-titled album debuted in 2000, and the hits continued: Carlene, Rose Bouquet, That’s When I Love You, In a Real Love and more. Since then he has been named ASCAP’s songwriter or writer/artist multiple years.

His early success as a writer led to one of the most unique compilation of hit songs to come out of Nashville in recent years. With only three studio albums under his belt, Vassar offered up Greatest Hits Vol. 1, which was divided between hits he has performed as an artist, as well as new recordings of the smash singles he’s written for others.

Prayer of a Common Man, his fourth studio album and first for Universal Records, adds several more layers to his deepening repertoire. Vassar’s contemplative side is apparent in the lead single Love Is a Beautiful Thing, as well as Crazy Life and Let Me Love You Tonight. While these display a more serious side, the songwriter hasn’t forgotten how to have fun as heard in My Chevrolet, Why Don’t Ya? and Baby Rocks or how to make us fall in love as heard in Around Here Somewhere and It’s Only Love.

Tickets $40 and $55

A limited number of $150 VIP tickets will include the concert and a reception with Vassar, available by contacting Christy McWard, 913-469-8500, ext 4684.

You Say You Want a Revolution?

In 1964, the Beatles invaded America, and there was no counterattack.

America joined the rest of the world in complete surrender to Beatlemania.

The Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February of that year was the most important event in rock history.

If you lived through the rock revolution or merely wish you had, you can now experience the most authentic, most endearing Beatles tribute in the world, 1964 ... The Tribute, at 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, May 1-2, in Yardley Hall.

“1964 ... The Tribute is the No. 1 Beatles show on Earth,” said Rolling Stone Magazine.

Grant it, the Beatles are a hard act to follow, especially since the fab four achieved musical sainthood. But this group, The #1 Beatles Show in the World band, is good, selling out Carnegie Hall eight times to crowds of fans, dancing, singing and screaming excitement. Beatles’ ankle-high boots, thin black ties, vintage suits, Vox amplifiers, mop-top hair, on-stage mannerisms and the unmistakable harmonies of the lads from Liverpool make 1964 the most accurate and fun Beatles tribute to date.

Gary Grimes as Paul McCartney, Mark Benson as John Lennon, Tom Work as George Harrison and Terry Manfredi as Ringo Star deliver a performance that is historically and emotionally captivating with songs like I Want To

Hold Your Hand, From Me To You, Day Tripper, This Boy, Long Tall Sally, I’ll Follow the Sun and Spoil the Party. They play a set of early Beatles’ tunes, and, true to the ‘60s, fans rush to the stage after the show.

“The resemblance was uncanny. It sent shivers down my spine,” said Alistair Taylor, former president of Apple Records. “It was just like the boys.

Never have I seen another group go to so much detail.”

Mandy Johnson, reporter for the entertainment paper Mersey-Beat, writing about 1964 ... The Tribute at Carnegie Hall said, “It’s a brilliant historical reenactment of four eager musicians from a tough English seaport who came, in their words, ‘just to have a laugh and play our music,’ but stayed to change the world; who also brought with them hope at a time when the world needed it.”

Tickets $25 and $35

RUN AWAY TO THE CIRCUS The performing arts center at Johnson County Community College will bring the fun of an outdoors big top to Greater Kansas City with Zoppé, a traditional one-ring European circus. Shows will be at 4 and 8 p.m., Friday, May 15, and 11 a.m., 3 and 8 p.m., Saturday, May 16 at Sar-ko-par Trails Park, 87th St. and Lackman Road, Lenexa (west of the swimming pool).

Zoppé – an Italian Family Circus takes audiences on a nostalgic trip to bygone days, far from the digital age – a world of acrobatics, equestrian showmanship, canine capers, clowns, nonexotic animals, daring trapeze acts and lots of audience participation. Zoppé is not the high-tech production of a Las Vegas-style cirque, but a legacy to the 1840 –1940 circus heyday.

“The Zoppé circus evokes something from a picture book: the clown, the trapeze, the dancing dogs, the ring and the tent,” wrote the New York Times.

The legendary Zoppé family has been entertaining audiences for 166 years in a show that features 22 performers, 14 dogs and six horses that travel around the world performing under a striking Italian-styled one-ring big-top tent.

The history of the Zoppé family circus is one of romance and family. In 1842, a young French street performer named Napoline Zoppé wandered into a plaza in Budapest, Hungary, where he fell in love with a beautiful equestrian ballerina named Ermenegilda.

Since Napoline was a clown, Ermenegilda’s father saw him as beneath her and disapproved of their relationship. The two ran away to Venice, Italy, and founded the circus that still bears their name. Over the generations, the circus survived wars and political upheaval in Italy and the rest of Europe.

Alberto Zoppé, Napoline’s great-grandson, inherited the circus almost 100 years later. A great equestrian in his own right, Alberto toured Europe with the circus until Cecil B. DeMille brought him to the United States for his Oscar-winning film, The Greatest Show on Earth.

Alberto would remain in America, producing circuses for Ringling and starting his own family. Together with his wife Sandra, Alberto ushered in a new generation to continue the family tradition. Their children, Giovanni, Tosca and Carla, along with their spouses, have all been active in the family

business. Giovanni credits his family with helping to maintain the grand circus traditions, especially his father Alberto, who at 82 years old, still manages to wow the crowd every time he steps into the ring.

“I was born into show business, so I don’t think I’m going to get out of it before I die,“ Alberto says. ”I’m 82 now, and I’ve got an artificial hip and an artificial knee. “ The enduring star of the show is and always has been Nino the clown, a role now passed from Alberto to Giovanni.

“We try to touch every emotion during the show,” Giovanni said.

“Audiences will laugh, they’ll cry and they’ll feel for the characters. It’s more of an event than a show.”

Tickets $25 Adult, $10 Youth

Performing Arts Events

J o h n s o n

C o u n t y

C o m m u n i t y

C o l l e g e

April 2009 Sunday

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Celebrate

Kansas City Youth Ballet

featuring the

MoKan Gospel Choir

2 and 7 p.m.,

Polsky Theatre

Single $15,

Groups of 10+ $10

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CSI: Live!

Family Show 2 p.m. Yardley Hall $8 youth, $12 adults

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CSI: Live!

School Shows 9:45 a.m. and noon Yardley Hall $5

Marc-André Hamlein

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18 Takács Quartet with Marc-André Hamelin Classics

8 p.m. Yardley Hall

$25, $35

Takács Quartet

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24An Evening with Phil Vassar

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Cohen Community Series

7:30 p.m.

Yardley Hall, $40, $55

* Into the Woods, JCCC Theatre Department, 7:30 p.m. Polsky Theatre 26 How The Gimquat Found Her Song Kansas City Symphony 2 p.m. Yardley Hall $15-$35 adult, $10-$25 youth

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Phil Vassar

For best seats, order early.

Call

913-469-4445 or visit

www.jccc.edu/CarlsenCenter for tickets and information.

Purchase live online

Box Office: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday • Call 913-469-4445 Tickets are required for most events in Polsky Theatre and Yardley Hall. Programs, dates and times are subject to change.

There is a $1 per ticket handling charge at the JCCC box office. Discounts are available for music, theater and dance students.

Carlsen Center Administrative Office: Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday • Call 913-469-4450 A request for interpretative services must be made 72 hours before a performance. Call the box office at 913-469-4445 or TDD/TTY 913-469-4485.

Persons with disabilities who desire additional support services may contact services for patrons with disabilities, 913-469-8500, ext. 3521, or TDD/TTY 913-469-3885. *free-admission event

May 2009

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday 1

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2 1964 ... The Tribute

Center Stage

8 p.m. Yardley Hall, $25, $35

* Into the Woods JCCC Theatre Department 7:30 p.m. Polsky Theatre

3* Johnson County

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Chorus 4 p.m. Yardley Hall

6 * Jazz Night

* Concert Band

JCCC Music Department

JCCC Music Department

7:30 p.m.

Polsky Theatre

7:30 p.m.

Polsky Theatre

* Into the Woods JCCC Theatre Department

7 * Chamber Choir and MadRegalia

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15 Zoppé – an Italian Family Circus

16 Zoppé – an Italian Family Circus

4 and 8 p.m.

Sar-ko-par Trails Park 87th St. & Lackman Rd., Lenexa $25 Adult, $10 Youth

11 a.m., 3 and 8 p.m.

Sar-ko-par Trails Park 87th St. & Lackman Rd., Lenexa $25 Adult, $10 Youth

JCCC Music Department

7:30 p.m.

Polsky Theatre

2 p.m. Polsky Theatre 10

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22 * Brown & Gold May Gala 7 p.m. reception lobby 8 p.m. Yardley Hall

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Beethoven & Brahms Kansas City Symphony 2 p.m. Yardley Hall $32-$55

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Announcing The Series Charles Rogers, artistic director of the Performing Arts Center at Johnson County Community College, has announced the Center’s 2009-2010 season — a season of historic and cutting-edge performances, celebrity names and diverse cultures.

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Serkin Plays

Beethoven

Kansas City Symphony

2 p.m. Yardley Hall

$32-$55

Approaching its 20th year in the 2010-11 season, the Performing Arts Center initiates a new brand, referring to its schedule of world-class performing artists as “The Series” as a way to distinguish professional from academic performances, also offered in the Performing Arts Center. The Series is an umbrella term for the ever-popular and long-established Dance, Classics, Center Stage and Family series and Special Events.

Highlights of the season include a re-creation of Martha Graham’s 1958 Clytemnestra, a fourth appearance by the Paul Taylor Dance Company, and soprano Dame Emma Kirkby, one of the world's most renowned early music specialists. On the lighter side, the season lists Guthrie Family Rides Again with Woody’s great-grandchildren, Groovaloo from the Superstars of Dance and Rasta Thomas’ Bad Boys of Dance. Look for a full listing in the season brochure.

For nearly 20 years, the Performing Arts Center at JCCC has consistently offered quality programming with a variety of classical artists, Broadway musicals, comedy, bluegrass, dance, symphony orchestras, family shows and headliners. True to tradition, another exceptional season unfolds.

CSI: Live! will have a school show performance at 9:45 a.m. and noon Monday, April 6, in Yardley Hall targeted for grades third and up as part of the Carlsen Center ArtsEducation program.

Tickets are $5, available at the Carlsen Center box office, 913-469-4445.

Study guides are available at www.jccc.edu/Carlsen Center.

Missing This Show Is a Crime

Mad Science presents CSI: Live!, an interactive journey through the fascinating world of crime scene investigation for ages 9 and up, at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 5, in Yardley Hall.

Based on the popular television series, CSI: Live! incorporates cutting-edge forensic science, unparalleled audience interaction and amazing visual effects into a fast-paced production.

When a crime is committed at the Las Vegas premiere of the Max Spade Magic Show, the CSI team springs into action. Sydney Mathis and David Hart play the roles of CSI investigators and are on the case, assisted by supervisor Gil Grissom through a live-video connection from the Las Vegas Crime Lab. With the help of the latest crime-fighting technology and an entire audience of witnesses, CSI investigators take on the task of solving this baffling crime. Audience members will jump up on stage becoming witnesses, as

well as suspects and CSI recruits.

Together they will use their superior logic and forensic know-how to uncover hidden details, investigate the evidence and test their theories.

Whether it’s analyzing mysterious gases, launching projectiles into a target or firing a laser beam across the stage, the CSI recruits will have to be on their toes to help solve the crime before it’s too late. How was the crime committed? Who is guilty? Science will uncover the truth.

Tickets $8 youth, $12 adults

www.jccc.edu/CarlsenCenter JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE 12345 COLLEGE BLVD OVERLAND PARK KS 66210-1299

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