The Music of Billy Joel & Elton John Starring Michael Cavanaugh by Opening Nights

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pening Nights at Florida State University is excited to bring the very best performing arts, music, dance, comedy, literature and visual arts to our campus and community. The second half of the 2023–24 season features critically acclaimed, award-winning artists and something for everyone in your family to love. GRAMMY® nominated Ruthie Foster will deliver a Texas blues show you do not want to miss. In March, the lineup continues with the best in music and stage beginning with Pink Martini, featuring China Forbes. Jazz at Lincoln Center takes center stage at The Moon with Sing and Swing, featuring renowned jazz artists Bria Skonberg and Benny Benack. Stage and screen legend Mandy Patinkin and award- winning author Jesmyn Ward will also perform. Emerging bluegrass artists Damn Tall Building will put on a show at Goodwood Museum and Gardens. Finally, April brings multiple collaborations for the visual arts, music education, community outreach and family programs. The month kicks off with seven-time Grammy® Award winner Terence Blanchard

with the E-Collective and the Turtle Island Quartet, a special partnership event with the FSU College of Music. April continues with our annual collaboration with the Chain of Parks Art Festival. Dean Mitchell is the featured artist this year. A partnership with Word of South will bring Rising Appalachia to town for a free community concert. Opening Nights will conclude its 2023–24 season with the iconic folk duo Indigo Girls on May 1. We cannot think of a better time and opportunity to become a member of Opening Nights and to show your support of our mission to present exceptional artists. These performances create a thriving cultural life in our community and create priceless educational experiences on campus and throughout the community. Ask any Opening Nights associate about these philanthropic opportunities. Thank you for sharing our season with us. We look forward to many more outstanding performances coming your way in 2024, Tallahassee’s bicentennial year. OPENINGNIGH T S .F SU.ED U | 5

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UPCOMING PERFORMANCES Florida State University Richard McCullough President Opening Nights Staff

FEBRUARY 22 The Music of Billy Joel &

Elton John Starring Michael Cavanaugh

Allison Jordan Development Director Grace Atkins Program & Operations Manager

Broadway, Vocalist

29 Ruthie Foster Blues

Brad Lister Business & Patron Services Manager

MARCH

Calla MacNamara Education & Engagement Manager

iLUMINATE

Noelle Enright Marketing & Communications Associate

Pink Martini with China Forbes

Amanda Cole Senior Marketing Designer, University Marketing

World, Orchestra

Rodney H. Johnson Director of Digital Design & UX, University Marketing Opening Nights Development Council

Ron Sachs, Vice Chair Susan Stratton, Secretary Brooke Hallock Nan Nagy Tom Nelson Florida State University Partners

18 Jesmyn Ward Author

21 Damn Tall Buildings Bluegrass

APRIL 5

Office of the President College of Fine Arts College of Music English Department Challenger Learning Center FAMU-FSU College of Engineering University Relations University Communications

Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Being Alive with Adam Ben-David on Piano Broadway, Vocalist

Kathleen Daly Heather Mitchell

Sing and Swing – A Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents Production featuring Bria Skonberg and Benny Benack III Jazz, Swing

Eric Friall, Chair Gus Corbella, Immediate-Past Chair

Family, Educational

Terence Blanchard featuring The E-Collective and Turtle Island Quartet Jazz

Dinosaur World Live! Family, Educational

18 Chain of Parks Art Festival

Presenting Artist Dean Mitchell

Visual Art

OPENINGNIGH T S .F SU.ED U | 7

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Something Wicked This Way Comes By Ray Bradbury When the carnival comes to town, two boys unearth the terrifying and horrible secrets that lurk within Cooger and Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show and learn the consequences of wishes, as a sinister and evil force is at work in Green Town, Illinois.

October 12-14 at 8 p.m. October 20 & 21 at 8 p.m. October 22 at 2 p.m.

The Shape of Things By Neil Labute A young student drifts into an ever-changing relationship with an art major while his best friend’s engagement crumbles, unleashing a drama that peels back the skin of two modern-day relationships.

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Legally Blonde Book by Heather Hach Music and Lyrics By Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin The ultimate tribute to girl power, Legally Blonde will take you from the UCLA sorority house to the Harvard halls of justice with the timely coming-of-age story of Broadway’s brightest heroine.

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Opening Nights, Opening Doors is a partner program of Prime Meridian Bank, FSU Opening Nights, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Big Bend. Now in its third year, the program provides on-campus experiences for Club members to inspire a vision of future opportunities in the areas of engineering, nursing, hospitality, and (coming soon) media and the arts.

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The Music of Billy Joel & Elton John Starring Michael Cavanaugh Michael Cavanaugh is the new voice of the American Rock & Roll Songbook and a charismatic performer and musician made famous for his piano/lead vocals in the Broadway musical Movin’ Out. Handpicked by Billy Joel to star in Movin’ Out, Cavanaugh evokes a style rivaling the Piano Man. He appeared in the show for three years with over 1,200 performances and received multiple accolades. The show culminated in 2003 with both GRAMMY® and Tony award nominations.

“Brilliant” — Variety Magazine

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Continued on pg. 19

OPENINGNIGH T S .F SU.ED U | 1 7

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The Music of Billy Joel & Elton John, Starring Michael Cavanaugh Continued from pg. 17

Michael began playing at age seven, when his parents bought their first piano. Encouraged by family and friends, and inspired by his hero Billy Joel, Michael formed his first band at age 10 and began playing local functions, fine-tuning the craft that would become his chosen career. His first full-time gig as a musician was an extended engagement in Orlando, Florida, at a piano bar called Blazing Pianos. In January of 1999, Michael received an offer that would unknowingly change his life: an opportunity to play Las Vegas at the famed New York, New York Hotel and Casino. It was there that Billy Joel spotted Michael and joined him on stage one fateful night of February 2001. It only took two songs before Billy was convinced that he had found his new Piano Man: Michael Cavanaugh. Michael closed up shop at New York, New York and moved to New York City to work alongside Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp to shape the Broadway musical that would be called Movin’ Out. In the lead role, he received both Tony and GRAMMY® nominations. With the close of Movin’ Out at the end of 2005, Michael began touring in his own right, creating a show that reinterprets the modern pop/rock songbook. Michael soon became one of the hottest artists in the private events market, and he continues to perform worldwide for company and charity events as well as sporting events including many PGA tour events, the SuperBowl, and the Indy 500. His interpretation of the modern rock/pop songbook led to Billboard calling him “The New Voice of the American Rock and Roll Songbook,” and he was recognized by Reuters as Entertainer of the Year for the private events market. It wasn’t long before symphony orchestras discovered Michael’s talents and audience

appeal. He accepted his first orchestral booking, Michael Cavanaugh – The Songs of Billy Joel and More, which debuted in April 2008 with the Indianapolis Symphony and continues to tour today. In October 2008, he signed with Warner/ADA to distribute his first CD, In Color. In June 2010, Michael debuted his second symphony show in the Generations of Rock series titled Michael Cavanaugh: The Songs of Elton John and More and then debuted his third symphony show, Singers and Songwriters: the Music of Paul Simon, Neil Diamond and James Taylor, in 2012. In 2015, he debuted his fourth symphony show: Rockin’ Christmas with the Pops. He continues to tour all four symphony productions along with performing with his band in performing arts centers and other public venues. The Way I Hear It, his second commercial album, was released in April 2017, and it debuted at #17 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Recently, Michael Cavanaugh reached the POLLSTAR Live75. The top 75 active touring acts in the country. OPENINGNIGH T S .F SU.ED U | 19

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iLUMINATE

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES FEBRUARY 29 Ruthie Foster Blues

MARCH 2 4 Sing and Swing

iLUMINATE

Family, Educational

Pink Martini with China Forbes

World, Orchestra

Sing and Swing – A Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents Production featuring Bria Skonberg & Benny Benack III

Jazz, Swing

Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Being Alive with Adam Ben-David on Piano

Broadway, Vocalist

18 Jesmyn Ward Author

Terence Blanchard

21 Damn Tall Buildings Bluegrass

APRIL 5

Terence Blanchard featuring The E-Collective and Turtle Island Quartet

Jazz

6 Dinosaur World Live!

Dinosaur World Live!

Family, Educational

18 Chain of Parks Art Festival

Presenting Artist Dean Mitchell

Visual Art

27 Rising Appalachia Rock, Blues

MAY Dean Mitchell

27 Indigo Girls Rock

OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU