March 3 at 7 pm SPOKEN WORD Free to the public. Ritz Theatre & Museum, 632-5555,
www.ritzjacksonville.com
February 3-5 RABBIT HOLE As improbably funny as it is heartbreaking, this story of a family in crisis won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Becca and Howie had the perfect life, a great marriage, a beautiful house, and a lovely son. But after a tragic accident, the couple faces the challenges of surviving great loss and making a life with the family that remains. Theatre Jacksonville, 396-4425, www.theatrejax.com
March 3- 5 A CELTIC CELEBRATION Take an Emerald Isle journey in true Celtic style with dancing, bagpipes, theatrical staging and music, featuring an impressive cast of performers. Get in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit with music from Braveheart and Titanic, highlights from Harty’s An Irish Symphony and Arnold’s Four Scottish Dances, wonderful Broadway melodies from Brigadoon and Finian’s Rainbow, and a rollicking audience sing-along. Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, 354-5547, www.jaxsymphony.org
March 4 at 7:30 pm AMATEUR NIGHT AT THE RITZ Tickets: $5.50. Ritz Theatre & Museum, 632-5555, www.ritzjacksonville.com
March 4 at 8 pm GEORGE LOPEZ This beloved, Mexican-American comic played the stand-up circuit for well over a decade before landing his ABC sitcom George Lopez in 2002. He performed highly-rated stand-up TV specials and earned Grammy nominations for Best Comedy Album. His first solo HBO special, George Lopez: America’s Mexican, won wide acclaim and the live recording of his second solo HBO special, Tall, Dark & Chicano garnered him another Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album. Tickets: $46.50- $66.50. Florida Theatre, 355-2787, www.floridatheatre.com
March 4 at 8 pm DIANA ROSS “MORE TODAY THAN YESTERDAY” THE GREATEST HITS TOUR Times-Union Center- Moran Theater, 633-6110, www.jaxevents.com
March 4 at 11am & 7:30 pm CHARLOTTE MABRY & FRIENDS Friday Musicale, 355-7584, www.fridaymusicale.com
March 4- 26 MERCHANT OF VENICE Antonio, merchant of Venice, goes out on a limb with the moneylender Shylock, to help his friend woo a lovely heiress. When misfortune destroys his fleet of ships, he and Shylock face off in a heart-stopping courtroom battle. Players by the Sea, 106 6th St N, 249-0289, www.playersbythesea.org
March 5 at 7 pm & 10 pm RITZ JAZZ JAMM W/RENE’ MARIE This sultry vocalist will melodically seduce you with her silky voice and inventive style from standards to her own repertoire. Tickets: $21/advance, $25/day of show. Ritz Theatre & Museum, 632-5555, www.ritzjacksonville.com
March 5- 7 at 7:30 pm PARADISE HOTEL DASOTA Theatre, 2445 San Diego Rd, 346-5620 www.da-arts.org
March 6 at 8 pm CHELSEA CHIN Times-Union Center- Jacoby Hall, 389-6222, www.riversidefinearts.org
March 6 at 3 pm 101 YEARS OF BROADWAY Neil Berg’s 101 Years of Broadway features five dazzling Broadway stars from such hit Broadway musicals as The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Chicago, Little Shop of Horrors, Jekyll & Hyde and Man of La Mancha. It’s a scintillating tune-filled tribute to the Great White Way brought to life by many of the performers who starred in these shows on Broadway. 101 Years of Broadway has been described as “the best tribute to the music of Broadway.” Thrasher-Horne Center for the Arts, Orange Park, 276-6750, www.thcenter.org
March 10 LANGSTON HUGHES’ ASK YOUR MAMA: TWELVE MOODS FOR JAZZ The Langston Hughes Project is a multimedia concert performance of Langston Hughes’s kaleidoscopic jazz poem suite. Ask Your Mama is Hughes’s homage in verse and music to the struggle for artistic and social freedom at home and abroad at the beginning of the 1960s. It is a twelve-part epic poem which Hughes scored with musical cues drawn from blues and Dixieland, gospel songs, boogie woogie, bebop and progressive jazz, Latin “cha cha” and Afro-Cuban mambo music, German lieder, Jewish liturgy, West Indian calypso and African drumming- a creative masterwork left unperformed at his death. Ritz Theatre & Museum, 632-5555, www.ritzjacksonville.com
March 10 at 10:15 am I NEVER SAW ANOTHER BUTTERFLY A triumph of the human spirit, I Never Saw Another Butterfly shares the hopes, the fears and the beauty of the children of Terezin. More than 15,000 children passed through the Terezin Concentration Camp during World War II; fewer than 100 survived. Their true story, told through the artwork and poetry they left behind, creates a compelling picture of defiance and of vibrant life! Thrasher-Horne Center for the Arts, Orange Park, 276-6750, www.thcenter.org
March 11 at 7:30 pm MIRACLE IN RAWANDA Times-Union Center- Terry Theater, 633-6110, www.jaxevents.com
March 11 at 8 pm THE JACKSONVILLE BLUES FESTIVAL Times-Union Center- Moran Theater, 633-6110, www.jaxevents.com
March 11- 12 Mozart, Leppard and Orion Raymond Leppard, conductor, knows a thing or two about early music authenticity. With guys like him on the podium, Mozart and Beethoven could only sound more precise if they were standing over his shoulder. And Mozart in the hands of pianist Orion Weiss is treated with exceptional grace, dignity and artistry. Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, 354-5547, www.jaxsymphony.org
March 11 – 26 INHERIT THE WIND
Considered one of the great American plays of the twentieth century, Lawrence and Lee’s gripping, relevant drama is inspired by the famous 1925 Scopes ‘Monkey Trial’ when school teacher John Scopes stood accused of violating a Tennessee statute by teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution to his students. In this fictionalized account, two legal Titans confront each other when a close knit community puts freedom of thought on trial. (Rated PG)
Theatre Jacksonville, 396-4425, www.theatrejax.com
March 12 at 8 pm TURANDOT BY PUCCINI This masterpiece, Puccini’s final work (1926), bursting with glorious melodies and epic theatricality, is generally regarded as the pinnacle of Italian opera. Its intense score demands the utmost of its performers, particularly the rousing, Nessun Dorma, ‘No One Must Sleep,’ one of opera’s most cherished arias. Set in the ancient beauty of the Orient, this exotic and dangerous tale of an ice princess and the stranger who melts her heart is certainly Puccini’s grandest piece. Turandot is a fully-staged opera sung in Italian with projected English supertitles and live orchestra. Times-Union Center- Moran Theater, 632-3373, www.artistseriesjax.org
March 12 at 8 pm ESPERANZA SPALDING CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY Bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding, the brightest new star on the jazz scene, will enthrall you with classical and jazz notes from her newest project Chamber Music Society. Ritz Theatre, 632-5555, www.ritzjacksonville.com
March 13 at 7 pm RHYTHM OF THE DANCE Two hours of richly costumed dance, music and song, representing a whole new concept in Irish entertainment, using the genuine spirit of our national dances, songs and storytelling, while including modern influences like Beat, Jazz and Latin combine to give you Rhythm – Rhythm – Rhythm. It is truly a celebration of all Irish things. Times-Union Center- Moran Theater, 632-3373, www.artistseriesjax.org
March 13 at 8 pm LEWIS BLACK Lewis is one of the most prolific and popular performers working today. He executes a brilliant trifecta as stand-up comedian, actor and author. Receiving critical acclaim, he performs over 200 nights a year to sold out audiences throughout Europe, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. Ticket: $41- $51. Florida Theatre, 355-2787, www.floridatheatre.com
March 13- 28 BOOKSTORE A new musical by Fernandina Beach’s Richard Wolf. Tony Gambini’s got a demanding ex-wife and an independent small NYC bookstore struggling to compete with the mega-stores and online booksellers. His only hope is a lotta nerve, a little blackmail and a lotta scotch in this richly tuneful and hilarious musical. Never judge a book by its cover. Thursdays, Fridays & Saturday at 8 pm, Sundays at 2 pm. Atlantic Beach Experimental Theatre, 249-7177, www.abettheatre.com
March 18- April 2 TALE OF THE ALLERGIST’S WIFE An award-winning hit at the Manhattan Theatre Club and on Broadway. Marjorie Taub, the wife of a philanthropic allergist, is engulfed in a life crisis of Medea-like proportions. Her spirits soar when a fascinating friend from her childhood appears and soon becomes a sinister guest. Directed by Celia Frank, stage managed by Beth Caudell and featuring Gretta Russe as Marjorie Taub, Diego Aragona as Mohammed, Leonard Alterman as Ira, Phyllis Rice as Frieda and Libby Maxwell as Lee. Thursdays, Fridays & Saturday at 8 pm, Sundays at 2 pm. Atlantic Beach Experimental Theatre, 249-7177, www.abettheatre.com
March 18 at 7:30 pm AMATEUR NIGHT SEMI-FINALS AT THE RITZ Tickets: $7.50. Ritz Theatre, 632-5555, www.ritzjacksonville.com
March 18 at 11 am & 7:30 pm GARY SMART & ERIN BENNETT Piano. Friday Musicale, 355-7584, www.fridaymusicale.com
March 19 at 8 pm DIANE REEVES The incomparable and most important contemporary jazz vocalist in the world today, Diane Reeves brings her virtuosity, improvisational prowess and unique jazz and R&B stylings that will chill and thrill you. Ritz Theatre & Museum, 632-5555, www.ritzjacksonville.com
March 20 at 4 pm SFJAZZ COLLECTIVE Each year, this unparalleled ensemble develops a program based on a past jazz master. The 2011 project explores the compositions of the incomparable Stevie Wonder. These exceptional artists celebrate jazz not only as a great art form but as a constantly evolving, ever relevant, quintessentially modern art form. UNF’s Lazzara Hall, 270-1771, www.beachesfinearts.org
March 20 at 3 pm PLAY BALL Experience the power of teamwork as the sights and sounds of America’s pastime come alive. The Jacksonville Suns team up with the Jacksonville Symphony to show kids the importance of working as a team. Get ready for a brand new baseball season with selections from Casey at the Bat, narrated by Suns owner Peter “Pedro” Bragan, and many more tunes inspired by the great sport of baseball. Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, 354-5547, www.jaxsymphony.org
March 24 at 7:30 pm SPRING AWAKENING The winner of eight Tony awards, including Best Musical and according to Entertainment Weekly, “The most gorgeous Broadway score this decade.” Join the group of the late 19th century German students on their passage, as they navigate teenage self-discovery and coming of age anxiety in a powerful celebration of youth and rebellion. (Parental discretion is advised.) Times-Union Center, 632-3373, www.artistseriesjax.org
March 25 at 7:30 pm The Vampyr: A Soap Opera Based on Dr. John Pollidori’s story “The Vampyre” (written in tandem with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein), Heinrich Marschner’s 1829 opera Der Vampyr rode the crest of the Gothic wave that lasted to the end of the 19th century, and established the conventions of vampiric lore that influenced everyone from Bram Stoker to Twilight. JU’s Terry Concert Hall, 256-7345, www.ju.edu/programs/music/events.aspx
March 25- 26 Mahler’s Fourth Fabio Mechetti (conductor), Barbara Shirvis (soprano). Mahler’s Fourth Symphony paints a musical portrait of those matters he continually wrestled with: questions of existence, of what happens after death, of what lies behind the everyday, surrounded by the poetry and world of the fabled “Wunderhorn.” Barber’s centennial tribute concludes with his famous tear-jerker ‘Adagio’ and peacefully serene ‘Knoxville.’ Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, 354-5547, www.jaxsymphony.org
March 25- 27 MURDER BY NATURAL CAUSES Arthur Sinclair is a successful, world-famous mentalist in the tradition of Dunninger. His beautiful wife Allison plots his murder for the commonest of all motives: greed. She enlists the aid of a struggling young actor. Her foolproof murder plan cannot possibly misfire as it’s too skillfully inventive… or is it? Once the killing scheme is set in motion, the plot begins to twist and turn. Orange Park Community Theatre, 2900 Moody Ave, 276-2599, www.opct.org
March 26 at 7:30 pm NEW SHANGHAI CIRCUS More than 40 fearless performers with boundless energy, bring more than 2,000 years of Chinese circus traditions to life. Elegant Eastern dance and acrobatics along with magic and beautiful music make this show a perfect family night out! Thrasher-Horne Center for the Arts, Orange Park, 276-6750, www.thcenter.org
March 26- 27 VOICES OF LOVE First Coast Opera, Fellowship Hall, Memorial PresbyterianChurch, St. Augustine
2011 Performing Arts Preview
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SUBMIT EVENTS
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