Calendar of Events

His reign as King of the Blues has been as long as that of any monarch on earth, yet BB King continues to wear his crown well. At age 76, he is still light on his feet, singing and playing the blues with relentless passion. Time has no apparent effect on BB other than to make him more popular, more cherished and more relevant than ever. BB King is alive as the music he plays and a grateful world can’t get enough of him.

Don’t miss this living legend on February 19, 2012.

The Black Jacket Symphony returns to the Montgomery Performing Arts Centre on Friday, February 24th to perform U2′s “The Joshua Tree”. Performed sound for sound, note for note, this classic U2 album will come to live on the MPAC stage with stunning visuals to complement the performance. It’s the album that Rolling Stone says took U2 “from heroes to superstars” and is still to this day one of the top selling albums in the world.

The Black Jacket Symphony offers a unique concert experience by recreating classic albums in a live performance setting with a first class lighting and video production. A selected album is performed in its entirety by a group of hand-picked musicians specifically selected for each album. With no sonic detail being overlooked, the musicians do whatever it takes to musically reproduce the album. Following the album and a brief intermission, the Black Jacket Symphony returns to the stage to perform a collection of greatest hits by the evening’s artist. View the band’s EPK at youtube.com/blackjacketsymphony

During his storied career in country music, Vince Gill has consistently set the bar higher and higher for himself.
The singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist has recorded more than 17 studio albums, sold more than 26 million copies and won 20 Grammys and 18 CMA Awards. The two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year is the only man to ever win five consecutive CMA Male Vocalist of the Year awards and the only songwriter to win Song of the Year four times.
Those winning songs — “When I Call Your Name,” “Look At Us,” “I Still Believe In You” and “Go Rest High On That Mountain” — were among the stellar compositions that led to Gill’s 2005 induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Two years later, he became one of the youngest performers ever inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

BOWFIRE is the total string experience. An ensemble of world-renowned musicians takes audiences on a journey that moves seamlessly from Jazz to Classical to Bluegrass to Celtic to Rock to World music. The unique combination of master musicians, choreography and vocals is complemented by stunning costumes and set design.

Directed by Broadway’s Stafford Arima (Ragtime, Altar Boyz), BOWFIRE is a fully staged theatrical event, earning standing ovations and repeat bookings worldwide.

“Come Fly Away” is the new Broadway musical that brings together the legendary vocal of FRANK SINATRA and the creative vision of Tony Award-winner TWYLA THARP. This one-of-a-kind experience combines the seductive vocals of “Ol’ Blue Eyes” with the sizzling sound of a live on-stage big band and the visceral thrill of Tharp’s choreography. As 14 of the world’s best dancers tell the story of four couples falling in and out of love, you will experience the exhilaration of a first kiss, the excitement of a first dance, and the bittersweet moments of a first good-bye in a world of sparkling romance and astonishing beauty.
“Come Fly Away” features a host of beloved Sinatra classics, including “Fly Me to the Moon,” “My Way,” “New York, New York” and “Witchcraft”.

Gregory’s success, like his comedy, is the direct result of the values he grew up with. And now, twenty something years later, it is this unique brand of humor that packs the crowds into his sold-out shows. The absence of vulgarity sets James apart and his stories are carefully crafted art. “I have lived long enough to know people, know life”, Gregory reflects. “My comedy is based on my life experiences. It’s real, it’s funny and the audience loves it. That’s why I’m still in business.

Garrison Keillor was born in 1942 in Anoka, Minnesota, and began his radio career as a freshman at the University of Minnesota, from which he graduated in 1966. He went to work for Minnesota Public Radio in 1969, and on July 6, 1974, he hosted the first broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion in St. Paul. The show ended in 1987, resumed in 1989 in New York as The American Radio Company, returned to Minnesota, and in 1993 resumed the name A Prairie Home Companion. Over 3 million listeners on more than 450 public radio stations now hear the show each week.

Keillor’s most recent role included playing himself in the movie adaptation of his show, A Prairie Home Companion (June 2006). It features Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin as the singing Johnson sisters, Lindsay Lohan as Streep’s daughter, Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly as singing cowboys Lefty and Dusty, and Tommy Lee Jones as the Axeman, who is dispatched by the radio station’s new corporate owners in Texas to shut down the show.

He is also the author of many books, including Lake Wobegon Days (1985); The Book of Guys (1993); The Old Man Who Loved Cheese (1996); Wobegon Boy (1997); Me: By Jimmy “Big Boy” Valente As Told to Garrison Keillor (1999); Love Me (2003); Homegrown Democrat (2004); Pontoon (2007); Liberty: A Lake Wobegon Novel (2008); and Life Among the Lutherans (2009).

Keillor has received numerous awards, including a Grammy Award for his recording of Lake Wobegon Days. He has also received two Cable ACE Awards and a George Foster Peabody Award. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and recently was presented with a National Humanities Medal by the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 1994, he was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame at Chicago’s Museum of Broadcast Communications.

With Philip Brunelle, he has performed with many orchestras, including the Chicago, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Dallas, and National symphonies. He has appeared at Wolf Trap, Carnegie Hall, and other major concert halls as a member of The Hopeful Gospel Quartet, and he has performed on his own in one-man shows across the country and on tour broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion.