Zoellner Releases 2008-09 Schedule
By Jodi Duckett, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.
Jul. 10–A Talking Head founder, flashy marching-band drummers and singing spellers are among the notable acts of the 2008-2009 season at Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Center.
World musician David Byrne, the rubbery, big-suited ex-frontman of Talking Heads, performs songs from his new record with Brian Eno, the wizardly producer who collaborated on three Talking Head albums. “DRUMline Live” features extremely theatrical percussionists, trumpeters and steppers from marching bands at historically black colleges. In “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a Tony Award-winning musical comedy, six young competitors discover the comic difficulty of words, grown-ups and life.
Single tickets for Zoellner’s 12th season go on sale at noon Aug. 1. They can be purchased at the Zoellner box office, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem; 610-758-2787 ext. 0, or www.zoellnerartscenter.org.
A sample of the new schedule:
Boz Scaggs, the smooth, smoky soul/R&B singer teams with guitarist David Jacobs-Strain, 8 p.m. Sept. 6, $57/$47
David Byrne, “Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno,” 8 p.m. Sept. 16, $57/$47
Bill Frisell Trio, led by the renowned jazz guitarist, 3 p.m. Sept. 21, $30/$25
Forever Tango, featuring seductive dancing by an Argentine company, 7 p.m. Sept. 28, $32/$26
Andrew Bird, former leader of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, 8 p.m. Oct. 3, $25/$21
Zoellner gala with composer Marvin Hamlisch, singer Joel Grey and an orchestra performing Broadway hits, 8 p.m. Oct. 11, $150/$75/$50 (concert only)
Teatro Lirico d’Europa, “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “I Pagliacci,” 8 p.m. Oct. 25, $40/$33
Cloud Cult, folk/indie-rock/electronica band performs with painters who auction works for charity, 8 p.m. Nov. 14, $18/$16
Jay O’Callahan, “Pouring the Sun,” storyteller reprises his 1999 Steel Festival solo play about a wise immigrant woman in Bethlehem, 7 p.m. Nov. 16, $20
“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” Tony Award-winning musical about a bet between con men, 8 p.m. Nov. 21, $40/$33
Onstage holiday cabaret with pianist Dave Leonhardt and his quartet and singer Nancy Reed, 7 p.m. Dec. 19, $52 (includes onstage dinner)
Singer James Hunter and singer-songwriter Ryan Shaw, with Hunter returning to Zoellner after last season’s appearance with Los Lobos, 8 p.m. Jan. 16, $25/$21
MOMIX, a greatest-hits program with the sci-fi dancing vaudevillians, 8 p.m. Feb. 7, $25/$21
Cirque Eloize, “NEBBIA,” sequel to last year’s “Rain” by acrobatic, magic troupe, 8 p.m. Feb. 13-14, $34/$28
Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra, Irish ensemble performs a Russian program on first U.S. tour, 3 p.m. Feb. 22, $36/$30
National Acrobats of China, 3 p.m. March 1, $34/$28
“DRUMLine Live,” 8 p.m. March 7, $32/$26
LA Theatre Works, “War of the Worlds” (H.G. Wells) and “The Lost World” (Arthur Conan Doyle), 8 p.m. March 13, $20/$17
Russian National Ballet Theatre, “Don Quixote,” with principals from the Bolshoi and Kirov companies, 8 p.m. March 28, $45/$37
Onstage cabaret with Geri Allen, jazz pianist and composer, 6 and 9 p.m. April 11, $55 (includes onstage dinner)
Nederlands Dans Theater II, ballet/modern ensemble, 8 p.m. April 14, $27/$22
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” 7 p.m. May 10, $40/$33
Significant Lehigh staff productions include a Sept. 14 opera concert with tenor Eric Fennell, an Allentown native who sings at New York City Opera; a staging of Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” (Oct. 3-5, 8-10), a program of spirituals performed by Lehigh Choral Arts (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) and a Feb. 11-May 17 video installation from Juan Sanchez, a leading Nuyorican multi-media educator.
— Reporting by Jodi Duckett, The Morning Call
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