New date for 'Piano Men' in Sarasota

   "The Piano Men" is coming to Sarasota sooner than we were expecting.

Jim Witter

   The show has been rescheduled for 8 p.m. Feb. 15. That's nine days before the original date. The only explanation is that it's "due to a change in scheduling," which doesn't really tell us much.
   If you have tickets for the original date, they'll still be good on Feb. 15. If you have tickets but can't make it to the rescheduled show, you should call the box office at 941-953-3368.
  The show stars pianist Jim Witter. He performs with a backing band and performs the '70s hits of BIlly Joel and Elton John.
   If you don't have tickets but you want to see it, tickets will run you between $15 and $50. Call 941-953-3368 or go to vanwezel.org.

   

Krall reschedules Sarasota concert for April 16

   Diana Krall is coming to Sarasota after all.

Diana Krall

   The great jazz chanteuse had canceled her schedule Dec. 13 concert at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall (and in fact her entire national tour), citing severe pneumonia.
    She's apparently feeling better, because the tour's back on, and the Van Wezel date has been rescheduled. She'll be here April 16 and tickets are on sale now.
   If you bought tickets for the original show and you still have them, you can use them at the April 16 show. 
   Krall's touring behind her new album "Wallflower." The release date was pushed back when she canceled her tour. It's now set to come out Feb. 3

   Tickets are $35-$120. Call 941-953-3368 or go to. vanwezel.org.

Diana Krall cancels Sarasota concert

   Here's some bad news for music fans: The great Diana Krall has a severe case of pneumonia that has caused her to cancel her scheduled show at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota. The show had been set for Dec. 13.

Diana Krall

      She's canceled her entire US tour, and she has also postponed the release of her new album, "Wallflower," until next year because of her illness. She released a statement saying that doctors have advised her to rest for a few months, and that she'll announce a new date for the album and for a new world tour "in the coming weeks."
   If you've already bought tickets for the Van Wezel show, you're asked to call the box office (941-953-3368) to get credit for tickets to another show or to get a refund.

Etheridge to perform at Sarasota's Van Wezel

   The people at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall just unveiled their new season a couple of weeks ago. There were plenty of great shows on the schedule as it was announced, and one more has already been added.

   Melissa Etheridge, the powerful singer/songwriter who's won two Grammy Awards (for

Melissa Etheridge

"Ain't It Heavy" and "Come to My Window") and an Oscar (for "I Need to Wake Up," from "An Inconvenient Truth") will be at Van Wezel on Nov. 23.

   She's touring in support of her new album, "This is M.E.," which is scheduled for release next Tuesday, Sept, 20. She'll be doing a lot of her hits and stuff from the new album.

    Alexander Cardinale, an up-and-coming singer and actor, will be the opener.

  Tickets go on sale Friday, Sept. 26.  Call 941-953-3368, or go to vanwezel.org. Tickets prices weren't immediately available but we'll post them here as soon as we have them.

    

Martina McBride to perform at Sarasota's Van Wezel

   Martina McBride's been making hit records for more than 20 years, and she won her first Grarmmy Award 18 years ago. That's a very long career in popular music terms, but she's as popular as ever.
   In fact, her most recent album, "Everlasting," was the first independently distributed

Martina McBride

female album to debut at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums Chart. It also debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200.
   McBride will perform songs from the album -- which features her interpretations of classic soul songs -- when she comes to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota at 8 p.m. Oct. 16. Her concert also includes some of her best-known songs, reworked with a Motown vibe.
   Tickets for the show go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 15. Prices are $31.75-$84.98. Call 941-953-3368 or go to vanwezel.org.

Diana Krall comes to Sarasota's Van Wezel

   Grammy-winning jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall has a new album that's slated to drop on Oct. 21. Just a couple of months later, she'll be performing songs from the album win she comes to Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota.

   The recently announced concert is slated for 8 p.m. Oct. 13.

Diana Krall

   The Krall's new album, "Wallflower," includes her interpretation of pop songs from the 1960s and later. One track is a Paul McCartney song called "If I Take You Home Tonight" that's never even released before.

  On the Wallflower World Tour she'll perform songs by Bob Dylan. the Mamas and the Papas and the Eagles, among many others.

   Her band on the tour is guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist Dennis Crouch, fiddle player Stuart Duncan, drummer Karriem Riggins and keyboard player Patrick Warren.

   Tickets for the Van Wezel show go on sale this Friday (Aug. 15). They'll rub you $35 - $120.

    Call 941-953-3368 or go to vanwezel.org.

Sarasota's Van Wezel adds seven shows

   Tickets are on sale now for seven shows that have just been added to the 2014-15 season schedule at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota.

Wanda Sykes

   Three of the just-announced shows are comedy acts The Capitol Steps (Nov. 1), Wanda Sykes (Nov. 16) and Kathy Griffin (April 26).

   There's also a lot of music on tap. Mannheim Steamroller bring its annual Christmas tour to Van Wezel Nov. 19, and Dave Koz will offer an easy-listening holiday show, with guests including Christopher Cross, on Nov. 28. Country legend Kenny Rogers with guest Linda Davis comes to the hall the next night.
   If you prefer music and comedy rolled into one, "Evil Dead: The Musical," the Broadway hit horror spoof, is set for Nov. 18. 
 For ticket and information, call 941-953-3368 or go to vanwezel.org.
  
   

Lyle Lovett performs Oct. 17 at Van Wezel in Sarasota

   Lyle Lovett is coming to Sarasota.
   The phenomenal singer-songwriter, the winner of four Grammy Awards who was recently named the state musician of Texas, will be at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall Oct. 17. It's his first Van Wezel concert ever.

Lyle Lovett

   Lovett's usually considered a country artist, but his style is distinctive, and he blends folk and even jazz in his country-based tunes and often sardonic lyrics. His live shows are intimate, smart, funny and impossible to dislike or forget.
   Tickets go on sale June 20. They'll set you back  $42 to $74. For more information, call  941-953-3368 or visit VanWezel.org

'Camelot' visit to Sarasota delayed a week

   You'll have to wait an extra week for that "one brief, shining moment."
   The touring production of "Camelot" -- the classic Lerner and Loewe musical that was supposed to come to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota on Nov. 23 -- has been rescheduled for the following Sunday, Nov. 30.
  If you have tickets for the original date, they'll be good for the new date, and season subscribers will be contacted soon.
   For more information, call 941-953-3368 or go to vanwezel.org.

Audra McDonald sets Sarasota concert date

Audra McDonald

   On Sunday, Audra McDonald became the first actor of either gender to win  a Tony Award in every major performance category  (Best Lead Actress in a Play, Best Featured Actress in a Play, Best Leading Actress in a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical) and she became he performer with the most Tony Awards ever (six). She's won for Broadway shows as diverse as "Carousel,"  "A Raisin in the Sun," and, most recently, "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill."
   You don't have to go to New York to see one of the most acclaimed stars in Broadway history. McDonald is coming to Sarasota for a concert at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. Tickets are on sale now, but you'll have to wait awhile for the concert. t's not until March 22.
   Tickets run $35-$70. For more information, call  941-953-3368 or go to VanWezel.org

Bill Maher comes to Sarasota in October

 Photo by David Becker -WireImage

   Comedian/political pundit/author/movie producer Bill Maher is coming to Sarasota.
   Maher will bring his unrestrained stand-up comedy to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Oct.  26.
   Maher’s provocative comedy has brought him 32 Emmy nominations over the past 21 years for his shows "Politically Incorrect" and "Real Time."    
   In 2008, he produced, wrote and starred in "Reiglulous," an irreverent look at organized religion that became one of the most popular documentaries of all time. He's also written five best-selling books.
   But through it all he's continued to do stand-up comedy. He performs at least 50 dates a year across the country. 

   Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. this Friday,  June 13. They'll run you $35-$95. For information, call 941-953-3368 or go to VanWezel.org.

Mandy Patinkin perfoms in Sarasota

  Mandy Patinkin can do it all, from splashy Broadway quasi-operas -- a lot of people first heard of him through his performance as Che in "Evita" on Broadway -- to television drama. He starred as the troubled doctor Jeffery Geiger on "Chicago Hope" and he's most recently starred with Claire Danes on the Showtime hit "Homeland."
  He's also drawn critical raves for his concert appearances, and he'll be coming to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center in Sarasota Tuesday, April 1, with a concert he's calling "Dress Casual."
   It's a cabaret-style show, even though it's in a major Performing Arts Hall. Patinkin offers everything from Broadway tunes to pop standards to traditional American folk songs, and intersperses stories of his personal life and his show biz life.
   Speaking of his show biz life, fans of "Homeland" will be glad to know he'll be back on the show next season. That wasn't clear at the end of the previous season.
   "Oh, I'll be back," he said. "They kicked me out of the CIA but I'm coming back as an independent agent.
   His Van Wezel show is at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 1. Tickets are $35-$70. Call 941-953-3368 or go to www.vanwezel.org.

Tickets on sale for John Legend's April 27 Van Wezel performance

   Tickets are on sale now for John Legend's recently announced appearance at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota.

John Legend

   The nine-time Grammy winner will bring his "An Evening With John Legend: The All of Me Tour" to Van Wezel on April 27.
    "All of Me" is the current hit single from Legend’s fourth studio album "Love In the Future," produced by Legend and longtime collaborators Kanye West and Dave Tozer. The tour starts March 20.
    Call 941-953-3368 or go to www.vanwezel.org for tickets and information.

Sarasota Ballet offers a beautiful, original "Nutcracker."

   Going to see an unfamiliar version of "The Nutcracker" is  a bit of crap shoot. There are many more bad stagings of the classic ballet than good ones, and attempts to "reimagine" it fail much more often than they succeed.
   That makes the experience of the Sarasota Ballet's "John Ringling's Circus Nutcracker" all the more rewarding. Its ideas are interesting and its execution is gorgeous.
   This is the second year for this "Nutcracker," which so far has not been performed anywhere else in the world. There are two more performances today (Saturday, Dec. 21).
   The story has been moved to New York City in the 1930s, where art deco architecture and Depression-era fashion offer a different visual palette than we're used to to seeing in "The Nutcracker." The characters John Ringling and his family, shortly after the death of Mable Ringling.

A scene from ""The Nutcracker"

   The translation works, and the story fits the familiar E.T.A. Hoffman outline without much a stretch.
   The choreography by Matthew Hart is tasteful and clever -- he incorporates ballroom dance styles of the era and Michael Jackson-esque pseudo-gangster reference into the ballet -- and the sets and costumes by Peter Doherty are lovely.
   Performances from the entire cast, from principals all the way through to the very young students dancers, are confident and meticulous. And the Sarasota Orchestra plays Tchaikovsky's music -- perhaps the most familiar classical music of all time -- beautifully.
   Given all that's great about this staging, it feels odd to say that its curtain is a major flaw. But before both act one and act two, the audience has to look at a curtain dominated  garish, amateurish and just plain ugly image of the Nutcracker's face It serves an interesting function in the opening of each act, and it's easy to see why someone thought it would work, but since the audience has to look at something so creepy for 20 to 30 minutes, it's a significant scar on a production that's otherwise pristine.
   Once the curtain has been raised, though, this "Nutcracker" is a marvelous thing to see and hear.
   Remaining shows are at 2  and 8 p.m. today, at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets are $15-$100. call 941-359-0099 ext. 101 or go to www.sarasotaballet.org.

Grant and Gill perform together in Sarasota

   Amy Grant and her hubby Vince Gill often perform Christmas tours together, but they don't usually do concerts together otherwise. This spring though, they'll be co-headlining a tour that's coming to Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota on March 21.
 

Vince Gill

   Grant and Gill will perform alongside each other for the entire show, playing and singing from each other’s extensive catalog of hits.

   Their four-piece band features steel guitar wizard Paul Franklin (who's featured on Gill's new album “Bakersfield”) and drummer Greg Morrow, keyboardist Tony Harrell and bass guitarist Mike Brignardello, all from Grant's backing group.

   Together, Grant and Gill have sold more than 56 million albums and won 26 Grammys. Grant is in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Gill is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

   Tickets are $60-$85. For more information, call 941-953-3368 or visit www.vanwezel.org.

Sally Struthers charms as Dolly in Sarasota

   "Hello, Dolly!" is a great musical, and Sally Struthers is a hoot in the lead role.
   Struthers is heading the touring production that stopped at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota for two shows. The last one's this evening (Wednesday, Dec. 4) at 8 p.m.
   The cast is strong (Tuesday's performance has several understudies, so theoretically Wednesday's cast should be even better), with especially impressive acting and amazing dancr moves. They all had good, solid voices -- though none of the vocal work was truly exceptional -- and a lot of the dance moves were astounding. The pit orchestra's great and the costumes are gorgeous.
   Struthers sings OK -- though she certainly won't make you forget Barbra Streisand's performance in the film -- and she's disarming in her role. But she's at her funniest in a few scenes where she improvises and even interacts with the audience.

Struthers in "Hello, Dolly!"

   The production's only real weaknesses come in the set and lighting design. There are a couple of attractive sets, but most of them are cheap-looking and obviously designed for much smaller stages. And the lighting too often gives the show a day-glo look.
   People don't go to see musicals for the sets and the lighting, though. All those great Jerry Herman songs, plus some funny moments from Struthers and the rest of the cast, make this show well worth seeing.
   Van Wezel is at 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota.Tickets are $35-$70.  Call 941-953-3368 or go to www.vanwezel.org.    
  


  

Sutton Foster cancels March 1 Sarasota show

   Sutton Foster's a major Broadway star, so you can't blame her for canceling her upcoming Sarasota show so that she can star on Broadway.

Foster

   She was supposed to come to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on March 1. But she got the lead role in a new musical called "Violet." Her contract with Van Wezel allowed to back out, so she did.
   The Van Wezel people say they hope to reschedule for another season. If you have tickets, call the box office at 941-953-3368 to find out about getting a refund or a credit to another show.

The Hit Men add St. Petersburg show

   Even if you've never heard the Hit Men, you've certainly heard their music.
   The vocal group is made up a pop music veterans who have been members of the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and who have performed and recorded with Carly Simon, Jim Croce, Cat Stevens and Elton John.
   They were already scheduled to come to Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Feb. 17, but now they've added a show at the Palladium in St. Petersburg March 14. So you can take your choice, or see them twice.
   The show includes such Four Seasons hits as “Oh, What a Night,” “Who Loves You,” “Marianne,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Rag Doll.”  plus lots of  other songs  that members of the Hit Men helped make famous, including “Mony Mony,” “Hanky Panky,” “Peace Train,” “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” “You’re So Vain” and “You Belong To Me.” 

The Hit Men

   Tickets for the Palladium show are  $35, $45 and $55 and will go on sale at noon Nov. 15. You can get them at the Palladium box office, 253 Fifth Ave. N, St. Petersburg, call 727-822-3590 or go to  www.mypalladium.org.
   The Van Wezel show will set you back $35-$50. Call 941-953-3368 or go to www.vanwezel.org.

Masters of the Fiddle cancel Sarasota show

  If you were planning on seeing Masters of the Fiddle with Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy  at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, well, you're going to have to make other plans for the evening of April 14. The show has

Leahy and MacMaster

been canceled, for a pretty great reason: MacMaster and Leahy, who are wife and husband, have just learned they're expecting a baby. That obviously makes a concert six months from now difficult.
   The people at Van Wezel say they hope to reschedule the show for the 2014-15 season.
   For information, call 941-953-3368 or go to www.vanwezel.org.

Diana Ross comes to Sarasota Sept. 11

   Diana Ross, an American musical icon for a half-century, is coming to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall Sept. 11.

Diana Ross

   Ross has won a Tony Awards and been nominated for an Academy Award and for tons of Grammys. (She's never won a Grammy, though, which is surprising.) She's of course had countless hits, both with the Supremes in the 1960s and as a solo artist since 1970, and she starred in "The Wiz" and "Lady Sings the Blues."
   The Van Wezel concert starts at 8 p.m, Wednesday, Sept. 11. Tickets are $30-$115. 941-953-3368 or www.vanwezel.org.