Cultural Arts in March
March 2013

The cultural season in New Orleans kicks back into high gear in March, following a brief lull during Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl. A full slate of musicals, stage plays, opera, live dance, classical concerts and the final few days of the Broadway Across America production of the multi-award-winning Flashdance.

Rock and Roll pioneer Buddy Holly comes back to life in a musical tribute to his life and career, brought to the stage of the Jefferson Performing Arts Center in Metairie. The biblical strongman, Samson, loses his strength thanks to the treacherous Delilah, but he comes back strong for one final act of heroism in the New Orleans Opera production of Samson et Dalila. The spirit of Martha Graham lives on in her namesake dance company, which alights on the stage of the Mahalia Jackson Theater, courtesy of the New Orleans Ballet Association.

This is just a random sampling of the performing arts excitement that is on the marquee for "America's First City of Culture." Here's how the New Orleans cultural season shapes up in March:

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Through March 3, 2013

Venue: The Joy Theater
Presenting Organization: The Joy Theater
Tickets:The Joy Theater

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner was a groundbreaking 1967 film about interracial marriage. Adapted for the stage by Todd Kreidler from the screenplay by William Rose, the show is coming to the Joy Theater for eight performances over two weekends. Produced and directed by Tommye Myrick, the production stars Vicky Illk as Jo Anna "Joey" Drayton, the young Caucasian woman in love with African American doctor John Prentice (Nicoye Banks). The stage play version of the multi-award-winning film premiered in Atlanta this past summer, making New Orleans one of the first cities to stage it.

The story line revolves around the dilemma faced by both sets of parents and how they eventually reconcile their beliefs with their reservations to the union. The cast includes a host of veteran performers: Carol Sutton (Matilda Banks), Dane Rhodes (Matt Drayton), Janet Shea (Christina Drayton), Harold Evans (John Prentice Sr.), Gwendolyn Foxworth (Mary Prentice), Garth Currie (Monsignor Ryan) and Margeaux Fanning (Hillary St. George).

Friday and Saturday night performances start at 8:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 3:00. For ticket information/reservations, visit www.thejoytheater.com, or contact Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com. For more information about the show go to www.thejoytheater.com.

Flashdance
Through March 3, 2013

Venue: Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts
Presenting Organization: Broadway Across America
Tickets: Broadway Across America, Ticketmaster or Mahalia Jackson Theater

Flashdance tells the inspiring and unforgettable story of Alex Owens, a working-class girl from Pittsburgh with a dream of becoming a professional dancer. She works by day as a steel mill welder, and a bar dancer at night while aspiring to be accepted at a prestigious ballet academy. When Alex catches the eye of her boss Nick Hurley, their romance shows her the meaning of love and drives her ambition to pursue her dream.

Flashdance – The Musical features a Grammy Award-winning soundtrack that includes the Top Ten hit songs from the early 1980s movie of the same name. They include the title song, "Flashdance – What a Feeling," "Maniac," "Gloria," "Manhunt," "I Love Rock & Roll" and more. In addition to these hits, 16 brand new original songs have been written for the stage by Robbie Roth and Robert Cary. Flashdance features a book by Tom Hedley (co-writer of the original screenplay with Joe Eszterhas), and Robert Cary, music by Robbie Roth, lyrics by Robert Cary and Robbie Roth and direction and choreography by Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys, Memphis).

Good seats are still available for this fourth official production of the 2012-2013 season by Broadway in New Orleans. Show times vary. For more information about tickets, show times and the shows themselves, patrons can visit http://BroadwayInNewOrleans.com, call the Broadway Across America Ticket Hotline at 1-800-218-SHOW (7469), fax 1-800-535-2929..

Opera on Tap
March 6, 2013

Venue: The Rusty Nail
Sponsoring Organizations: New Orleans Opera Association
Tickets: None (FREE and Open to the Public)

The New Orleans Opera Association reprises its highly popular, free, "Opera on Tap" program of light operatic and live stage fare at the French Quarter hotel that stands on the site of the historic, former French Opera House (1859-1919). Before you enter, be sure to read the plaque on the wall facing Bourbon Street adjacent to the main entrance. It will give you some of the history of the building that once served as the focal point for New Orleans' cultural scene.

Founded in 2007, Opera on Tap is enjoying ever-growing popularity, as evidenced by the increasing size of the audiences that come to hear them sing familiar (and not-so-familiar) opera arias and classic songs from hit musicals. The performance runs from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 and is open to the public. For more information visit the New Orleans Opera Association's website at http://neworleansopera.org/2011-2012-season/opera-on-tap/ and check out their Facebook page as well.

Noises Off
March 8-24, 2013

Venue: Rivertown Theater for the Performing Arts
Sponsoring Organizations: Theatre 13
Tickets: Theatre 13

Called "the funniest farce ever written," Noises Off presents a manic menagerie as a cast of itinerant actors rehearsing a flop called NOTHING'S ON. Doors slamming, on - and backstage -intrigue, and an errant herring all figure in the plot of this hilarious and classically comic play.

Directed by David Hoover and featuring a cast of nine noted regional actors, Noises Off is the next-to-last production of the 2012-2013 season at Rivertown. Show times vary. For more information visit the ticket site at http://theatre-13.tix.com/Schedule.aspx?OrgNum=4053.

Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story
March 9 & 10 and March 16 &17, 2013

Venue: Jefferson Performing Arts Center
Presenting Organization: Jefferson Performing Arts Society
Tickets: Jefferson Performing Arts Society

On February 3, 1959, the man who changed the face of popular music tragically died in a plane crash at the age of 22. Now, Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story tells the story of the three years in which he became the world's top recording artist.

The show features over twenty of Buddy Holly's greatest hits – with and without The Crickets - including "Peggy Sue," "That'll Be The Day," "Oh Boy," "Not Fade Away," "Every Day," "Rave On," "Maybe Baby," "Raining In My Heart" and others. Also featured will be Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba" and the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace," paying tribute to the two other singers who died in the same plane crash.

Over 20 million people have come to see Buddy at performances all over the world. Through this live musical stage production, the magical talents of Charles Hardin "Buddy" Holly from Lubbock, Texas have been shared with many more people than the real Buddy Holly ever had the chance to perform in front of. The meteoric legacy of the young man with the black, horn-rimmed glasses, whose musical career spanned an all-too-brief period during the golden days of rock 'n' roll, continues to live on in Buddy.

The show runs over two consecutive weekends for approximately two hours with a 15-minute intermission. Show time is 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3:00 p.m. Sunday. Ticket discounts are available for children under 12, students, and seniors over 65. For more information call (504) 885-2000 or go to www.jpas.org.

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1
March 9, 2013

Venue: Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts
Presenting Organization: Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
Tickets: Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra

The 70-member LPO will be performing three pieces during an evening of works by some of Europe's greatest 19th and 20th century composers. The selections for the evening are Igor Stravinsky's "Symphonies of Wind Instruments," Jan Sibelius' "Symphony No. 6" and Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky's "Piano Concerto No. 1." For the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto, Danny Driver will be the featured soloist.

Show time is 8:00 p.m. For more detailed information, including ticket availability, call 523-6530 or visit www.lpomusic.com.

3x3
March 11-12, 2013

Venue: Mid-City Theatre
Sponsoring Organizations: Southern Repertory Theater
Tickets: Southern Repertory Theater and Mid-City Theatre

3x3 spread out over two nights translates into 6x6 which translates to 6 ten-minute plays by 6 playwrights over the two-night span. These six staged readings of six brand new ten-minute plays will explore themes close to the heart of New Orleans.

An ensemble of actors and directors will interpret and present staged, script-in-hand readings of the six new short plays written by members of the 6x6 Writers Group, which includes James Bartelle, Gamal Chasten, Michael Aaron Santos, Lisa Shattuck, Jared Gore, Jon Broder, Paul Werner, Mike Harkins, Andy Vaught, Brittain Valenti, Lucy Faust, Brian Sands, Kerry Cahill, Mandy Zirkenbach, Pat Bourgeois and Madison Curry.

Tickets are just $10 at the door and, yes, there will be cocktails. For directions and more detailed information call (504) 488-1460 or go the Mid-City Theatre website at www.midcitytheatre.com.

Debauchery
March 13, 2013

Venue: Mid-City Theatre
Sponsoring Organizations: Southern Repertory Theater
Tickets: Southern Repertory Theater and Mid-City Theatre

Pat Bourgeois brings you Debauchery! The Soap Opera about a wealthy, eccentric family just trying to find love, family, and infamy in New Orleans. Will Buff tell Cartier that he is really Nick – long lost husband of her sister, Chanel? Will Chanel continue her marriage to dull, predictable Larsen, or will she consummate her coitus-interuptus honeymoon with Nick, who is now Buff? And, if Buff was impotent during his marriage to Cartier, who fathered the twins?

Come join the fun and find out! Performances start at 7:30 p.m. For tickets and information call (504) 488-1460 or email info@MidCityTheatre.com.

Irish Blessings, Bagpipes and Bon Operatit!
March 13, 2013

Venue: Four Points by Sheraton
Sponsoring Organizations: Four Points by Sheraton and Bon Operatit!
Tickets: FREE and Open to the Public; $5.00 Valet Parking Rate Available for Attendees

A talented trio of classically trained singers, consisting of tenor Jesse Nolan, mezzo-soprano Mary Penick Akin and soprano Lauren Mouney Gisclair, Bon Operatit! will be paying tribute to the "Auld Sod" at this free, pre-St. Patrick's Day performance in the heart of the French Quarter.

For two hours aficionados of Irish music will be entertained with popular songs and instruments from the Emerald Isle. The performance will last from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Four Points by Sheraton French Quarter hotel at Bourbon and Toulouse streets and the public is invited. Valet parking is available for a nominal $5 charge.

For more information about Bon Operatit! visit their website at www.bonoperatit.com. Copies of their newly released Sensatiable CD will be on sale at the event, along with their debut CD.

Samson et Dalila (Samson and Delilah)
March 15-17, 2013

Venue: Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts
Sponsoring Organizations: New Orleans Opera Association
Tickets: New Orleans Opera Association

The biblical story of the Hebrew strongman and leader and the woman who brought about his downfall is retold in opera form, as the New Orleans Opera Association presents Samson et Dalila. Composed by Camille Saint-Saens from a libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire and sung in French, the production stars Richard Cox (tenor) and Edyta Kulczak (soprano) in the title roles. World-renowned bass-baritone and New Orleans native, Greer Grimsley, is featured in the production as the High Priest of Gaza, Samson's mortal enemy.

The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Robert Lyall, provides the music for the opera. English supertitles (translations) are projected above the stage during the performances. The New Orleans Ballet Theatre, under the direction of Gregory Schramel and Marjorie Hardwick Schramel, perform onstage with the opera production.

The Friday night performance begins at 8:00 p.m. and the Sunday matinee is at 2:30 p.m. For tickets and other information visit the New Orleans Opera Association's website at www.neworleansopera.org or call 504-529-3000.

Martha Graham Ballet Company
March 23, 2013

Venue: Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts
Presenting Organization: New Orleans Ballet Association
Tickets: New Orleans Ballet Association

Founded in 1926 by legendary modern dance pioneer Martha Graham, her namesake dance company revolutionized American dance and became "one of the seven wonders of the artistic universe" (Washington Post). A trailblazing genius, Graham captured the contemporary spirit of her time and created groundbreaking works that continue to inspire and captivate audiences.
Today, this extraordinary company of 16 graceful dancers, directed by Janet Eilber, masterfully honors Graham's legacy with a dramatic and exciting evening of Graham classics, rare films and newly commissioned works. The program is highlighted by the New Orleans debut of Graham's iconic masterpiece Appalachian Spring (1944), set to the famous Aaron Copland score, and a special performance of Panorama (1935), danced by New Orleans youth in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the NORDC/NOBA Center For Dance.

The performance starts at 8:00 p.m. For tickets and information visit the New Orleans Ballet Association's website at www.nobadance.com.

Opera on Tap
February 27, 2013

Venue: Four Points by Sheraton
Sponsoring Organizations: New Orleans Opera Association
Tickets: FREE and Open to the Public; $5.00 Valet Parking Rate Available for Attendees