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“This upcoming season speaks to what the community has told us they wanted,” Clark State Performing Arts Center Executive Director Adele Adkins said. “I feel very excited about the wide offerings.”
The season will kick off with classic Southern/country rockers the Marshall Tucker Band on Oct. 1, which Adkins said was suggested by a community member.
“I get hundreds of suggestions a year and look into every single suggestion,” she said. “A classic band like Marshall Tucker fits into our season.”
An unusual aspect is the return of three popular acts from recent seasons, including for the third consecutive year “The Illusionists” with two shows on Dec. 9 and Grammy-nominated Celtic Woman, which performed a sold-out Christmas show two years ago, concluding the season on April 21.
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The Illusionists’ creative team approached her to help jump start their new tour, Adkins said.
“Any presenter’s favorite phone call is the one that asks if you’re available to tech a show,” she said. “This speaks volumes for our facilities and tech crew. It also brings economic impact as the team will be using hotel rooms here for a full week.”
Rounding out the returnees is Black Violin on Oct. 14, the viola and violin duo that combines hip hop and classical music whose 2016 show drew people from two other states, according to Adkins.
“That was the first time I’ve called an agent back immediately to book an act like this,” she said. “I think our audience was most appreciative about that show.”
The duo will also work with Springfield Youth Symphony members and a Columbus-based group during the visit, which is funded by grants and ticket sales. The youths will join Black Violin to perform during the show’s encore.
“Those of us working in the arts have to have that to bring culture to the community,” Adkins said.
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The footlights will be powered by four Broadway shows this season, two newer hits and two classics. The new wave starts with the National Broadway Tour of the 2013 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, “Kinky Boots” on Nov. 2, followed by the holiday hit based on the film “Elf” on Nov. 9.
The classics offer the National Broadway Tour of “Cabaret” on Jan. 10 and the National Broadway Tour of “Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” on Feb. 23.
The Club Kuss Series of more intimate shows starts Oct. 6 with singer Julie Fowlis. The name might not be familiar, but she was the singing voice of the animated Disney hit “Brave.
Spanish native Cristina Pato is a master of the Galician bagpipe and with her band creates Latin music with jazz, classical and world music influences in her concert on Jan. 27. These two shows will be in the Turner Studio Theater.
Club Kuss will wrap on Feb. 2 back in the Kuss Auditorium, with Diavolo, a group that gained national attention on “America’s Got Talent.” It’s a gravity-defying dance group that combines lyrical movement, athleticism and incorporates architectural objects into one performance.
There will be an additional show in partnership with the Springfield Arts Council in April and announced later in the year, and the possibility exists for other shows to be added.
Bringing Ticketmaster in has helped reach new audiences, Adkins said. Data collected shows how many people came to a show and from which ZIP codes, including five shows that drew people from four outlying states, which helps in programming the season.
“That’s always good to have, but the focus is always on the Springfield community,” she said.
Those buying a subscription for three or more shows can purchase tickets starting July 10 and individual tickets will go on sale July 24. Tickets will be available at pac.clarkstate.edu.
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