Tag Archives: Miami University Performing Arts Series

The Capitol Steps perform two shows, 2pm and 7:30pm, Sunday, Oct. 28, at Hall Auditorium, Oxford, Ohio.

Oxford, Ohio – Capitol Steps, a former group of Senate staffers who now set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them, are on the road and headed to Oxford. The group will perform in two 90 minutes shows at 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 28th at Hall Auditorium, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

The group was formed in December of 1981 when some staffers for Senator Charles Percy were planning entertainment for a Christmas party. They decided to dig into the headlines of the day, creating song parodies & skits that conveyed a special brand of satirical humor.

In the years that followed, many of the Steps ignored the conventional wisdom (“Don’t quit your day job!”), and although not all of the current members of the Steps are former Capitol Hill staffers, together the performers have worked in a total of eighteen Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate experience.

Since they began, the Capitol Steps have recorded over 30 albums, including their latest, Take the Money and Run — for President. They’ve been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS, and can be heard 4 times a year on National Public Radio stations nationwide during their Politics Takes a Holiday radio specials.

Capitol Steps is presented by the Miami University Performing Arts Series and is sponsored by the Baymont Inn & Suites, Jerome Conley, and Kona Bistro. Media partners are 88.5 WMUB, 90.9 WGUC, and 91.7 WVXU. Tickets are $35 for adults, $34 for seniors and $17 for students and youth.

For tickets or more information, go online to www.MiamiOH.edu/PerformingArtsSeries or call the Miami Box Office at (513) 529-3200.

UNDER THE STREETLAMP. Photo provided by Insight Management.

OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University Performing Arts Series announces its 2012-13 season. Highlights include political satirists The Capitol Steps performing “Take the Money and Run for President” 10 days before the big election, recent cast members of the Jersey Boys singing their own magic of Doo-Wop in “Under the Streetlamp,” and back by popular demand, piano sensation The 5 Browns and the African Children’s Choir.

See below for the complete listing of events, visit us at www.muohio.edu/PerformingArtsSeries or find us on Facebook. For tickets or more information, call the Miami University Box Office in Shriver Center at (513) 529-3200 or visit us online.

Cinderella
Missoula Children’s Theatre Drama Camp & Performance
Hall Auditorium
Camp: Aug. 6-10
Performance: 7:00 p.m., Friday, Aug. 10All tickets $5
Sponsored by Talawanda-Miami Partnership

Up to 60 local kids will work with the Missoula Children’s Theatre professionals doing fun workshops, crafts and rehearsing a full-scale musical. Don’t wait to register—spots fill up fast!
Registration begins 8:00 a.m., June 11. Details and form online: http://arts.muohio.edu/performing-arts-series/Missoula

Recent Cast Members of Jersey Boys!
Under the Streetlamp
7:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 21, Hall Auditorium
$17 Students/Youth, $34 Seniors, $35 Adults
Earl Reeder Visiting Artists Fund

Their tight harmony, slick moves and snappy set list leads you on a rockin’ trip down memory lane. The drop-dead gorgeous guys from the smash hit, Jersey Boys, perform Beatles, Beach Boys, Motown and more!

Featuring Miami alum Michael Ingersoll, Under the Streetlamp is enjoying a high profile with a hit PBS special. The four magnetic vocalists exude the irresistible rapport of a modern day Rat Pack with their unique blend of tight harmonies and slick dance moves.
http://arts.muohio.edu/performing-arts-series/events/under-the-streetlamp-1021

Take the Money and Run… for President
Capitol Steps
2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 28, Hall Auditorium
Miami Family Weekend, Each performance 90 min., no intermission
$14 Students/Youth, $34 Seniors, $35 Adults
Sponsored by the Baymont Inn & Suites and Kona Bistro
Media Partner: 88.5 WMUB, 90.9 WGUC, 91.7 WVXU

Make 2012 an election year worth laughing about, with DC’s funniest political satirists! For 30 years, the Capitol Steps have put the mock in democracy, skewering both sides of the aisle with fresh, up-to-the-minute musical parodies that leave everyone laughing. The troupe returns to the Series for a third time armed with new material to bring down the house…and Senate!
http://arts.muohio.edu/performing-arts-series/events/the-capitol-steps-1028

Modern Day Houdinis
Spencer’s Theatre of Illusion
7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 14, Hall Auditorium
$9 Students/Youth, $17 Seniors, $18 Adults

Get your tickets before they disappear! The Spencer’s Theatre of Illusion is a spectacular production combining drama, comedy, romance and suspense with elaborate stage illusions. The whole family will love the breath-taking magic. The Spencers were recently named International Magicians of the Year, joining the ranks of David Copperfield, Criss Angel, and Penn & Teller.
http://arts.muohio.edu/performing-arts-series/events/spencers-theatre-illusion-1114

Back by Popular Demand!
African Children’s Choir
7:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 7, Hall Auditorium
$9 Students/Youth, $17 Seniors, $18 Adults

This amazing ensemble from Uganda has been changing the lives of Africa’s neediest children for over 25 years. Come experience their musical message of hope.
http://arts.muohio.edu/performing-arts-series/events/african-childrens-choir-27

A Poetic Vision of Earth from Space
Bella Gaia, Beautiful Earth
Performed by the Kenji Williams Ensemble
7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 12, Talawanda High School, 5301 University Park Blvd., Oxford
$8 Students/Youth, $16 Seniors, $17 Adults
Sponsored by the Talawanda-Miami Partnership

Gripping NASA scientific visualizations, mesmerizing live music and hypnotic dance, Bella Gaia is a multi-media, multi-sensory journey exploring the connections between civilization and our ecosystem. Created by award-winning director and classically trained violinist Kenji Williams in collaboration with NASA, this ‘living atlas’ features Williams and his world music band and dancer performing live against a large-screen backdrop of Earth filmed from space.

“Bella Gaia is just beautiful. It really felt like I was back in space.” —Piers Sellers, NASA Astronaut, Spacewalker
http://arts.muohio.edu/performing-arts-series/events/bella-gaia-beautiful-earth-212

You Suggest the Song, They Make the Musical
Broadway’s Next Hit Musical
7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 23, Hall Auditorium
$8 Students/Youth, $16 Seniors, $17 Adults

Straight from New York City, Broadway’s Next Hit Musical abandons the same old song and dance to create a spontaneous evening of music, humor and laughter. The audience votes for their favorite song and watches as the cast turns it into a full-blown improvised musical- complete with memorable characters, witty dialogue, and plot twists galore. You’ll love it! After all, you created it. “Hilarious” – The New York Times
http://arts.muohio.edu/performing-arts-series/events/broadways-next-hit-musical-223

Sparks will fly!
Bowfire
7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 5, Hall Auditorium
$13 Students/Youth, $27 Seniors, $28 Adults
Sponsored by The Knolls of Oxford and Kona Bistro

From Celtic to classical with some bluegrass, jazz and rock mixed in, Bowfire sets the stage ablaze with their hot band fronted by virtuoso violins, dazzling dancing and amazing vocals. Fun for the whole family!
http://arts.muohio.edu/performing-arts-series/events/bowfire-35

The 5 Browns. Photo provided by IMG Artists. Credit: Andrew Southam.

Sensational Siblings!
The 5 Browns
7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 11, Millett Hall
$8 Students/Youth, $16 Seniors, $17 Adults
Sponsored by the Baymont Inn & Suites and Kona Bistro
Media Partner: 88.5 WMUB, 90.9 WGUC, 91.7 WVXU

“One family, five pianos and 50 fingers add up to the biggest classical music sensation in years…When these kids do Rachmaninoff, they’ll make you forget about Marshall amps.” ––New York Post

Whether performing individually or together in various combinations from duo to complex five-piano arrangements, The 5 Browns reveal a deep connection to the intent of their material while bringing a fresh energy and dynamic character to the color and tonal spectrum of their sound. The five piano playing siblings continue to sell out concert halls around the world.
http://arts.muohio.edu/performing-arts-series/events/the-5-browns-411

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones: The Original Line-up. Photo provided by Ted Kurland Associates.

Oxford, Ohio- For the first time since 1991, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones are touring with their original line-up of pianist/ harmonica player Howard Levy, bassist Victor Wooten, percussionist/Drumitarist Roy “Futureman” Wooten and banjoist bandleader Fleck to create some of the most forward-thinking music of their long, storied career. The group will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 20th at Millett Hall, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

While all manners of genres come into play – from classical and jazz to bluegrass and African music to electric blues and Eastern European folk dances – the result is an impossible to pigeonhole sound all their own, a meeting of musical minds that remains, as ever, utterly indescribable. Simply put, it is The Flecktones, the music made only when these four individuals come together.

“There were a lot of unfinished aspects to this line-up of the band,” Fleck notes, “in that it stopped right when we were peaking creatively.” For Fleck, Levy’s return enables the Flecktones to follow through on the original concept of a band “where each person was reinventing their instruments, where every one of us was a kind of mutant.” “There’s a special thing that happens when the four of us get together and play,” notes Levy. “We all have the same attitude of trying to do things that we haven’t done before and coincidentally, no one else has either.”

The Flecktones first played together in1988, ostensibly for a single performance on PBS’ Lonesome Pine Special. From the start, there was a special kinship between the four musicians, a bond forged in a mutual passion for creativity and artistic advancement. After band member Howard Levy left to pursue other interests, the band played in different reincarnations, garnering five Grammy® Awards in a variety of categories. They recently won the Best Instrumental Composition Grammy Award for “Life In Eleven,” composed by Béla Fleck & Howard Levy and available on the band’s latest album, Rocket Science.

Béla Fleck and The Flecktones are presented by the Miami University Performing Arts Series in collaboration Miami Hamilton and Middletown Artist Series, and issponsored by the Baymont Inn & Suites and Kona bistro. Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for students and youth. $50 floor seats are already sold out. For tickets or more information, go online to www.muohio.edu/PerformingArtsSeries or call the Miami Box Office at (513) 529-3200.

Photo provided by Ragamala Dance, Ed Bock photographer.

Oxford, Ohio- Named 2011 Artists of the Year by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, artistic directors Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy bring Ragamala Dance: Sacred Earth to Miami University at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 1st at Hall Auditorium, Oxford Ohio in a performance in which Ragamala dances the ancient Indian temple art form, Bharatanatyam, against a vivid backdrop of painted prayers of Warli paintings, on a stage covered with ephemeral Kolam rice flour drawings.

Ragamala’s Sacred Earth transforms the stage into a sacred space. The stunning dancers give physical form to the spiritual expression of the Warlis and Kolams, illustrating the ephemeral nature of our existence and celebrating the ongoing, ever-renewing cycle of life. The seven dancers of Ragamala are trained in Alermel Valli’s style of Bharatanatyam, which is distinguished by its emphasis on linear geometry and structure, complexity of rhythm, and the subtlety and depth of expression.

Ragamala Dance will be on campus and in the community several days visiting classes, senior centers, and working with students and community members through lectures, demonstrations and discussions of the art form and culture.

Ragamala Dance is presented by the Miami University Performing Arts Series and sponsored by the Center for American and World Cultures, the Ford Family Initiative on Spiritual Meaning and Purpose, and The Knolls of Oxford. This presentation is supported by the Performing Arts Fund, a program of Arts Midwest, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from the Ohio Arts Council, General Mills Foundation, and Land O’Lakes Foundation. The presentation of Ragamala Dance: Sacred Earth was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and additional funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Boeing Company Charitable Trust. Media partners 88.5 WMUB and 91.7 WVXU. Tickets are $18 for adults, $17 for senior citizens, and $6 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, go online to http://www.muohio.edu/PerformingArtsSeries or call the Miami Box Office at (513) 529-3200.

Tickets: https://tkt.xosn.com/tickets/TicketHome.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=26100&_MODE_=EVENTSELECT&SALE_TKT_EVENT_ID=250992
Event Page: http://arts.muohio.edu/performing-arts-series/events/ragamala-dance
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/375599375784005/
Ragamala’s page: http://www.ragamala.net/