Mattie Kelly Arts Center Broadway Season Announced

An absolutely stellar season of nine nationally touring Broadway and Artist shows will appear in 2011-12 at the Mattie Kelly Arts Center at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville.

This season includes classic hits such as My Fair Lady, on November 29; Damn Yankees, on January 28; and Brigadoon on February 15; as well as new award-winning shows on national tour, including Monty Python’s Spamalot on February 24 and the Mel Brooks musical Young Frankenstein on May 10.

Each of the five nationally touring Broadway shows appears at 7:30 p.m. for one performance only. Individual tickets are $45 each, with group and season package discounts available.

New this season, patrons may choose their own selection of five or more national shows for a Custom Season Package and receive a 10% discount off the ticket price of each show.

The Custom Season Package priority window is September 6 to 11 when only season packages will be sold.  Individual tickets to all national shows are available starting September 12 through the show date, subject to availability. Custom Season Packages and package discounts continue through January 28, 2012.

The Artist Series at the Mattie Kelly Arts Center is equally spectacular with top shows out of Las Vegas and New York, including: BREAK-The Urban Funk Spectacular on October 8, a high energy tribute to Hip Hop featuring New York’s finest urban artists, a pumping soundtrack, live DJ and master percussionists – tickets are $30 adults and $25 for youth ages 18 and younger; Blast! on January 18, the Tony and Emmy Award winning music-in-motion movement on national tour – tickets are $30 for adults and $25 youth; Simply Sinatra starring Steve Lippia on February 4 with his 16 piece band in a tribute to “Ol’ Blue Eyes” himself  – tickets are $30 each; and Andy Gross,  voted Las Vegas’ #1 Entertainer, for a night of comedy, illusions and more on March 10 – tickets are $25 adult and $20 for youth.

To best serve patrons, Custom Season Packages may be purchased by phone, mail, or in-person from the Box Office only (packages not available by web sales). Contact or visit the Box Office between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday at (850) 729-6000. Individual tickets for all shows go on sale September 12 by web, phone or in-person from the Box office. Purchase tickets online at the Mattie Kelly Arts Center website at www.mattiekellyartscenter.org.  Groups of 10 or more tickets to a single show will receive a $5 per ticket discount if the group sale is made by a single purchaser. For online ticket sales, show photos, videos and additional information, see the Mattie Kelly Arts Center website.
 

Mattie Kelly Arts Center -- Nationally Touring Shows (in date order)

The first nationally touring show of the season is Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular on October 8, part of the center’s Artist Series. This high energy tribute to Hip Hop with break dancing, locking, “electric boogaloo” and more features New York’s finest urban artists, a pumping soundtrack, live DJ and master percussionists!  Trill to the pure physical strength and agility, breathtaking movements, and cutting edge dance.  The cast and their unorthodox creative movement demonstrate a distinctive American art form which finds its roots in the streets of the inner city. Performers have all been featured as solo dancers in worldwide performances with show business legends including Puff Daddy, Janet Jackson, Ringo Starr, Whitney Houston and Luther Van Dross. Each performer is a supremely talented specialist in what promises to be a night of “Full throttle entertainment!”   Tickets are $30 adult and $25 for youth age 18 or younger.          

There’s no better way to open the Broadway Series than with a national touring production of My Fair Lady on November 29. It’s no accident My Fair Lady once held the record of longest running theatrical production in history! And, it’s no wonder everyone – not just Henry Higgins – falls in love with Eliza Doolittle. A hit London production, a popular film version starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison that won eight Academy Awards, and more are part of the My Fair Lady legend.  Don’t miss this timeless classic and all its stunning Lerner and Loewe music including: Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?, With a Little Bit of Luck, The Rain in Spain, I Could Have Danced All Night, On the Street Where You Live, Get Me to the Church on Time and I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face. The New York Times declares it “The perfect musical!” Tickets are $45 each.

Audiences across the nation are going wild for Blast! -- the winner of the 2001 Tony Award for “Best Theatrical Event” and the 2001 Emmy Award for “Best Choreography”.   America’s newest music-in-motion movement on national tour will appear January 18 at the Mattie Kelly Arts Center. Think Riverdance or Stomp but in a totally unique event that combines instrumental virtuosity and the precision and pageantry of brass and percussion, with visual performers in a unique explosion of music and showmanship.  It’s a flurry of drums, bugles, flags, rifles, sabers, costuming and special effects!  According to Bruce McCabe of the Boston Globe,  “An exuberant  show  . .  Blast! stands, blows, pounds, marches and whirls with panache.” Tickets are $30 for adults and $25 for youth ages 18 and younger.

Home runs, hit songs, and a sizzling temptress named Lola have made Damn Yankees a musical comedy favorite. This national touring Broadway hit comes to the mainstage of the Mattie Kelly Arts Center at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville on January 28, 2012 for one show only. Tickets are $45 each.  Its sassy and winning ways earned this baseball tale 8 Tony Awards – including Best Musical. Enjoy a devilishly good time as the national tour of this frothy Broadway hit spins the tale of a baseball fanatic who sells his soul to the Devil to help his favorite team win the pennant race against the New York Yankees. Filled with hit songs like “Whatever Lola Wants” and “You’ve Gotta Have Heart,” DAMN YANKEES is definitely a musical comedy home run!

Headlining Las Vegas and now Niceville, Steve Lippia and his 16 piece band bring Frank Sinatra’s essence back to the stage February 4 in a show that as timeless as a cocktail, a tuxedo or a diamond ring!  Relive your favorite songs including:  “Lady is a Tramp,” “Summer Wind” and “I’ve Got the World on a String” with Steve Lippia as he channels the leader of the infamous Rat Pack. Simply Sinatra starring Steve Lippia showcases a musical arrangement by Frank Sinatra’s own arranger and Lippia croons like “Ol’ Blue Eyes” himself. His show introduces a new generation to this timeless music while appealing to longtime listeners.  "…the talk of Las Vegas"; "…he has an impeccable vocal instrument"  -- Las Vegas Style.

Broadway’s Tony-Award-winning musical Brigadoon appears February 15 in a sentimental adventure that blurs the boundaries between love and loss, past and present, and fantasy and reality. Lerner and Loewe’s sweeping romantic score includes the all classic songs featured on Broadway and in the 1954 MGM classic starring Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse!  Brigadoon’s fantastical story of a village that rises in the Scottish mists just one day every hundred years will appear just one night on the Mattie Kelly Arts Center mainstage. Will love conquer the very laws of physics again?  Tickets are $45 each.

Lovingly "ripped-off" from the internationally famous comedy team's most popular motion picture, Monty Python and the Holy Grail – the Broadway version of  Monty Python's Spamalot was the winner of three 2005 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Director as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for Best Musical.  Appearing February 24, this national touring production tells the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and their quest for the Holy Grail in a way that “Raises silliness to an artform,” according to the Sunday Times. Just imagine a chorus line of dancing divas and knights, flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbits and one legless knight you’re on your way to an unforgettable evening of pure Monty Python humor!  “A high energy blast, you’ll leave the theatre whistling,” according to The Boston Herald.

Enjoy a night of comedy, illusions and more with Las Vegas’ #1 Entertainer of 2010 -- Andy Gross, who will appear March 10 to boggle the mind with his ventriloquism and magic! Headlining at comedy clubs nationwide, his variety show showcases his unparalleled voice throwing ability and spellbinding feats of illusion. His ad-libs during his stand-up are compared frequently to Don Rickles and Robin Williams. His voice throwing is considered the best in the business – a “must hear to believe” feat. “Not just another illusion show, this show has it all,” according to TV host Jenny Jones. Tickets for this  night of family entertainment are specially priced at $25 for adults and $20 for youth ages 18 and younger.
  
The final offering of the national touring Broadway season at the Mattie Kelly Arts Center is the new Mel Brooks smash hit musical Young Frankenstein on May 10, 2012. Tickets are $45 each. From the creators of the record-breaking Broadway sensation The Producers comes this monster new musical comedy on national tour. A wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Frankenstein legend based on Mel Brooks' classic comedy masterpiece, the story follows bright young Dr. Frankenstein (that's Fronkensteen) as he attempts to complete his grandfather's masterwork and bring a corpse to life. Together with his oddly shaped and endearing helper Igor (that's Eye-gor), his curvaceous lab assistant Inga, and in spite of his madcap fiancé Elizabeth, Frankenstein succeeds in creating a monster -- but not without scary and quite often hilarious complications. Young Frankenstein is scientifically-proven, monstrously good entertainment…and the only place you’ll witness a singing and dancing laboratory experiment in the largest tuxedo ever made. “[The special effects are] the cleverest things I’ve ever seen on stage,” according to New York Post.