The Lincoln Center will host a production of “Rent,” the Russian National Theater Production of “Swan Lake,” and Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes recording their podcast, “Jay and Silent Bob Get Old,” officials have announced.
Officials with the performing arts center, 417 W. Magnolia St., Fort Collins, announced its 2016-17 season and that individual tickets will go on sale Aug. 10. These shows are funded by City of Fort Collins and will be joined by outside productions.
he center will present three national broadway tours, “Rent,” “Once,” and “Pippin.” This is down from four they did last year.
“This year we were like, ‘Why are we trying to force something?'” said Victoria Erickson, public relations and marketing coordinator of The Lincoln Center. Instead, they opted to go with bigger, more-familiar shows. These are the national tours, just in a smaller market.
“It’s really the same quality that you can see in Denver, it’s just closer,” Erickson said. The center works to make the tours accessible by bringing them to Northern Colorado for a more-affordable price.
The dance series will feature MOMIX with “Opus Cactus,” Russian National Ballet Theater with “Swan Lake,” and Complexions.
“It’s more about illusion and how they can turn their bodies into amazing shapes,” Erickson said about MOMIX. The group is known for how its dancers contort their bodies and has been featured on Fruit of Loom commercials. For those who like more-traditional shows, “Swan Lake” is always a fan favorite. Complexions offers more-contemporary dance.
“If you’re a dance fan, you know of Alvin Ailey, and these two directors that started this group Complexions are both Alvin Ailey alumni,” Erickson said. The center tries to bring in a range from traditional to contemporary. Complexions performance includes a piece called “Strum.” It mixes dance with the sounds of Metallica.
“We aren’t necessarily out to make a huge profit on certain things,” Erickson said. They try to bring in what they know people are familiar with while also offering performances that expand cultural boundaries in Northern Colorado.
The other way they expand cultural horizons is by pushing the meaning of classical. The Classical Convergence series is in conjunction with Colorado State University. The series includes seven performances, six of which are on the CSU campus and one at The Lincoln Center.
“We always have one spotlight performance of the season, and that will be James Galway,” she said. The world-renown flutist will be at the Lincoln Center. He was featured on the “Lord of the Rings” soundtrack.
“We bring some standard classical music acts that, if you are fan of the genre, you’ll love it, but we also want to take you and converge a little bit of that with something you don’t know about,” Erickson said. The show she said most highlights that this year is DUO1804. The performance is the combination of a DJ and a violinist combining the two styles.
“It’s definitely on the fringe of what these classical people are looking for, but that’s the idea,” she said.
For the kids, there are dinosaurs with “Dinosaur Zoo Live,” dancing with Illstyle and Peace,” and Celtic sounds with Next Generation Leahy.
“We try to cover our bases. We try to bring an array of things that will entertain the kids,” Erickson said.
Illstyle and Peace is dance company that focuses on hip hop. The troupe will also be doing outreach to Poudre Valley schools.
“They really are about bringing a positive message and anti-bullying,” said Erickson.
“It’s geared to just to get them in here and get them used to the theater and understand what the theater is about,” Erickson said. A lot of things are instantly available digitally, Erickson said it’s important to them to show younger people that the theater is a different experience than watching something recorded.
“For us it’s about molding the next generation to appreciate the performing arts.” she said.
For those looking for something a little more outside the box and looking for things on the fringe of popular culture, The Lincoln Center presents the “Anything Goes” series.
“What we want to do is challenge people to try something that they might not have in the past,” she said. The selection this year ranges from politics to star wars. Being an election year, they will feature The Capitol Steps.
“They used to be former White House Staffers that established the group. Most of the people that are performing in this group have at one point or another somehow served in a political office,” Erickson said.
Star Wars fans may be interested in, “One Man Star Wars,” in which Charles Ross performs the original trilogy in 60 minutes with no costumes or sets.
“It’s not your typical show,” she said. He uses only himself to perform all characters and noises.
“We definitely have our more risk taking audience,”she said about these shows.
For those shows that don’t really fit into a category, The Lincoln Center is bringing acts such as “Whose Live Anyway?” featuring Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Jeff B. Davis and Joel Murray from “Whose Line is it Anyway?”
“It’s super interactive,” Erickson said. It will be just like the show where the audience is yelling out suggestion.
Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes are bringing their live podcast “Jay and Silent Bob Get Old,” in which they share stories on growing up in the film business. Erickson warned that this is for mature audiences.
“I think people should come because we have such a great season,” Erickson said. Over her time at the center in the past nine years, Erickson has seen the offerings branch out to more comedy, music, and fringe performances. She said this is one of the strongest seasons she has seen.
“Throughout the season we will be adding shows as we go along. This is the bread and butter,” Erickson said.
Ticket packages are already on sale. For the complete list of shows and dates, go to www.lctix.com.
Michelle Vendegna: 970-669-5050 ext. 530, vendegnam@reporterherald.com
