The Paramount Theater just released its full schedule for Spring 2009, and announced that tickets for all shows go on sale Thursday, November 20, to the public. A $75 associate membership gets you access to tickets one week in advance, on November 13. And for those of you who pony up $1,000 as a Star Circle Member, you can purchase tickets three days in advance of your fellow members on November 10. (Which is a bit like the difference between being a Sneetch or a Star-Bellied Sneetch.)
The press release from The Paramount mentions "17 diverse acts," of which you may’ve previously seen eight in some incarnation or another. Traditional Celtic tunes from The Chieftains and traditional bluegrass from Dr. Ralph Stanley…the return of LA Theatre Works for The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial (they performed Noel Coward’s Private Lives in 2007)…another visit from Teatro Lirico d’Europa, which performed The Barber of Seville in January…the Russian National Ballet, which performed Swan Lake in 2006 and takes Cinderella to the ball in 2009…
Maybe it’s seeing all these shows trotted out in the same company, as if they were all peers, a package deal—a bit of national theater, a token magic show (by Jason Bishop, also returning), two requisite international dance crews—that’s a bit disheartening. I don’t mean to imply anything about the quality of these performances or how much I might enjoy them. All I mean to say is that I’m not surprised. At all.
What’s your take? Is The Paramount Theater on the right programming track? Who should the theater bring to Charlottesville?
The Paramount Theater: Tickets for the Spring 2009 performance series on sale November 20.
