By Wrangler News Staff
Tempe Center for the Arts is venturing into a new, collaborative approach to subscription ticket sales this season. Aimed at developing a true partnership with local presenters, the Mix & Match program saves patrons 25 percent on tickets and provides the flexibility to choose from TCA’s 19-20 Season and Resident Artist offerings.
“We are grateful for the relationships we have with our resident companies and the support of the arts community. Collectively, our goal is to create equity by providing diverse, inclusive and accessible art to the Tempe community,” said Ralph Remington, TCA’s producing artistic director and deputy director for Tempe arts & culture.
Details about the new Mix & Match program and new subscriber benefits, along with list of shows, are available at tempecenterforthearts.com/MixandMatch.
Subscriptions and single tickets are on sale now through the TCA Box Office, online at tempecenterforthearts.com or by calling 480-350-2822.
TCA’s own 2019-20 TCA Presents season features critically acclaimed theatre, ‘90s hip-hop, Latin rock, multi-platinum recording artists, a first-ever co-presentation with ASU Gammage, a 1960s drama that takes a sharp knife to American racism, and the return of Disrupt FEST, an eclectic mashup of performance art. The full schedule is available at tempecenterforthearts. com/19-20season.
Resident Artist groups participating in the Mix & Match program include Arizona Wind Symphony; Bridge Initiative: Women In Theatre; CONDER/dance; Hayden’s Ferry Chamber Music Series; Lakeshore Music; Scottsdale Musical Theatre Company; Stray Cat Theatre; Tempe Comedy; and Tempe Winds.
Here is a partial listing of what’s coming:
TCA Presents: Dutchman, by LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka. Oct. 4-19; $25-$38. Dutchman is a 1960s drama about a white woman and a young black man on a New York subway train who match wits in a sexualized game of cat and mouse that leads them headlong into a violent conclusion. The searing confrontation amplifies the dimensions of racial conflict in America.
Blue Note 80th Anniversary Celebration: The State of Jazz 2019, Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m., $17-$44.
Blue Note Records, considered the world’s mostrespected and longest-running jazz label, brings its 80th Anniversary Celebration Tour: The State of Jazz 2019 tour to TCA. Featuring three of the hottest modern jazz artists today—vocalist Kandace Springs, Pianist James Francies and Saxophonist James Carter and his Organ Trio—the show is a celebration of the “Current State of Jazz.”
Flight – An Immersive Theatre Installation, based on the novel Hinterland by Caroline Brothers and adapted by Oliver Emanuel, co-presented with ASU Gammage, Jan. 17-Feb. 1, $20. Two young orphaned brothers embark on a desperate odyssey to freedom and safety. With their small inheritance stitched into their clothes, they set off on an epic journey across Europe, in a heart-wrenching road story of terror, hope, imagination and survival. Mixing graphic novel with exquisite diorama, Flight draws audiences into its fragile miniature world and immerses them in a gripping story of two children lost in dangerous lands.
Tito Puente Jr. with the Rico Monaco Band, Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m., $20-$35. Following in his father’s footsteps, passionate Latin & jazz bandleader Tito Puente Jr. has joined forces with international sensations The Rico Monaco Band to bring a high-energy concert of hits from Tito Puente, Santana, Juanes and all of the Latin rock legends.
Disrupt Fest. Live Mashup. No Boundaries. March 20-21, Tickets on sale soon. This year’s annual festival highlights include ‘90s hip-hop & freestyle legends Coolio and Rob Base with a mashup of super-charged experiences.
Legends of Freestyle, featuring Coolio and Rob Base, March 21, 7:30 p.m., $20-$30. You’re invited to an old school throwdown.
Watch for additional listings in future issues.
