Wharton Center continues to connect New York, Lansing


By LAMONT E. CLEGG

The first half of the 2001-2002 Wharton Center for Performing Arts season brought such popular and award-winning titles to the greater Lansing community as “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and “Kiss Me, Kate.” The second half of the season promises to continue in that tradition.
Serving as the only venue for many mid-Michigan residents to see major Broadway theater titles, the Wharton Center is bringing a bit of song, a bit of dance, a bit of drama and a bit of comedy to its performing stages for the new year.
“Wharton Center is proud to be able to bring high quality, Broadway-style theatrical entertainment to mid-Michigan,” Bob Hoffman, Wharton Center publicity manager, said. “We have such a wide range of shows coming for the second half of our season.”
Opening Wharton Center’s Broadway season for the 2002 calendar year is the Tony Award-winning “Fosse.”

Taking the 1999 Tony for Best Musical, “Fosse” samples the best of choreographer and director Bob Fosse’s work. With dance retrospectives from some of Fosse’s most popular musicals, such as “Sweet Charity,” “Damn Yankees,” “Pajama Game” and “Chicago,” the dance spectacular promises to treat mid-Michigan audiences to the most dazzling array of pulsating, gyrating and syncopated rhythms this side of New York. With its cast of 28 dancers and 29 musical numbers, “Fosse” sashays into the Wharton Center’s Great Hall from Jan. 29 through Feb. 3.
Speaking of Tony Award winners, Wharton will bring the classic “The Music Man” to its Great Hall from Feb. 19-24. With well-known songs like “Gary, Indiana,” “Trouble,” “Til There Was You” and “Seventy-six Trombones,” “The Music Man” tells the story of a con man who falls in love with a small-town librarian and in the process gives the residents of River City, Iowa, a lesson in believing in themselves and others.
Wrapping up Wharton Center’s Broadway Series for the season will be the Rodgers and Hammerstein favorite “South Pacific” as it continues its pre-Broadway tour. Considered quite controversial in its initial 1949 roadway run, “South Pacific” examines war and racism using an island paradise and World War II as a backdrop. The show won eight Tony Awards including best musical, best book and best score, and features some of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s best-known songs, such as “Some Enchanted Evening,” “There is Nothin’ Like a Dame” and “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair.” It will be in the Wharton Center March 12-17.
Ticket prices for these Broadway Series musicals range from $30.50 to $50. However, Hoffman reminds that the Broadway Series is not the only way to see Broadway theatrical entertainment in 2002 at the Wharton Center. As a part of its Wildcard Series, Wharton Center will present “Art” by Yasmina Reza. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play in 1998, “Art” examines the connection between friendship and modern art with a telling tale of three middle-aged men. When one of the men purchases an all-white painting, the reverberations are comedic, touching and intellectual. “Art” will be performed at Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre March 21-23. Tickets for the show are $34.
Wharton’s Wildcard Series also will bring Hal Holbrook to East Lansing in his one-man show, “Mark Twain Tonight!” Another Tony-winning production, “Mark Twain Tonight!” can be seen on April 19. Holbrook’s show has the distinction of being one of the longest-running one-man shows in theatrical history. Holbrook is familiar to audiences for his work in television series like “Evening Shade” and “Designing Women,” and in films such as “The Firm,” “All the President’s Men,” “Wall Street,” and “Men of Honor.” Tickets for the production range from $20 to $32.