1/29/2020
Performances and Artists
From his many years dancing with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Matthew Rushing has “an extremely long list” of favorite moments. These include performing in South Africa just after Apartheid ended, and dancing for President Barack Obama. “I’ve traveled the world for years,” says Rushing, now associate artistic director with the company.
1/14/2020
Performances and Artists
Comedy icon Carol Burnett looks back on the 11 seasons of “The Carol Burnett Show” as “the peak” of her career. “It never occurred to me (that I was breaking ground), because it was all I knew,” says Burnett, who became the first woman to star in a comedy variety show.
1/8/2020
Performances and Artists
Founding members Nolfi and Dominic Scaglione Jr. sparked the idea for the Doo Wop Project backstage at Broadway’s August Wilson Theater, where the pair costarred in “Jersey Boys.” Nolfi played Tommy DeVito, with Scaglione Jr. starring as Frank Valli. In between scenes portraying a gifted singing group, they created their own.
1/6/2020
Performances and Artists
Multiplatinum pianist Jim Brickman still remembers driving his piano teacher crazy as a boy. “My first teacher didn't appreciate the fact that I didn't like playing basic scales and beginner songs. I always wanted to play my own songs,” Brickman says. Clearly, his teacher lacked some vision.
1/6/2020
Performances and Artists
Southern Nevada audiences can experience true masters of musical instruments up close. World-renowned artists make their way to Myron’s Cabaret Jazz, the 240-seat venue at The Smith Center hailed as a leading space for live performances. And many of them strive to reimagine classical music in groundbreaking ways.
1/2/2020
Performances and Artists
Growing up, internationally acclaimed violinist Lucia Micarelli had a unique introduction to music. “I never listened to anything but classical until I was about 16 or 17,” admits Micarelli, whose stunning career includes performing at the Hollywood Bowl and Lincoln Center, as well as recently taping her own PBS special. It’s not surprising that classical captivated her.
12/30/2019
Performances and Artists
Even after selling 65 million albums and earning two Grammys, Michael Bolton never allows himself to feel complacent. That’s because reaching this success was “an 18-year climb,” he says. “My first record deal was at 16, and I didn’t have a hit until I was 34.” This involved an exhausting journey that might have broken other artists.
12/10/2019
Performances and Artists
Holiday shopping can prove challenging — especially finding gifts to fit loved ones’ unique needs and interests. Check out gift ideas here from The Smith Center’s upcoming season that will appeal to a wide variety of tastes, spanning theater, music, speaker series, comedy, family shows and more.
11/30/2019
Performances and Artists
The new year marks the perfect opportunity to try new things and enrich our lives — and the performing arts can help! Enjoy a few ideas for new year’s resolutions that you will actually enjoy tackling, like laughing more, slowing down and relaxing or bonding more with the family. The 2019-2020 season is full of excited entertainment opportunities.
11/26/2019
Performances and Artists
Instrumental-music phenomenon The Piano Guys holds a simple standard for choosing its tunes. “We have 16 kids between the four piano guys. We try to pick something they’ll like,” says Jon Schmidt, the group’s pianist. This method seems pretty ironclad. The groundbreaking group boasts over 1.2 billion YouTube views of its music videos.