9/2/2021
Performances and Artists
The pandemic put traveling on hold for a year and a half — and now The Smith Center welcomes Southern Nevadans to explore the world on stage.
The Smith Center’s reopening season includes a three-show National Geographic Live speaker series, featuring prominent adventurers discussing their inspiring exploits across the globe.
These include: “Jodi Cobb: Stranger in a Strange Land,” with National Geographic photographer Jodi Cobb sharing her groundbreaking global coverage across 40 years; “Mark Synnott: Life on the Vertical,” with renowned climber Synnott recounting his ascents of the world’s tallest vertical climbs; and “Mireya Mayor: Pink Boots and a Machete,” with former NFL cheerleader-turned-explorer Mayor discussing her visits to the most remote locations on Earth.
Check out more below about these astonishing individuals and the rare stories they will share.
Jodi Cobb: Stranger in a Strange Land - Oct. 6
As National Geographic’s first female, in-field photographer on staff, Cobb covered some of the most pivotal stories of the magazine’s history.
Often putting her life on the line, Cobb exposed a wide range of human trafficking and slave labor in her acclaimed piece “21st Century Slavery.”
She broke down cultural barriers as the first to ever document the lives of Japanese geishas and cloistered women in Saudi Arabia. Her decades of international photojournalism also involved documenting terrorists, cannibals, rock stars and royalty.
Now, Cobb takes audiences behind the scenes as she shares fascinating stories, images and challenges of her incredible career.
Mark Synnott: Life on the Vertical – Nov. 5
Exciting as it sounds, most people probably wouldn’t want to attempt a 6,000-foot vertical climb.
Fortunately, Southern Nevada audiences don’t need to – they can experience it vicariously through Mark Synnott, renowned big-wall climber who conquers the tallest rock walls in the world.
Synnott’s literally dizzying career includes making the legendary first ascents of the world’s most forbidding walls, including a 6,000-foot wall in Pakistan and a 4,700-foot wall on Baffin Island atop the Arctic Circle.
The latter even required spending 36 days in a portaledge (a hanging tent for rock climbers).
Synnott also uses his skills for groundbreaking scientific discoveries, with expeditions across the planet that venture into inaccessible environments in search of rare species.
Audiences won’t forget Synnott’s tales of how he survived these mythic climbs.
Mireya Mayor: Pink Boots and a Machete – March 2, 2022
Girls and women looking for a role model will certainly find an impressive one with Mireya Mayor.
Daughter of Cuban immigrants and a former NFL cheerleader, Mayor’s career includes working as a respected primatologist, a fearless explorer and an Emmy-nominated wildlife correspondent for the National Geographic Channel.
No wonder she earned the nickname of Female Indiana Jones. Venturing into remote parts of the planet with little more than a backpack and hiking boots, she has survived poisonous insect bites, charging gorillas and stampeding elephants.
Mayor now shares stories, images and film clips of her adventures in this behind-the-scenes look at the hardships and danger of life in the field, along with the moments of discovery that make it all worthwhile.