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HomeNewsArchivesREICHHOLD OPENS SEASON WITH SYMPHONY

REICHHOLD OPENS SEASON WITH SYMPHONY

The Reichhold Center for the Arts 1999-2000 subscription season begins with a bang on Saturday, Oct. 30, with a concert by the first honest-to-goodness symphony orchestra to perform in the territory in more than a decade.
Under the baton of maestro Eugene Kohn, the 75 members of Puerto Rico’s world-class "La Sinfonica" will perform four works from the traditional Eurocentric repertoire. Three of them should be familiar to most anyone who has ever endured a classical music appreciation course:
– The overture from Richard Wagner’s melodious opera Die Meistersinger.
– Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite, a composition that catapulted contemporary cacophony into the masterworks mainstream.
– Ludwig von Beethoven’s enduring Fifth Symphony, the one that opens with the dit-dit-dit-dah’ staccato even young children recognize.
The fourth piece on the program is Glazunov’s Saxophone Concerto.
This performance is one of two on the season lineup that is a co-production of The Everett B. Birch Forum, a local foundation that in the last four years has brought Maya Angelou, Elie Wiesel, Awadagin Pratt, Isola Jones, Anna Deavere Smith, "Of Ebony Embers" and Denyce Graves to the Reichhold stage. The other is an appearance in January of the Oakland Ballet, which has former Reichhold grants and production manager Renee Heider as its new executive director.
The logistics and costs of transporting and accommodating 75 musicians (plus their behind-the-scenes associates and their instruments) is daunting, so it’s not surprising that the Reichhold’s A section seats are going for $50 for this performance. However, shallow pockets are no excuse for skipping the concert. In the uncovered seating, tickets are $25 in the lower section and a mere $5 (less than a movie at local theaters if you’re over 12) up above.
Curtain time is 8 p.m.
The rest of the Reichhold season looks like this, with all performances at 8 p.m. unless indicated otherwise:
Saturday, Nov. 6 — "All The Kings’ Men," a tribute to Virgin Islands calypso monarchs including the reigning Whadablee; his immediate predecessor, Ras Regg; four-time winner Louis Ible Jr. (whose one-man show at the Reichhold last February wowed the audience); Nikki Brooks and The Mighty Pat, with backup by St. Croix’s popular Xpress Band. Tickets are $20 for all seats.
Saturday, Nov. 20 — Third World, the reggae band out of Jamaica that has carried the musical genre throughout the whole world, to great acclaim. There will two shows, at 7 and 10 p.m. Tickets are $25 for all seats.
Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 25/26 — the 2nd annual "Caribbean Christmas Style" in-house musical production. Tickets are $15, $12 and $8.
Wednesday, Dec. 29 — 21st Century, the jazz ensemble organized a couple of years ago by two St. Thomas sons makin’ it on the mainland — saxophonist Ron Blake and drummer Dion Parson. Playing mostly their own compositions, which fuse straight-ahead jazz effectively with Caribbean rhythms, often with other "locals," notably Reuben Rogers on bass, the band has been well received in its appearances at smaller venues here. Tickets are $25 covered and $18 open air.
Saturday, Jan. 15 — The Oakland Ballet. Tickets are $35, $18 and $5.
Saturday, Feb. 26 — "Mahalia," a new musical about the life of gospel great Mahalia Jackson. Tickets are $25, $15 and $10.
Saturday-Monday, May 13-15 — STARfest VI, the 6th annual in-house produced showcase of local talent, including the that of the Reichhold technical crew in staging and lighting, in its traditional Mother’s Day weekend slot. Tickets are $20, $12 and $8.
The Reichhold Center is also now marketing the return in 2000, after a two-year absence, of its summer Caribbean Repertory Company season. Three plays are to be produced — "Triptych," by St. Lucian playwright Kendel Hippolyte, June 23-26; "Jean and Dinah," by Tony Hall of Trinidad and Tobago, July 28-31; and "Smile Native Smile," by Reichhold director David Edgecombe, on Sept. 1-4.
There are savings to be had by buying tickets to multiple events. Packages for the five shows grouped in the Reichhold Foundation Series — the Puerto Rico Symphony, "Christmas Caribbean Style," Oakland Ballet, "Mahalia" and STARfest VI — for seating in the covered and lower open-air sections are discounted 20 percent.. If you choose five shows that include anything from the Foundation Series and the summer repertory series together, you’ll save 15 percent. And if you buy tickets to any four of these shows, you’ll save 10 percent. ("All the Kings’ Men," Third World and 21st Century don’t count toward discounts, according to the season brochure.)
Noting that the 1999-2000 season offers "as wide a range of productions as possible," Edgecombe says he hopes this diversity of options will "encourage more people to step out into something a little different."
In addition to the live performances, the Reichhold is offering a new "Cinema Sunday" film series, featuring award-winning foreign, animated and classic pictures. They’re offered most Sundays, at 7 p.m. with admission at $5. For a listing of dates and offerings, click here.
For information on ticket outlets and reservations by credit card, call the Reichhold box office at 693-1559. For more information about Reichhold programs, call 693-1550 or e-mail to boxoffice@reichholdcenter.com.

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