Hampton Arts 2020-2021 Season Announce
For over 33 years, you have been essential to the success of Hampton Arts, a cultural gem of the Coastal Virginia community. While other businesses have reopened or are getting ready for phased reopenings, social distancing in the performing and visual arts is artistically challenging and, often, financially unfeasible. We care deeply about the health of our community and artists – so our Welcome Home Season will begin with trumpets blaring in October 2020 at The Charles H. Taylor Visual Arts Center and in February 2021 at The American Theatre.
PREMIER PERFORMANCE
Duke Ellington Orchestra
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Legendary composer and bandleader Duke Ellington comes to life as some of today’s greatest jazz musicians gather to pay tribute to his musical legacy. An evening with the Duke Ellington Orchestra showcases Ellington’s hits from a career that spanned more than six decades.
Avery*Sunshine
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Let the sunshine in! Back by popular demand, Billboard topping Avery*Sunshine returns to The American Theatre for a third time with her riveting stage performance, candid and often humorous banter, and optimistic anthems about life. Self-described as “a cross between Bette Midler and Oprah Winfrey,” her distinct sound and far-reaching presence have graced some of the world’s greatest venues, including Madison Square Garden and Smokey Robinson’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame tribute.
The 5th Dimension
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Go “Up, Up and Away” with one of the most prolific soul and R&B groups of all time, The 5th Dimension! You’ll instantly recognize many of their number one hits, including “Wedding Bell Blues” and the iconic “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” as they take you down a musical memory lane, from their early songs from the 1960s and 70s to performing on the world’s most famous stages.
10,000 Maniacs
SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Get ready for an exhilarating evening of chart-topping hits! 10,000 Maniacs have been entertaining fans for nearly 40 years with their “proudly eclectic” style, and today tours with a six-piece line-up that’s sure to have audiences on their feet. From their early beginnings in Jamestown, New York, to sold-out concerts around the world, 10,000 Maniacs have always found inspiration just outside of the mainstream with songs like “These Are Days,” “Because the Night,” and “More Than This.”
Lightwire Theater
The Adventures of Tortoise and Hare: The Next Generation
SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Lightwire Theater comes to The American Theatre with an adaptation of Aesop’s classic fable, The New Adventures of Tortoise and Hare: The Next Generation. Now 10 years down the road, with children of their own, Tortoise and Hare are exploring modern day distractions, with smartphones and video games creating a new landscape of lost connections to life experiences. Tortoise and Hare are in a whole new kind of race in which their adventures lead them into unexpected territory.
Viva Las Vegas with Frankie Moreno
SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Named Las Vegas’s “Headliner of the Year” four times, the charismatic Frankie Moreno temporarily ditches the desert for Coastal Virginia! The worldwide sensation has sold more than one million records, playing concerts from the Kennedy Center to the Hollywood Bowl.
Emily Asher's Big Band Garden Party
SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Forget the tea and scones and get ready for an evening of hot jazz! Known as a celebrated bandleader, trombonist and vocalist, Emily Asher leads a versatile musical ensemble down a garden path of jazz greats. Together, they draw from Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and Duke Ellington’s sophisticated melodies to the soulful music of New Orleans brass bands.
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Get ready for Swan Lake, Giselle and other classical ballets like you’ve never seen them before! Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, the world’s foremost all-male comic ballet company is more than on pointe, they’re on fire! This exceptional dance troupe, affectionately referred to as The Trocks, returns to The American Theatre to perform a repertoire that pays tribute to the world of ballet with a gender bending spin. Swans, water sprites and princesses come to life for an evening filled with laughter and awe in one of the theatre’s most popular performances in our 30 year history.
A Night with Buddy Holly starring Robbie Limon
FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Do you ever wish you could turn back the hands of time to hear one of history’s most celebrated musical legends perform? Now is your chance! Award-winning entertainer Robbie Limon brings Buddy Holly to life in an intimate portrayal of one of the forefathers of rock and roll.
An Evening with Melissa Manchester
FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2021 | 8 P.M.
What better way to celebrate spring than “Through the Eyes of Love”? Melissa Manchester’s Grammy-nominated hit is just a hint of a 45-year career that began as a back-up singer for Bette Midler and grew into a spectacular songbook spanning 20 studio albums. Manchester comes to the American to perform a collection of favorite songs in her unique way, with beautiful phrasing and a rich, earthy tone that’s been her signature sound since the singersongwriter’s early days in New York City.
CeCe Winans in Concert
SATURDAY, MAY 8 , 2021 | 2 P.M. & 8 P.M.
After last season’s sold-out concert, powerhouse vocalist CeCe Winans returns for another two captivating and soulful performances! The best-selling and most awarded female gospel artist of all time, Winans’s dynamic presence has graced stages around the world as she reimagines gospel with the captivating sounds of pop, country and R&B. Over the course of her astonishing career, Winans has been awarded a staggering 12 GRAMMY Awards, 20 Dove Awards, and 7 Stellar Awards.
Kathleen Turner: Finding My Voice
SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Don’t miss the chance to see Hollywood legend Kathleen Turner as she takes you
on a remarkable behind-the-scenes journey through her storied career of stage and film. Peppered with songs from the Great American Songbook, Turner croons hits, including “Let’s Fall in Love,” “On the Street Where You Live” and “Every Time We Say Goodbye”— each uniquely showcasing her instantly recognizable voice.
COASTAL VIRGINIA BLUEGRASS AND BREW FESTIVAL
JUNE 4-6, 2021
Celebrating its fourth year, the Coastal Virginia Bluegrass and Brew Festival returns for what has become one of the region’s most anticipated musical events. Experience a trio of genre-defining bluegrass acts and some of Coastal Virginia’s finest local breweries, cideries and distilleries.
A TASTE OF JAZZ
An Evening with Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Nobody sings jazz like Dee Dee Bridgewater. Don’t miss this chance to hear the Grammy and Tony Award-winning vocalist put her unique spin on standards and re envision jazz classics. Ever the fearless explorer, pioneer and keeper of tradition, Bridgewater fuses musical genres with each song she interprets. Jazz pianist Bill Charlap joins Bridgewater for this special performance. His mastery of the 88 keys promises to add flair to an unforgettable evening.
An Evening with Diane Shuur
FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Two-time Grammy Award-winner Diane Schuur’s powerhouse vocals and dynamic range take over The American Theatre for a can’t-miss concert of contemporary jazz. Influenced by the great Dinah Washington, Schuur’s musical style has evolved throughout her celebrated career from her 1979 discovery at the Monterey Jazz Festival to her latest album — a tribute to jazz greats Frank Sinatra and Stan Getz.
Arturo Sandoval: A Jazz Legend
SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021 | 8 P.M.
“This astonishing trumpeter, pianist and composer has inspired audiences in every corner of the world and awakened a new generation of great performers,” said President Barack Obama of the legendary jazz musician Arturo Sandoval. The Cuban native’s decade-spanning career has earned him 10 Grammy Awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and countless other accolades for his musicianship and humanitarian efforts.
LIFE IS A CABARET
An Intimate Evening of Music with Desiree Roots
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2021 | 8 P.M.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Virginia native and vocal powerhouse Desirée Roots pays tribute to Nancy Wilson, one of the great female jazz and pop voices of the 20th century, in an intimate cabaret setting. The Grammy-winning Wilson transcended genres throughout her career, just as Roots has done on stage as a solo performer and through lead roles in hit musicals such as Dreamgirls and The Color Purple.
Anything Goes with Liz Terrell: A Celebration of the Great American Songbook
FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2021 | 8 P.M.
SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Norfolk’s very own Liz Terrell brings her beguiling jazz vocals to The American Theatre’s intimate cabaret space for a celebration of The American Songbook. Terrell reimagines popular songs and jazz standards made famous in the early 20th century with her signature style, commanding voice and magnetic stage presence.
COMEDY TONIGHT
Yakov Smirnoff: Happily Ever Laughter
FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 2021 | 8 P.M.
“What a country!” says legendary comedian Yakov Smirnoff. From Russia to the New York Catskills to The Comedy Store in Los Angeles, Smirnoff quickly gained fans for his lovable view of America. More than 40 years later, he still plays to soldout crowds, delivering an optimistic message about how we’re more alike than different, with plenty of laughs along the way.
Funny Women of a Certain Age (Funny Never Gets Old)
SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2021 | 8 P.M.
Created by comedian and producer Carole Montgomery, Funny Women of a Certain Age is a show straight from the unfettered mouths and uninhibited minds of the funniest, most daring, most experienced people in comedy: the women that have seen it all.
THE LIGHTHOUSE
Hampton Roads Philharmonic: Young Artist Competition Showcase
SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 2021 | 2:30 P.M.
Join the Hampton Roads Philharmonic for a program celebrating the outstanding young talent of our community. Winners from the fifth annual Young Artist Competition will perform chosen selections of concertos and virtuosic showpieces. Be inspired by the best of the future generation of performers that the Hampton Roads area has to offer.
Riddick Dance
Traveling Home: The Beaten Footpath of the Soul
FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2021 | 8 P.M.
This evening of dance explores the human condition in part through the spoken word and poetry of David F. Riddick. The evening takes the audience through a journey of the soul with themes of peace, emotion, and the complexities of life. This choreographed movement will showcase a fusion of African, Jazz, Contemporary and Ballet dance forms.
FAMILY FUN
Barefoot Puppets: Galapagos George
SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 2021 | 11 A.M.
Happy Anniversary, Lonesome George! Barefoot Puppets celebrates the 50th anniversary of the discovery of one of the rarest creatures in the world. Journey to Pinta Island in the Galapagos as Barefoot Puppets tells the tale of this one-of-a-kind tortoise.
Three Little Pigs
SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2021 | 11 A.M.
The popular bedtime story comes to life in this hilarious and not-so-traditional musical version of The Three Little Pigs. The Wolf isn’t bad, but he sure is big, and boy is he clumsy! The Wolf just wants to be friends with Rose, Frank and Ham, better known as the Three Little Pigs, but every time they get together, somebody gets hurt. Wolf doesn’t mean to scare the pigs or wreck their houses, but he doesn’t know his own strength. When Wolf tells Mama Pig his troubles, she teaches Wolf how to be gentle and careful. Lessons of a job well done, thoughtfulness and acceptance are at the heart of The Three Little Pigs, with plenty of laughs along the way! A Virginia Rep on Tour production.
Imagination Movers
SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2021 | 11 A.M.
They’re back! Audiences of all ages were captivated by the Imagination Movers’ last high-energy, interactive musical performance at The American Theatre. After a sold-out performance, the Emmy Award-winning group returns with its fresh take on family fun.
IN THE GALLERIES - The Charles H. Taylor Visual Arts Center
For more than 60 years the historic building in downtown Hampton served as the city’s library. Built by Mrs. Grace Taylor Armstrong in honor of her father, it was meticulously restored and renovated, opening in 1989 as The Charles H. Taylor Arts Center to showcase the work of artists from throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic region.
2020 Virginia Artists Juried Exhibition
OCT. 17 – NOV. 14, 2020
Virtual Reception: Oct. 24, 2020, 3 - 5pm
This much anticipated, annual juried exhibition showcases many of Virginia’s finest artists and artisans. This year’s exhibition features $4000 in cash prizes awarded to Best in Show, First, Second, and Third Places, and several awards of distinction in a variety of media. Artists from all across the Commonwealth, who work in all styles, genres, and media, are invited to submit artworks for consideration. It is our pleasure to announce the current Curator of the Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Diana Blanchard Gross, as the Virginia Artists Juried Exhibition juror and judge.
Ashley McEwen: A Solo Exhibition
Running concurrently in the Annex Gallery is 2019 Virginia Artists Juried Exhibition Best in Show winner, Ashley McEwen. Ashley McEwen’s paintings “deal with the concept of time as a network of possibilities that are intentionally tampered with, or left alone purely out of the desire to see what happens.”
Small Works
DEC. 12, 2020 - JAN. 2, 2021
Reception: Dec. 12, 2020, 3 - 5pm
While much of the most famous works of art catch our attention due to their grandiosity, the Small Works Exhibition is here to paint a different picture – a miniature one! Artists from around the region are invited to submit miniature and small artworks in any media. Artworks in all media are represented, and the exhibition presents a wide range of styles, techniques, content, imagery and intent. Wonderful things do come in small packages – and they make amazing holiday gifts!
2nd Annual Hampton Holiday Fine Arts Bazaar
Saturday Dec. 12, 2020 from 11am - 5pm
Sunday Dec. 13, 2020 from 11am - 3pm
Join us for the second annual Hampton Holiday Fine Arts Bazaar! The opening of the Small Works Exhibition will be accompanied by this two day Fine Arts Bazaar featuring original, handmade works from artists around the region. Come meet the artists and shop for extra special holiday gifts!
2021 Hampton Arts League Member Exhibition
JAN. 30 - FEB. 27, 2021
Reception: Feb. 6, 2021, 3 - 5pm
The Hampton Arts League Member exhibition presents the artwork of the Charles H. Taylor Visual Arts Center’s artist member organization. Emerging and established artists who work in a variety of media are represented. Member artists are invited to exhibit one artwork of their choosing. The exhibition showcases the talented artists who reside and work in Hampton Roads and who support Hampton Arts. The James Warwick Jones Best in Show Award ($750), First ($500), Second ($250) and Third Place ($100) Awards are given.
Materials
MARCH 25 - MAY 1, 2021
Reception: March 27, 2021, 3 - 5pm
This exhibition explores engaging artworks in a variety of media that impart the physicality of the materials used. Whether metal, glass, clay, wood, fiber or pigment, all these materials have intrinsic, exact qualities that are thrilling to explore, discover, and push. Materials is a look at tactile and compelling artworks, art-making processes, and how the various properties and possibilities of materials inform artists’ decisions to use them.
The nature of a material can take more than two hands to work with and often more than one mind to solve its problems. Thus collaborations and collective experiences through studios and guilds often help support and are essential to artists’ exploration of these materials.
Common Era: A Morgan Gilbreath Solo Exhibition
Showing concurrently in the Annex Gallery is 2018 Virginia Glass Guild Exhibition Best in Show winner Morgan Gilbreath. Common Era is a new body of work that explores the passage of time through labor-intensive practices imposed onto found and collected materials. From a decade of calendar planners and a team’s worth of cheerleading uniforms, to every ball used in the artist’s elementary school gym - these peripheral objects are deconstructed, processed, and re-created into sculptures which oscillate between devotional objects, personal memorials, and contemporary monuments. These new sculptures exist like the intersection of a Venn diagram: inserting mundane, accumulated materials into a larger social, historical, and spiritual continuum.
Artists Who Teach 2021
JUNE 1 - JUNE 26, 2021
Reception: June 5, 2021, 3 - 5pm
Artists Who Teach is an annual juried exhibition that presents the artwork of our talented regional visual arts educators from the entire Coastal Virginia, the Southside and the Peninsula. Artwork in all media are represented by current educators of area schools, colleges, art centers and institutions. This year’s exhibition features cash prizes awarded to Best in Show, First, Second, and Third Places.
John Shield: A Solo Exhibition
Also presented is Artists Who Teach 2020 Best in Show winner, John Shield. “My body of work mostly takes the form of two separate but supplemental series. One of these groups of work is relating to the performative act of art-making, specifically either blowing glass or self-tattooing, and the second showing other artists’ work through the act of carrying the literal weight of the art institution, as an art gallery that fits on my back.”
Sponsor Acknowledgement
Hampton Arts is proud to thank the following businesses, foundations, and sponsors who have helped support our programs on stage, in the classroom, in our galleries, and in our community.
Platinum Season Sponsors: Hampton Convention and Visitors Bureau, Virginia Media
Gold Season Sponsors: Holiday Inn Express at Coliseum Central, The Point at Phoebus, WHRO Public Media
Premier Performance Series Sponsor: Coliseum Central, Element by Westin
Television Media Sponsor: 13News Now
Performance Sponsor: Jeff’s Flowers of Course, Peninsula Custom Framing & Gallery
Magazine Media Sponsor: Coastal Virginia Magazine
Hampton Arts is supported in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and Art Works for The National Endowment for the Arts.
Season Subscription
FLEX-8 subscription consists of eight tickets to use in any combination with a $5 discount per ticket. Subscriptions and single tickets may be purchased in person at Hampton Coliseum Box Office; open Mondays & Fridays from 10am-4pm. Tickets may be ordered in person at the Box Office, online at Ticketmaster.com, or by phone at 1-800-745-3000. Click here for the Order Form.