Musical tributes are all the rage on the contemporary stage.
Think “Jersey Boys” on Broadway or “Rain: A Tribute to The Beatles,” which opens an 11-week run at the Neil Simon Theatre in NYC on Oct 11.
I was more into dolls and trolls than rock and roll when English rock band The Who was formed during 1964, and only a wee bit more hip when The Who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during 1990.
Considering that Rolling Stone Magazine has dubbed The Who, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones the “holy trinity of British rock and roll, I suppose I should take a break from spinning Springsteen to enjoy an upcoming tribute to The Who.
Paradise Valley Community College presents “A Musical Tribute to The Who” for one performance only — at 7:30 pm on Sat, Oct 16. Tickets are just $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, $10 for students (with ID) and $8 for children — so you can afford to up your whole family’s cool factor.
The PVCC tribute will be performed by the “Crossing 32nd Street” music ensemble with featured soloists Mike G. Murphy and Dominic Salemo. “Crossing 32nd Street” is a professional contemporary music ensemble-in-residence directed by Dr. Christopher Scinto and Dr. Brett Reed.
The small ensemble is “dedicated to the performance of representative chamber music from the 20th and 21st centuries” and features a repetoire that includes music by John Cage, Elliott Carter, George Crumb, Lukas Foss, Lou Harrington, Charles Ives and others.
Their core instruments include flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion — and they regularly perform not only at PVCC, but also at Glendale Community College and “alternative spaces” in downtown Phoenix.
Come November, you can make the jump from British rock to Swedish pop as “ABBA Mania” strikes Chandler Center for the Arts on Nov 13 with hits such as “Mamma Mia” and “Super Trouper.”
My personal favorite is “Dancing Queen” because I can still visualize Jennifer dancing to this song during a Dance Theater West recital held many years ago at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. The memory shares space in my mental files with her performance as a “Bon Bon” in “The Nutcracker” with Ballet Arizona and her performance of “It’s A Hard Knock Life” (from “Annie”) with the Phoenix Girls Chorus.
Finally, today’s trio of tributes includes an homage to a band whose music I often enjoy listening to with my son Christopher. Hunting for my antiquated “Eagles” CDs in his room is almost as much fun as trying to tell the dirty socks from the clean ones come laundry time.
“Hotel California: A Musical Tribute to The Eagles” comes to Chandler Center for the Arts on April 16, 2011 to perform both hits by The Eagles and songs of soloists such as Don Henley, Glen Fry and Joe Walsh.
What I’d most like to hear, of course, is the true and complete back story for “Hotel California,” but I don’t expect that to be in the mix.
I’ll be content with timeless tunes and memories of my own rock and roll rebellions, which are — for the most part — behind me.
–Lynn
Note: “The Pink Floyd Experience” comes to the Comerica Theatre (formerly Dodge Theatre) in Phoenix on March 26, 2011. Read about the MIM’s tribute to John Lennon in an earlier post (“Looking back on Lennon”) and a later post (“Cupcakes for peace?”).
Coming up: Film offerings from the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Profile of a proud “stage mom” and advocate for children’s rights, An emperor with a thing for fashion and frivolity
