The historic Columbia Theatre is poised to continue it’s 2011-2012 season later this month; hosting singers and plays.
The first show of the season will be a performance by the Champian Fulton Quartet, lead by acclaimed jazz pianist and vocalist Champian Fulton on Jan. 27. Other musical shows will include performances by the a capella group The Hullabahoos, March 9; Grammy winner and Country star Pam Tillis, March 24 and finally the “Soul Queen of New Orleans” and Grammy winner Irma Thomas, May 4.
The Jefferson Parish Performing Arts Society (JPAS) will begin this year’s line up of dramas, returning to the Columbia’s stage to perform Mar Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s award winning musical “Hairspray,” which follows 1960s Baltimore teen Tracy Turnblad’s quest for fame, love and racial equality.
Later that month, the National Players Company will present a performance of Nobel Prize-winner John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” on Feb. 25. Based on Steinbeck’s novella of the same name, the play shows the struggle of two men to preserve their friendship despite their seemingly irreconcilable differences.
The final dramatic performance of the season, also to be produced and performed by JPAS, will cater to the younger generation of theatre enthusiasts. The musical “How I Became a Pirate,” written by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman, is the story of a young boy turned pirate who discovers what is important in life after helping a ragtag band of pirates find the perfect place to hide their treasure.
“I’m expecting sold out houses for ‘Hairspray’ and Irma Thomas,” said Dr. Roy Blackwood, interim director of the Columbia Theatre. “She [Thomas] has draw because people love her music and she’s from New Orleans. She has performed at the Columbia before during Fanfare and drew a great crowd. The JPAS is also from New Orleans and did a fantastic job with ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ last year and drew a very large crowd as well.”
Southeastern students are able to receive discount or free admission to many performances during Fanfare, a celebration of the arts held every fall in October.
For tickets and more information on the theatre’s season and Fanfare go online to www.columbiatheatre.org or call 985-543-4731.