Current Season Shows
Carlene Carter
Fresh off of a tour with John Mellencamp, Carlene Carter has been releasing music for almost four decades. The daughter of country music legends June Carter Cash and Carl Smith, stepdaughter of Johnny Cash and granddaughter of Maybelle Carter, she began singing with the Carter family at age 17. Carlene’s own career started in 1978 with the release of her self-titled debut. Awards including ACMA Top New Female Vocalist, Best Female Country Vocal Performance and a Grammy nomination followed. Carlene rocketed back on the music scene in 2008 with her CD titled Stronger, which Elvis Costello called “astounding.” In 2014, the release Carter Girl, a tribute to the timeless music of her historic family, received worldwide acclaim. Since January 2015, Carlene has been Special Guest on the John Mellencamp Plain Spoken Tour, playing to over 250,000 fans in sold-out theaters across the United States and Canada. A new album, Sad Clowns and Hillbillies, was released in April 2017 including material by both singer-songwriters. Nearly a century after the Carter family’s first recordings changed the course of American music, she is still known as one of the great voices and fearless hearts of country rock. The circle remains unbroken.
Tickets $27.50
Oleta Adams
Since the runaway success of her 1990 debut album Circle of One, which went Platinum, and her impassioned hit single “Get Here” - the Brenda Russell composition that became a Top 5 Billboard 100 hit and the unofficial anthem of the 1991 Gulf War - garnered worldwide acclaim, Oleta Adams has inspired a growing legion of fans in the U.S. and Europe with songs that draw deeply from her roots in gospel, soul, R&B, urban and popular music. Her success, nurtured by national and international tours with Tears for Fears, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton and Luther Vandross, has been solidified by four Grammy nominations and a seemingly bottomless well of creative energy. With eight CD releases, including secular, gospel and a Christmas album, and over 2.5 million albums sold, this gifted songwriter and pianist continues to touch people around the world with her musical odyssey.
Tickets $27.50
Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility is one of the most popular novels by one of the most beloved authors of all time. Born in the late 18th century, she wrote with great insight and wit about the lives of the English upper middle class. Her characters seem to drift through the inescapable life of leisure that only privilege can afford, yet are forever negotiating the reality of birthright and custom. Sense & Sensibility poignantly and cleverly illustrates the effects of economic uncertainty brought about by the common practice of the first-born male inheriting entire family fortunes, often leaving the rest of the family to fend for themselves. The characters live in a world in which choices are limited - especially for the women. The story revolves around the lives of two sisters, Elinor, who is levelheaded and full of sense, and the hopelessly romantic, Marianne. After the untimely and unexpected death of their father, both sisters and their mother are forced to leave their comfortable lives, while their half-brother and his wife inherit the family estate. The only hope for these two sisters is a profitable marriage. Seduction, courtship, love, heartbreak and surprise abound in this classic romantic comedy.
Tickets $27.50
A Christmas Carol
Think you’ve seen Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol? Well, think again! When Charles Dickens first set quill to parchment to conceive this brilliant tale, he could never have known what an enduring work he was about to create. The phrase “Merry Christmas” itself was popularized following the appearance of the story and the name “Scrooge” and exclamation “Bah! Humbug!” entered the English lexicon as a result. Ebenezer Scrooge, that most unrepentant and miserly of fellows, is made to see the light as he survives a merciless battery of revelations by the ghosts of his own life: Jacob Marley and the Christmas Spirits of Past, Present and Future in this brilliant rendition filled with surprising humor, lush costumes, 26 beloved traditional carols of the season, tremendous artistry, a timeless message and several truly scary ghosts. A cast of 16 actors invite you on an unforgettable journey from despair to redemption in this delightful and thoroughly entertaining adaptation.
Tickets $27.50
Regina Carter: Simply Ella
Sony Masterworks recording artist Regina Carter is the foremost jazz violinist of her generation. Her quest for beauty combined with her passion for excellence did not escape the attention of the MacArthur Foundation, who awarded Regina their prestigious fellowship “genius grant.” Carter’s 2017 release, Ella: Accentuate the Positive, and touring program, Simply Ella, mark the 100th birthday of musical legend Ella Fitzgerald – THE source of Regina’s musical inspiration – and are the end result of Carter’s daily communion with and lifelong devotion to Ella’s music. Carter grew to realize how much technique and virtuosity is involved in producing a sound so remarkably warm and inviting with all of the melodic improvisations, passion, artfulness and understanding imbued to the listener by providing a window to each song’s essence. In Carter’s own heartfelt and deeply personal interpretations of these songs, through a lens of classic 1950s - ‘60s soul and blues, we can hear the same degree of warmth, feeling and elegance that permeated the legendary singer’s work. Carter recalls, “When (Ella) sang . . . it felt like love.”
Tickets $27.50
The Roosevelts
Jason Kloess and James Mason, two brothers in song - not blood, though maybe beards - have cultivated a sound that’s a little bit bluesy, a little bit folky and a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. When forced to give it a name, the boys will tell you it’s “harmony-driven American rock with a ‘70s sensibility.” Other tastemakers are describing their sound as “warm, rootsy pop.” Ultimately, you may have to decide for yourself. They’ve skimmed inspiration from each and created a sound that feels uniquely their own with poignant tunes that scale the depth of their personality and communicate their story with remarkable power. As to how they acquired their name, Mason recalls, “It was Presidents’ Day. It was our first day in the studio. We had the songs, but we didn’t have a name. There were two of them and two of us. I like to think they would have been fans of our music.” Their April 2017 release, “The Greatest Thing You’ll Ever Learn,” reached #5 on iTunes singer/songwriter charts, placing them among some of their earliest childhood heroes, including Simon and Garfunkel, Carole King and James Taylor. Sure there’s some mandolin in there, but their music, at its core, is heartfelt, genuine music that belongs to them alone and not any genre.
Tickets $27.50
Rhythm of the Dance
Since its debut performance in 1999 on a stage in Norway, Rhythm of the Dance has played to over 5 million fans in 58 countries worldwide and, along with River Dance, to which it is compared, has heralded a new era in Irish entertainment. Produced in Ireland by the National Dance Company of Ireland, this two-hour inspiring epic features skilled choreography, dazzling costumes, new music, fresh multimedia and a wealth of talent derived from all areas of Irish life reliving the journey of the Irish Celts throughout history. Combining traditional Irish music with the most up-to-date stage technology and the best of traditional and modern arts of dance, this richly costumed show marries the contemporary and the ancient. Rhythm of the Dance is a thousand year-old story executed with all the advantages of the modern day stage show. The spectacle says it all.
Tickets $27.50
PUSH Physical Theatre
Seeing award-winning PUSH Physical Theatre is like watching a live action movie. This talented group of performers inspires awe with intense athleticism, physical illusions, gravity-defying, dance-infused acrobatics and soulful artistry. It’s cool, it’s athletic, it’s a perfect metaphor-in-motion; it’s un-theatre. These genre-defining masters of physical storytelling bring the narratives of our lives to the stage - the joy and sorrow, humor and tragedy, the big questions and the simple things - played out amid vignettes with hope, strength and optimism. They will captivate your attention and ignite your emotions. Once you’ve experienced the myth and magic of PUSH, you will know the strength of the human soul expressed by the power of the human body.
Tickets $27.50
The Sweet Remains
When Rich Price, Greg Naughton and Brian Chartrand met for a chance jam-session in 2008, the three instantly recognized a musical blend and kinship that would eventually overcome geography (and solo careers) to form The Sweet Remains. An unusual band on today’s music scene, tSR is headed by three singer-songwriters, each of whom contribute to the writing and three-part harmonies that define the band’s sound. Driven by strong lyrical and melodic writing, their songs easily appeal to fans of modern folk-rockers such as Ray Lamontagne and John Mayer. However, it is their lush harmonies that distinguish tSR from the throngs of guitar-toting troubadours and harken back to the harmony-driven music of the ‘60s and ‘70s like Crosby, Stills & Nash, the Eagles and Simon & Garfunkel. Rich and Greg first started collaborating writing songs for Rich’s 2004 Geffen Records debut - a CD that spawned Rich’s single “I’m On My Way,” featured on the multi-platinum Shrek 2 soundtrack. Their debut album, Laurel & Sunset, followed and was released in January 2008. Their latest, Night Songs, was released in September 2015 which sparked the tremendous “viral” spread of their music in 2016, including the rare milestone for an all-indie band of nearly 20 million plays on Spotify.
Tickets $27.50
Support
The Library Theatre is sponsored in part by the City of Hoover and the Friends of the Hoover Public Library.
The Library Theatre is a professional venue bringing world-class entertainment to an intimate setting in the heart of Hoover.
| HOOVER PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES |
MAYOR, CITY OF HOOVER |
|
Sara Rast, Chairman Library Director Fine Arts Coordinator |
HOOVER CITY COUNCIL |