Lone Tree Arts Center plans variety in new season

The Lone Tree Arts Center’s upcoming season can’t be neatly wrapped in a short description. It is too diverse.

 “That continues to be one of the most important things we do here.” said Lisa Rigsby-Peterson, the center’s executive director. “We are not only the place where you’re going to hear classical music, but also hear one of the leading jazz ensembles.”

And much more.

The 2012-13 lineup includes a bit of John Denver, Hank Williams, and Simon and Garfunkel music on the same stage that will host the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and tap dancers.

The LTAC continues its partnerships with the Arvada Center, Starkey Productions and Creede Repertory Theatre, and starts a new relationship with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. The CSO’s new business model includes a community outreach program and an expanded repertoire. In Lone Tree, they’ll offer three shows on American, classical and Baroque composers between September and May.

“It’s going to be an affordable way to see the region’s premier classical orchestra,” Peterson said.

The hometown Lone Tree Symphony also returns to the LTAC with six concerts planned during the 2012-13 season.

The cornerstones of the season are LTAC’s extended-run theatrical productions.  The series kicks off in October with the Arvada Center’s production of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” In November, the Creede Repertory Theatre will debut “Harry the Great”, a romantic comedy about magicians. The comedy “Noises Off” highlights February, and “Hank Williams: Lost Highway” ends the season in April.

In December, the LTAC celebrates the holidays with two shows: One a tribute to John Denver created by former band member Dan Wheetman, and the other a family-friendly production called Home for the Holidays. Created by the LTAC, it will spotlight metro-area talent.

“While it’s got a nostalgic feel, Home for the Holidays is a modern show,” LTAC marketing director Katie Maltais said. “I can bring my husband, my grandmother, my child – it’s really meant to be for all ages.”

The schedule also includes national touring performers spanning a range of genres.  New York-based smooth jazz vocalist and musician Allan Harris performs in August, and the SFJAZZ Collective performing “The Music of Chick Corea” in March. 

Folk artists Aztec Two-Step performs their “Simon and Garfunkel Songbook” concert in early September. That same month, Minneapolis-based contemporary tap dancing group Rhythmic Circus presents “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now.” Back by popular demand after last season’s sold-out hit “One Man Star Wars,” actor Charles Ross returns with his “One Man Lord of the Rings.”

 In March, veteran Broadway cast members from Jersey Boys will perform in “The Doo-Wop Project.”

The upcoming season also will include two new community series, Essential Jazz and Chamber Music Insights, designed particularly to highlight local musicians and introduce south metro residents to different genres of music.  Most of the series offerings are planned on Wednesday afternoons, followed by talkbacks and light refreshments with the performers.

Tickets for the new season are available May 15. For more information, visit www.lonetreeartscenter.org.