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Season

Welcome to our 2012-2013 season! The Leslie S. Wright Fine Arts Center at Samford University remains your only home in Birmingham for the best and brightest of the fine and performing arts. Between the work of our Community Arts Partners and our own Wright Center Presents Series, you will be able to enjoy the best music, theatre, dance, opera and so much more while enmeshed in our beautiful auditorium.

In addition to all of the performances, we will also be creating multiple masterclasses, workshops and opportunities for students of all ages to be a part of the magic of the arts. We are creating an arts laboratory, where arts lovers from 2 to 102 can come together and experience all that the performing arts can provide.

This brochure lists but some of the great things coming your way this season. For our latest listing of events, you can always visit our website at www.samford.edu/wrightcenter.

I look forward to seeing you this season at the Wright Center!

Sean WrightDirector of Venue Management

Wright Center Community Arts Partners

Eisenhower Dance EnsembleNovember 16, 20128 p.m.Front Orchestra - $40; Rear Orchestra - $30; Grand Tier - $25; Back Orchestra - $20; Balcony - $15

Passion, tenderness, humor, virtuosity, and daring are all words to describe this company’s work. The evocative choreography and technically brilliant EDE dancers combine to create an evening of dance that is both power-ful and compelling. The company will also be joined on stage by student dancers from the Birmingham area after spending the week working with them in master classes and training.

The presentation of Eisenhower Dance Ensemble was made possible by the MetLife Community Connections Fund of the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project. Major support for NDP is also provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

This performance is funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

“… dance that beckons with a blend of virtuosity and sly humor.”- Dance MagazineMary Bischoff of Eisenhower Dance Ensemble in NewDANCEfest

Wright Center Presents Series

Ed Asner Starring as FDRJanuary 28, 20137:30 p.m.Front Orchestra - $45; Rear Orchestra - $35; Grand Tier - $30; Back Orchestra - $25; Balcony - $20

Beloved stage and television actor Ed Asner (“Mary Tyler Moore Show” & “Lou Grant”) inhabits the role of one of America’s most important presidents in this thrilling one-man show. Based upon Dore Schary’s hit Sunrise at Campobello, which ran 70 weeks on Broadway, this will be an incredible night of theatre.

“Asner captures the essence of one of America’s greatest historical figures.”- Theatremania.com

Ed Asner starring as FDR

Want to see all four Wright Series Presents Shows? Get a Season Pass!

Front Orchestra - $150 (save $35!)Rear Orchestra - $120 (save $25!)

Grand Tier - $105 (save $20!)Balcony - $75 (save $5!)

Call (205) 726-2853 or go online to www.samford.edu/wrightcenter to purchase.

An Evening with Garrison KeillorMarch 25, 20137 p.m.Front Orchestra - $55; Rear Orchestra - $45; Grand Tier - $40; Back Orchestra - $35; Balcony - $25

Best known for his immensely popular radio show A Prairie Home Com-panion, Mr. Keillor is a witty and charming humorist. This modern day Mark Twain will delight with stories that reflect both modern life and a bygone era.

In addition to the lecture, Mr. Keillor will sign copies of his work. Do not miss this rare opportunity to meet and converse with one of the brightest storytellers of our time.

Presented with the Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education as part of the 2012-2013 Tom and Marla Corts Distinguished Author Series.

“A storytelling genius”- The Washington Post

Garrison Keillor

Keep up with all the latest happenings at the Wright Center

Go to www.samford.edu/wrightcenter for the latest events or to sign up for our monthly newsletter. You can also follow us

on Facebook and Twitter.

Neil Berg’s 100 Years of BroadwayApril 16, 20138 p.m.Front Orchestra - $45; Rear Orchestra - $35; Grand Tier - $30; Back Orchestra - $25; Balcony - $20

100 Years of Broadway recreates the greatest moments from thefinest shows of the century featuring the actual stars of shows suchas The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, CATS, Jesus ChristSuperstar, and Jekyll & Hyde. Neil Berg presents brilliantly revivedarrangements of Broadway classics as well as thrilling numbers fromBroadway’s newest hit shows.

Rita Harvey and Carter Calvert in 100 Years of Broadway

“‘100 Years of Broadway’ is two and a half hours of fun! It brought down the house, and it doesn’t get much better than that.”- Broadwayworld.com

Order your tickets today!

(205) 726-2853 or online at

www.samford.edu/wrightcenter

Community Partner Event Listing

Samford School of the Arts(205) 726-2853 · arts.samford.edu

December 7 - Holiday Concert

Alabama Ballet (205) 975-2787 · alabamaballet.org

October 26-28 - La Sylphide: A Witch’s RevengeDecember 14-23 - George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker

February 22-24 - The Sleeping Beauty

Alabama Symphony OrchestraRed Diamond SuperPOPS! Series

(205) 975-2787 · alabamasymphony.orgNovember 2 - A Broadway Romance

December 8 - Holiday Cirque de la SymphonieJanuary 12 - The Music of Ray Charles

March 2 - Linda EderApril 20 - Neil Sedaka

May 4 - Sweet Home Alabama Symphony

Opera Birmingham(205) 322-6737 · operabirmingham.org

January 25-27 - Madama ButterflyMarch 15-17 - The Magic Flute

Wright Center Seating Chart

Please note that this seating chart reflects pricing levels for Wright Center Presents Series events. Arts partners may have different price breaks. Please contact their box offices for more information

We would like to thank our hotel partner

Drury Inn & Suites Southwest Birmingham

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