Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts announces October shows

For tickets: (562) 467-8818
www.cerritoscenter.com

OCTOBER LISTINGS

America - 40th Anniversary Tour
FRI, OCT 1, 2010, 8:00 PM
Arena Configuration: $66/$54/$42/$30
The Grammy-winning band America has gained generations of fans with a timeless sound that integrates Folk, Pop, and Rock. In 1972, the group’s A Horse With No Name ruled music charts, making America a household name. More Top 40 hits ensued, including I Need You, Lonely People, You Can Do Magic, and Tin Man. With 2000’s Highway: 30 Years of America box set and 2007’s Here & Now album, America confirmed its enduring appeal.

Benise The Spanish Guitar
SAT, OCT 2, 2010, 8:00 PM
Arena Configuration: $71/$59/$47/$35
Electrifying Latin rhythms fuse with Rock ‘n’ Roll when Benise takes to the stage in The Spanish Guitar, transporting audiences to faraway worlds in a show about the healing powers of hope. Benise won an Emmy for his PBS Nights of Fire! production, which The New York Times calls “an exotic voyage through a land of romance and wonder.”

Presented by Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches 13th Annual Benefit Concert Society of Seven With Jasmine Trias
SUN, OCT 3, 2010, 7:00 PM
Arena Configuration: $87/$67/$57/$47
If the “test of time” signifies real talent, Hawaii’s celebrated entertainment troupe Society of Seven (SOS) earns a gold medal for producing memorable variety shows. In a special engagement for Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches, the group welcomes American Idol singer Jasmine Trias in a performance featuring a one-of-a-kind showcase of Blues, ballads, comedy, and impersonations. SOS has earned a reputation as one of the most entertaining shows in Las Vegas - a fabulous must-see! CCPA exchange policies do not apply to this show.

The Color Purple
FRI, OCT 8, 2010, 8:00 PM
SAT, OCT 9, 2010, 2:00 PM & 8:00 PM
SUN, OCT 10, 2010, 2:00 PM
Lyric With Pit Configuration: $52/$40/$28 Friday $67/$54/$41 Saturday Matinee & Sunday $61/$49/$36 Saturday Evening
Based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Color Purple is a celebration of life and a testament to the healing power of love. Showcasing a colorful musical score of Jazz, Ragtime, Gospel, and the Blues, the inspiring saga spotlights a woman who overcomes adversity to claim her unique voice in the world. The Chicago Sun-Times calls the Tony winner “uplifting and thrilling.” This show contains adult themes and is recommended for mature audiences only.

Cirque Mechanics Boom Town
WED, OCT 13, 2010, 7:30 PM
Lyric Configuration: $50/$35/$20
Cirque Mechanics’ Boom Town mesmerizes audiences with an outrageously original type of circus-theater that combines early mining inspired machines with jaw-dropping acrobatics, music, dance, drama, and comedy. Audiences are transported to the 1865 mining town of Rosebud, where an unlikely discovery sets off a hilarious series of unexpected events full of the lore, excitement, and adventure of the Old West! The New York Times calls it “evocative, eye-catching, and * engrossingly entertaining.

”Blue Suede Shoes: The Ultimate Elvis Bash"
FRI, OCT 15, 2010, 8:00 PM
Lyric Configuration: $65/$53/$41
“The closest [you] can get to Elvis in the flesh.” - CNNBlue Suede Shoes: The Ultimate Elvis Bash has fans All Shook Up! This tribute to the late King of Rock features highly acclaimed Elvis impressionists Scot Bruce and Mike Albert. Accompanied by the Big E Band, the performers deliver the legend’s greatest hits, including Heartbreak Hotel, Love Me Tender, All Shook Up, and Jailhouse Rock.

Jo Dee Messina’s Music Room
SAT, OCT 16, 2010, 8:00 PM
Lyric Configuration: $70/$58/$46
In Jo Dee Messina’s Music Room, the singer performs songs requested by the audience and shares the stories behind her hits, which include the No. One singles That’s the Way, Bring on the Rain, I’m Alright, and Stand Beside Me. The stage’s setting is modeled after the music room in Messina’s home, where the onetime Academy of Country Music’s “Top New Female Vocalist” composes and rehearses.

In the Mood
SUN, OCT 17, 2010, 3:00 PM
Lyric Configuration: $66/$54/$42
During a time of war, this was the music that united a nation. This jazzy, spirited tribute to the 1940s Swing era features singers, dancers, a Big Band orchestra, and tunes from icons of the time, including Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman. Much more than a concert, it’s an authentic and inspiring celebration of American history and culture.

John Williams, guitar
WED, OCT 20, 2010, 7:30 PM
Recital Configuration: $35
John Williams delivers a repertoire that “is supremely guitaristic music, first and foremost,” cheers The New York Times. The San Francisco Classical Voice noted the guitarist-composer-arranger’s “superior technical excellence, remarkable ease, and poised elegance.” Williams, an Edison Lifetime Award recipient, also garnered a Grammy for “Best Chamber Music Performance” for his Julian and John album.
Program:
VILLA-LOBOS - Five Preludes
BROUWER - El Decameron Negro
BEBEY - O Bia
WILLIAMS - From a Bird (Nos. 1, 2, and 3)
Hello Francis
MANGORÉ - La Catedral
Julia Florida
Vals No. 3
Vals No. 4
Sueño en la Floresta

Hiroshima
FRI, OCT 22, 2010, 8:00 PM
Lyric Configuration: $67/$52/$37
Hiroshima embraces cultural diversity with innovative music that blends Jazz, Pop, R&B, and World music with Eastern and Western instruments. The group crossed over into Smooth Jazz stardom with the smash hit One Wish from the best-seller Gold album Another Place. Hiroshima’s Go topped Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart and won a Soul Train Award for “Best Jazz Album.”

Granville Van Dusen in The Memoirs of Abraham Lincoln
FRI, OCT 22, 2010, 8:00 PM
SAT, OCT 23, 2010, 8:00 PM
Sierra Theater: $35
“Van Dusen is a twinkling Lincoln * as wily and practical as he is compassionate.” - Los Angeles TimesIn this solo performance, Granville Van Dusen as Abraham Lincoln explores the exaggerations, misconceptions, and rumors about the life and presidency of America’s 16th president. The Memoirs of Abraham Lincoln is a thoughtful and humorous portrait of the man behind the icon, spanning his early years as a farmer to the Civil War. Written by Peter King Beach, the show was originally directed by Oscar and Golden Globe winner Delbert Mann.

The 1960s Live! Featuring
Gary Puckett, Pat Upton, Chris Montez, and Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods
SAT, OCT 23, 2010, 8:00 PM
Lyric Configuration: $74/$62/$50
Gary Puckett rocked the music world with Top 10 hits such as Young Girl, Woman Woman, and Don’t Give in to Him. Singer Pat Upton helped launch Spiral Starecase’s More Today Than Yesterday into the Top 20 on the Billboard charts. Chris Montez charmed fans and critics with Let’s Dance, Call Me, and There Will Never Be Another You. Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods dominated the Billboard charts with the No. One hit Billy Don’t Be a Hero and Who Do You Think You Are. The era’s icons reunite for an exciting evening of The 1960s Live!

Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers
WED, OCT 27, 2010, 7:30 PM
Sierra Cabaret: $35 Sold Out
Singer and harmonica master Rod Piazza and his band The Mighty Flyers let loose with colorful and gritty Blues infused with Jazz, R&B, and good old-fashioned Rock. The band, which has won three W.C. Handy Awards for “Blues Band of the Year,” boasts a cadre of catchy songs that includes Snap Crackle Hop, Stranded, and Honey Bee. “The material is always superb, never repetitive,” praises Blues Revue magazine. This concert is presented through the generosity of Nick and Nancy Baker.

Moscow State Symphony Orchestra
FRI, OCT 29, 2010, 8:00 PM
Concert Configuration: $67/$55/$43/$31
The Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, established in 1943, is one of the premier interpreters of the Russian Classic composers. The orchestra, consisting principally of international competition winners, has been showered with particular acclaim for its interpretations of works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. The concert also features award-winning violinist Jennifer Koh, whose free-spirited style impressed The New York Times, which applauds “her fiery, rhapsodic playing.”
Program:
TCHAIKOVSKY - Capriccio Italien, Op. 45
BRUCH - Violin Concert No. 1 in g minor, Op. 26 with Jennifer Koh, violin
MUSSORGSKY/RAVEL - Pictures at an Exhibition

Bill Engvall
SAT, OCT 30, 2010, 8:00 PM
Concert Configuration: $90/$78/$66/$55
Bill Engvall, who won an American Comedy Award for “Best Male Stand-Up Comedian,” is “uproariously funny,” proclaims the Los Angeles Times. Star of The Bill Engvall Show and host of the top-rated Country Fried Home Videos, the comic has released the albums Here’s Your Sign and Dorkfish, which both catapulted to the Billboard Comedy Chart’s top spot. Opening for Engvall is veteran funnyman Reno Collier, who has performed with comedy legends Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy.

Pacific Symphony Halloween Family Concert
SUN, OCT 31, 2010, 3:00 PM
Concert Configuration: $30 Four or more tickets: $18 each
In the bewitching Halloween Family Concert, Pacific Symphony plays frightfully fun movie music, including selections from Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, and Harry Potter. Children are encouraged to come dressed in their favorite costumes for the celebration, which promotes music appreciation and exploration for kids and adults alike. The show will last approximately 60 minutes.