TRIED & TRUE
Kravis season to be packed with old faves
The 2018-19 lineup the Kravis Center unveiled Tuesday will be filled with old favorites — Johnny Mathis, the Boston Pops, Jerry Seinfeld, Israel Philharmonic, Itzhak Perlman, The Four Tops and The Temptations, Chris Botti, Bernadette Peters, Michael Bolton, the Capitol Steps.
That’s to be expected. “The ones we bring back, we bring back because there’s a demand and they sell out,” said Lee Bell, senior programming director. But how about these acts? Black Violin: Classical Boom Tour, a duo that mashes up classical and hip-hop music; long-ago lovers Stephen Stills and Judy Collins (muse for Stills’ “Suite Judy Blue Eyes”) singing their hits and reminiscing about old times; a tribute to Maria Callas featuring a holographic version of the diva and a live orchestra; and resident Bill Bone dishing on Palm Beach: Murder, Mayhem and Madoff.
The center will mount 128 productions in the 2,195-seat Dreyfoos hall, 300-seat Rinker Playhouse and 300-seat Persson Hall next season.
Speaking of popular acts, subscription sales for the Broadway series have cracked a record — more than 9,000 subscriptions to date, leaving the past record of 8,700 two seasons ago in the dust.
With shows such as Disney’s
“The Lion King,” “Waitress” and “Hello, Dolly!” starring Betty Buckley, “we have a stronger lineup than last year,” he said. Plus, subscribers are pretty much guaranteed to bag tickets for the 2019-20 season’s “Hamilton.”
There’s good news for fans of the PEAK series, which focuses on ethnic diversity, gender issues and contemporary themes. Alan Davis, son of the late Palm Beachers Leonard and Sophie Davis, and his wife, Mary Lou Dauray, have donated $1.35 million through the MLDauray Arts Initiative to continue the series their $1.25 million gift in 2012 began.
The original gift was supposed to underwrite the series for five years, but earned interest enabled it to continue for seven years. The new donation will kick in during the 2019-20 season. In addition, the Davises have ponied up a $400,000 matching grant for the series.
PEAK series shows in 2018-19 include Black Violin: Classical Boom Tour, Ping Chong + Company Presents Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity and Tranquility Yoga with Chamber Ensemble.
Sharon McDaniel, who programs the Regional Arts and Young Artists classical music series, is looking forward to introducing Kravis audiences to the Shanghai Opera Symphony Orchestra and the Brussels Philharmonic featuring soloist Nikolaj Znaider.
She’s been trying to book Znaider, who will perform Max Bruch’s violin concerto No. 1, “forever,” she said. “He’s an A-lister.”
The Kravis has trimmed the number of Regional Arts concerts because of declining subscriptions, but it remains one of the stron- gest in the country, Bell said.
On the Young Artists’ slate, pianist Dominic Cheli, whose career been on a fast track speeding through his debut CD on the Naxos label and appearances at the Ravinia Festival and New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, will take his first Kravis Center bow.
In short, the season continues the something-foreveryone approach the center has aimed for since it debuted 27 seasons ago.
For information, call the center at 561-832-7469 or visit kravis.org.