MARCUS CENTER ANNOUNCES 2015/16 MARCUS CENTER PRESENTS AND OFF BROADWAY SERIES SEASON

The Marcus Center Presents series performances will kick off the new season in both Uihlein Hall and Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall. Line up includes: Red Hot Chilli Pipers, The Midtown Men, Darlene Love: Love for the Holidays, A Cavalcade of Big Bands, Fiesta Mexico-Americana: A Celebration of Mexican-American Heritage, and Pro Arte Quartet.

The Marcus Center Off Broadway series returns to Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall in December. Line up includes: Black Nativity, Second City’s Holidazed and Confused, PostSecret: The Show, and Flipside: The Patti Page Story.

Flex packages go on sale on Thursday, August 27 at the Marcus Center Box Office. Show packages of 3 shows will save $5 per ticket and packages of 5 or more shows will save $10 per ticket. Tickets can be purchased through the Marcus Center Box Office by calling (414) 273-7206, in person at 929 North Water Street, Downtown Milwaukee or at www.MarcusCenter.org.

Groups of 10 or more should call (414) 273-7121 x210 for reservations and special discount pricing.

For more information on both series, please visit, www.MarcusCenter.org.

The Red Hot Chilli Pipers have quickly become the most famous bagpipe band on the planet – ever! Bagpipes with attitude, drums with a Scottish accent and a show so hot it carries its own health warning. The band’s achievements have reached incredible heights with their groundbreaking fusion of traditional Scottish music and Rock/Pop Anthems which they proudly call ‘Bagrock’. There has never been anything quite like The Red Hot Chilli Pipers. In the intimate space of Vogel Hall you can sit a little closer to the fire and feel the Chilli heat!

THE MIDTOWN MEN reunites Stars From The Original Cast of Broadway’s Jersey Boys, making them the first vocal group ever formed by the principal cast of a high-profile Broadway show. After sharing the stage for over a thousand performances, Tony® Award winner Christian Hoff, Michael Longoria, Daniel Reichard and Tony® Award nominee J. Robert Spencer decided to take their signature sound and chemistry to audiences everywhere, bringing to life their favorite “Sixties Hits” from The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Motown, The Four Seasons and more. The New York Times says, “Sidling up to the microphone, the singers had the air of the Rat Pack, Motown and a nightclub act rolled into one.”

Darlene Love is the voice that helped launch a hundred hits from He’s a Rebel, (Today I Met) the Boy I’m Gonna Marry, and Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), which she sang during the glory days of the girl-group era to the countless songs she sang backup on for artists like Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Dionne Warwick, Cher and Aretha Franklin. Darlene Love is still blazing a trail of success in the music industry with a landmark appearance in the Oscar winning documentary 20 Feet From Stardom, a forthcoming biopic produced by Oprah as well as a new album produced by Steve Van Zandt.  Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Darlene Love brings her Love for the Holidays tour to Milwaukee for the very first time.

In the glory days of the Big Band era within three notes even, with your eyes closed, you knew which band was playing as each had a distinct and signature sound. Dick Strauss and The Many Happy Returns Orchestra present a Cavalcade of Big Bands to take you back in time with stories and signature sounds of the top bands of yesteryear.

The Mexican-American Experience is celebrated through song, dance, music and film highlighting the many notable achievements and contributions of Mexican-Americans throughout US History in this Brand-New Multi-Media Production, featuring Multiple Grammy-Award Winners LOS LOBOS, and dancers from Ballet Folklorico Mexicano.

The Pro Arte played their American debut in 1926, performing at the inauguration of the Hall of Music in the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.  The musicians were stranded in Madison by the outbreak of World War II. Following their concert the University of Wisconsin chancellor offered a permanent home to the quartet – it was the first such residency ever in a major American university. Today, in addition to widely acclaimed performances of standard classical repertoire, the Pro Arte continues its tradition of championing new music.

A landmark special presentation of the Nativity story by Langston Hughes.  A Hansberry-Sands Theatre Company Production Co-Produced by Marcus Center for the Performing Arts and Black Arts Think Tank.

Hear that? Yes, it’s the sound of bells a-jingling already. Next thing you know dreidels are spinning and pumpkin-spiced everything is everywhere. Thankfully the Second City is here with the perfect upheaval of your holiday malaise: Holidazed & Confused bursts the monotony of the season with a riotous send-up of traditional holiday fare. Put away your turkey baster and bring the whole fam to laugh until your cheeks flush with ho-ho-holidazed joy!

PostSecret: The Show is a visual, auditory and emotional journey through the beauty and complication of our deepest fears, ambitions, and confessions.  With the assistance of projected images and video, three actors guide the audience through a crowd-sourced narrative of the stories behind never-before-seen secrets that have made PostSecret.com one of the most popular blogs in the world.

“Flipside: The Patti Page Story”, winner of 18 National Awards at the Kennedy Center Honors, is a musical celebration of her rise to stardom. Flipside is a new “jukebox musical” in the tradition of Always, Patsy Cline about Oklahoma’s own Singing Rage, Miss Patti Page. Written from interviews with Miss Page, Flipside: The Patti Page Story features 28 of her greatest hits, including Tennessee Waltz, (How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window, and Mockingbird Hill.

Established in 1969, the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts is the premier performing arts venue in Southeastern Wisconsin. As the Marcus Center moves into its 46th year, it continues to set the standard for high-quality arts entertainment in the region and the state. The touring Broadway series is recognized as bringing the best of Broadway entertainment to Milwaukee for the past 19 years. The Marcus Center is also the home to the Milwaukee Symphony, Milwaukee Ballet, Florentine Opera, First Stage plus a variety of other important community and family events throughout the year. For more information about events visit the Marcus Center website at www.MarcusCenter.org.  The Marcus Center is a private 501(c) 3 corporation.

Experience Relaxed, Sophisticated Fine Dining at Envoy Restaurant & Lounge, Milwaukee

Envoy, located in the iconic Ambassador Hotel, offers classic American cuisine with global influences.  Ingredients feature artisan, local and seasonal products.  Envoy offers breakfast and lunch dinner in an atmosphere that transports guests to a time when patrons “tripped the light fantastic”.  Guests of Envoy experience the legendary service that generations have come to expect from a staff that is simply “the bee’s knees”.  Envoy offers nostalgic cocktails from the hotel’s original menu, written in 1928.  In addition to half priced appetizers, Envoy Lounge’s happy hour offers buy one martini or nostalgic cocktail and receive the next at 1928’s price.  Guests who dine at Envoy are invited to enjoy complimentary parking and shuttle service to and from destinations in the downtown Milwaukee area, including the Marcus Center for the performing Arts.  Visit envoymilwaukee.com for more information and reservations.