By Hap Erstein
You’ve heard of the three Bs – Bach, Brahms and Beethoven? Well, the Kravis Center has announced that next season it will present the three Ls – Larry the Cable Guy, Larry King and a tribute show called Elvis Lives. Uh, didn’t the Kravis used to be a center for the performing arts?
The West Palm Beach complex will be celebrating its 20th anniversary season beginning this fall with its usual eclectic array of acts from highbrow to low, though perhaps tilting more to the low than in the past. In case you were wondering what King would do after his CNN interview show, you can see him on the Kravis stage in what the season announcement calls “a brand-new, hilarious stage show that gives his fans a humorous and insightful look at his life.” (Jan. 24)
What, too weighty for you? Then how about the pairing of daytime TV’s Regis Philbin with Emmy-winning soap star Susan Lucci (Dec. 30)? What exactly they will do that evening is a stumper, but the Kravis offers a hint by describing Philbin as a “crooner supreme.” Larry the Cable Guy is a veteran of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, so his fans know what to expect on Nov. 19, and the Kravis further justifies the booking by noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of Larry’s career.
Those convinced that Elvis Presley died 34 years ago may have their confidence all shook up by Elvis Lives (Jan. 23), billed as “the ultimate Elvis tribute artist event,” featuring finalists from – get this – the worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest. Also in the faux-concert tribute vein will be The Official Blues Brothers Revue (Feb. 9), licensed at least by Dan Aykroyd and the John Belushi estate, and the return of The Pink Floyd Experience (March 4), in a set that will include the former rock band’s entire 1975 Wish You Were Here album performed live.
Actual headliners slated to appear at the Kravis next season include singers k.d. lang (Oct. 8), Linda Eder and Steve Tyrell (Jan. 3), Patti LaBelle (Feb. 4), Bernadette Peters (Feb. 10), Johnny Mathis (March 2), Neil Sedaka (March 30) and Patti LuPone (April 4). Among the celebrated musicians in the season will be Pinchas Zukerman (Jan. 4-5), Joshua Bell (Jan. 31), Michael Feinstein (Feb. 3), Diana Krall (Feb. 11), Chris Botti (March 3), Itzhak Perlman (March 6) and, yes, Yanni (April 17-18).
Vying against Larry the Cable Guy for the season’s comedy honors will be Wanda Sykes (Dec. 11), Second City Improv All-Stars (Dec. 30-Jan. 1), Dennis Miller (Jan. 5), Jackie Mason (Jan. 31) and Martin Short (March 28). And, OK, classical music has hardly been shortchanged, since the Kravis has also booked the Munich Symphony (Nov. 15-16), Emerson String Quartet (Dec. 6), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Jan. 4-5), Tchaikovsky St. Petersburg State Orchestra (Jan. 24), Cleveland Orchestra (Jan. 25), Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra (Feb. 8-9) and the Minnesota Orchestra (March 11).
For the previously announced Kravis on Broadway series, the center confirms that Palm Beach favorite son George Hamilton will headline the production of La Cage aux Folles (Feb. 14-19). Leading off the series will be The Addams Family (Nov. 8-13), whose plot happens to be identical to La Cage’s, followed by the popular revival of Hair (Jan. 10-15), the Twyla Tharp-meets-Frank-Sinatra dance concert Come Fly Away (March 13-18) and the re-conceived 25th anniversary production of Les Miserables (May 16-26).
For the complete Kravis Center schedule, go to its website at www.kravis.org. Tickets to the season’s events go on sale to the public Sept. 24.