Mixmaster Merritt has posted the lineup for next season's TITAS performances, which will be spread across the Winspear and Wyly beginning September 1. Here, we bring you the roster for next season's Brinker International Forum Series, also at the ATTPAC and set to commence November 3 at the Winspear with former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater principal Judith Jamison, now its artistic director.
The announcement, sent last night in advance of the May 25 on-sale date for season tickets, follows, and it's littered with familiar names, among them Terrell's own Jamie Foxx and David Blaine, who will magically fill the Arts District with people. But the lecture I'm most excited about isn't till April 24. That's when Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet take the stage at the opera house to discuss Modern Family, which, with each passing season, rapidly ascends the list of Greatest Sitcoms of All Time. Name a greater comic actor on prime-time than Ty Burrell. See? You can't do it. Nobody can. OK, maybe Rob Lowe on Parks and Recreation. But see how long that lasts.
Brinker International Forum 2011-2012 Series:
Judith Jamison
Winspear Opera House
8 p.m. November 3, 2011
Event Sponsor: Jones Day
Lauded dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison has spent most of her life on stage, and has enjoyed a career most performers only dream about. Plucked from obscurity by acclaimed choreographer Agnes de Mille to appear in The Four Marys at New York's American Ballet Theatre in 1964, Jamison quickly made a name for herself on stage.
She became principal dancer for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1967, and has performed with celebrated dancers Mikhail Baryshnikov and Alexander Godunov. Jamison spent the 80s starring in numerous Broadway productions, such as the musical Sophisticated Ladies, and choreographing her own works. When Alvin Ailey died in 1989, she was named artistic director of AAADT. Jamison has received several awards throughout the years including a Kennedy Center Honor, National Medal of Arts and an Emmy Award for the PBS "Great Performances: Dance In America" special, "A Hymn for Alvin Ailey." In 1993, she published her autobiography Dancing Spirit.Jamie Foxx
Winspear Opera House
8 p.m. December 8, 2011
Event Sponsor: Diane and Hal BrierleyExperience why Jamie Foxx is considered one of the most versatile performers working today, as the actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian and talk radio host discusses his fascinating almost 20-year career. In an on-stage interview with clips, Foxx, whose real name is Eric Bishop and was raised in Terrell, will share the creative process behind some of his most memorable roles in films such as Collateral, Ray and Ali, and discusses what it takes to juggle a successful acting and music career. The native Texan will end the one night event with a question and answer session with the audience. Foxx's many talents have earned him numerous accolades including the Academy Award and BAFTA Award. In 2004, he became the first actor to receive three Golden Globe nominations and four SAG Award nominations in the same year.
David Blaine
The Art of Magic
Winspear Opera House
8 p.m. January 12, 2012
Event Sponsor: One Arts PlazaMaster illusionist David Blaine is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance, and has made a name as a performer of street magic. Known for his over-the-top public spectacles, Blaine has been buried alive, drowned alive, frozen in ice and suspended five stories over Times Square in New York City.
Blaine began his career with street magic, performing card tricks, levitation, and illusions. Recorded live in front of everyday people by a small camera crew, this act provided the basis for his breakthrough television specials, which included David Blaine: Street Magic and David Blaine: Magic Man. Blaine has set and broken several world records and The New York Times referred to him as a "modern day Houdini."Roz Savage
As part of National Geographic LIVE!
Winspear Opera House
8 p.m., February 21, 2012
Event Sponsor: The Ted and Shannon Skokos FoundationWhat's it like to be a million oar strokes from your destination, tossed alone in a tiny boat? Roz Savage, a one-time management consultant turned full-time rower, environmental advocate, and inspirational speaker completed a grueling 103-day, 2,935-mile (4,723-kilometer) oceanic ordeal in 2005. Storms broke all of her oars and claimed her stove, stereo, and cockpit navigation instruments. Her satellite phone failed with nearly four weeks left on the journey. Undaunted, Roz rowed on. In 2008, she rowed solo from San Francisco to Hawaii, as part one of a three-part journey to draw attention to environmental problems that threaten the ocean, and to encourage individual action.
The British ocean rower and environmental campaigner has rowed over 11,000 miles, taken 3.5 million oarstrokes, and spent cumulatively nearly a year of her life at sea in a 23-foot rowboat. Her personal creed of taking life "one oarstroke at a time," and her promotion of the EcoHero movement, has inspired countless people around the world. In 2011, she will set out to complete the "Big Three" by rowing solo across the Indian Ocean.
Mireya Mayor
As part of National Geographic LIVE!
Winspear Opera House
8 p.m, March 19, 2012 Event Sponsor: John Eagle DealershipsAs a two-time Emmy Award-nominated field correspondent for the National Geographic Channel, Mireya Mayor has reported to audiences worldwide on pertinent wildlife and habitat issues. Closest to her heart is her ongoing study of a newfound species of Microcebus, or mouse lemur, which she discovered on a 2000 field expedition in Madagascar. Her work with this rare primate inspired the prime minister of Madagascar to establish a national park to help protect the new species, conserving the 10 percent that remains of the African island nation's once vast forest. Mayor recently earned her Ph.D. while conducting research on the effects of forest fragmentation and isolation on two types of lemurs found only in northern Madagascar. Earning her the nickname of "female Indiana Jones", Mayor's Ultimate Explorer TV expeditions have taken her to Central Africa's gorillas, underwater with the six-foot (1.8-meter) Humboldt squid, and into a veterinarian's haven for leopards in Namibia.
Modern Family Panel featuring Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ty Burrell and Eric Stonestreet
Winspear Opera House
8 p.m. April 24, 2012
Event Sponsor: Museum TowerIf you are one of the millions of viewers who regularly tune into ABC's Modern Family each week, you've probably fallen in love with the characters Mitchell Pritchett, Phil Dunphy and Cameron Tucker, played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ty Burrell and Eric Stonestreet, respectively. The actors will take the Winspear stage to discuss their hit show, which is centered on the lives of three unconventional families.
The show has garnered critical acclaim and has received multiple award nominations including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, as well as two other Emmy Awards, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Eric Stonestreet, and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. Fans of the show won't want to miss this opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the chemistry that has catapulted the series into a pop culture phenomenon.
Tickets for all of the Brinker International Forum programs range from $12.50 to $125.Tickets can be purchased online at www.attpac.org by phone at 214.880.0202, or in person at the AT&T Performing Arts Center Box Office at the Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora Street (Monday through Saturday, 10 am - 6 pm; Sunday 11 am - 4 pm), or at the remote Box Office at Park Place Lexus Plano at 1025 Preston Road.
