PADUCAH, KY (09/14/2018) Audiences can enjoy country music, both new and classic, contemporary dance, and improv comedy at West Kentucky Community and Technical College's Clemens Fine Arts Center 2018-19 season.
The season begins with country artist Kelsey Waldon October 12. Growing up in Ballard County's Monkey's Eyebrow, Waldon's life has changed drastically over the past seven years. Since moving to Nashville, the WKCTC alumnus has released two acclaimed albums, played with some of music's biggest names and toured nationally. She made her debut performance on the Grand Ole Opry and has already been bestowed with one of Nashville's highest honors: playing the historic Station Inn, the go-to spot of the 70s, where intimate, post-Opry jam sessions were hosted by legends like Jimmy Martin, Bobby Osborne and Bill Monroe. Waldon returns to WKCTC and the Clemens stage with her distinct sound that meets at the juncture of classic country, bluegrass, soul, R&B, and rock and roll.
Just two weeks later four-time Grammy Award winner Steve Wariner will play a solo concert October 27. Wariner has 20 albums into his five-decade career with more than 30 Top 10 hits followed, including 14 No. 1s such as "All Roads Lead To You," "Some Fools Never Learn," "Lynda," and "Where Did I Go Wrong." His "Holes In The Floor Of Heaven" garnered him the ACM award for Song Of The Year in 1999, as well as CMA awards for Song and Single Of The Year. Additionally, artists ranging from Garth Brooks, Keith Urban and Clint Black have all scored hits with Wariner-penned songs.
The next Arts in Focus mainstage performances are in spring 2019 with the comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) March 23. The UCB Touring Company brings some of the best improv comedians from the legendary Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre to new audiences all around the country. The theatre was founded by Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh and has been home to some of the biggest stars in comedy today. Their flagship touring show is a 90-minute, unscripted, and totally improvised performance. Four improvisers at the top of their game perform a high-energy, surprising and hilarious show that has never been seen before and will never be seen again.
Contemporary dance rounds the Clemens Center season with the ODC/Dance Company April 5. The company is comprised of ten world-class dancers who perform its imaginative repertory for more than 50,000 people annually. Founded in 1971 by Artistic Director Brenda Way, ODC/Dance is known nationally for entrepreneurial savvy and was the first modern dance company in the United States to build a home facility, the ODC Theater. Recent highlights include appearances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival in New York, MODAFE Festival in Seoul Korea, Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, Royce Hall at UCLA and in past years, standing-room-only engagements in Europe, Russia and Asia.
Season tickets are on sale now. Visit artsinfocus.universitytickets.com or contact Julie Moore at julie.moore@kctcs.edu or 270-534-3212.