Contact:
Elizabeth Blevins, Director, Office of Communications
Phyllis Noah, Communications Coordinator
Office: (740) 351-3810; FAX: (740) 351-3179; Cell: (740) 464-4854
940 Second Street – Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
E-mail: eblevins@shawnee.edu or pnoah@shawnee.edu
Web site: www.shawnee.edu

            The Southern Ohio Performing Arts Association and Shawnee State University present the new Performing Arts Series at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts for the 2010-11 season featuring music, Broadway plays, dance and musical productions.
            “This season is truly filled with variety and we are very lucky to have these national tours come to the VRCFA,” Carl Daehler, director of the VRCFA, said. “With such big-name productions gracing our stage, we heavily anticipate sold-out performances and we strongly encourage patrons to order their tickets as soon as possible.”
            Opening the season is The Toledo Symphony Orchestra making its first appearance at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 16, performing “Pops at New York’s Carnegie Hall.” The concert will feature guest artists with music from memorable performances by Benny Goodman, Judy Garland, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and many others.
            The entertainment lineup for the 2010-11 season is:
            · Tuesday, Oct. 12, “Legally Blonde,” a light-hearted rollicking musical production with lots of fun;
            · Tuesday, Nov. 9, Mark O’Connor, American String Celebration, with some of America’s most talented and lauded young musicians playing classical, jazz, mountain, Celtic, old-time and Texas-style fiddling;
            · Tuesday, Nov. 16, The OSU Marching Band;
            · Thursday, Jan. 13, “Fiddler on the Roof,” the classic musical of a family’s struggle against time and tradition;
            · Tuesday, Feb. 8, Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” the greatest love story of all time;
            · Thursday, April 7, 2011, Mariangela Vacatello, pianist from Naples, Italy, and a finalist in the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition;
            · Tuesday, April 12, Russian National Ballet Theater, featuring music by Frederic Chopin and a performance of Romeo and Juliet with music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky; and
            · Tuesday, April 26, Monty Python’s “Spamalot,” a new musical ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
            New season subscriptions for the Broadway Series, Family Pops Series and Fine Arts Series are available at the McKinley Box Office in the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts (740) 351-3600. Single tickets will go on sale Monday, Aug. 23 at the McKinley Box Office or through Ticketmaster.