Middle-of-the-road is out and world roots are in for Cincinnati Arts Association's 1998-99 season at Aronoff Center for the Arts and Music Hall.
Last year's silver-haired pop music schedule has been largely jettisoned for hipper fare, including the Neville Brothers, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Jurys Irish Cabaret and Bayou to Bourbon Street, a package featuring BeauSoleil that's a sort of a Creole cousin to House of Blues.
Other headliners include Taj Mahal and the Blind Boys of Alabama, Doc Severinsen and His Big Band and a double '70s bill of Blood, Sweat & Tears with America.
The season schedule repeats some of what worked best last year including House of Blues, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, evenings of swing music for listening and dancing and Sesame Street Live for family audiences.
Cincinnati Arts Association has booked 18 nights in the Aronoff's Procter & Gamble Hall. Combined with Fifth Third Bank Broadway Series and Cincinnati Ballet, the hall will be in use 44 percent of the time during the prime presenting season of Labor Day to Memorial Day.
"It leaves us a lot of opportunities," says CAA vice-president Steve Loftin, adding that CAA administration is comfortable with the degree of risk involved with this season.
The renovated ballroom at Music Hall will be shown off with three evenings of swing music and dance to the Pete Wagner and Woody Herman orchestras and Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians. The ballroom will have nightclub-style seating for Shades of Blue -- Cincinnati Guitar Giants featuring Larry Goshorn, Marcos Sastre and a a host of area musicians in a blues jam.
William Menefield, a 1998 graduate of the School for Creative and Performing Arts, will be featured in an emerging artist concert in the Aronoff's Jarson-Kaplan Theater.
The 1998-99 schedule:
Oct. 16 -- Pete Wagner Orchestra, Music Hall Ballroom.
Oct. 17 -- One Monster After Another, Child's Play Touring Theatre, Memorial Hall.
Oct. 22 -- The Neville Brothers, Music Hall.
Oct. 23 -- Cincinnati Guitar Giants featuring Larry Goshorn and Marcos Sastre, Music Hall Ballroom.
Nov. 18 -- House of Blues -- Highway 61, featuring Taj Mahal and the Blind Boys of Alabama, Aronoff Center Procter & Gamble Hall.
Nov. 27-29 -- Sesame Street Live: 1,2,3 . . . Imagine!, Procter & Gamble Hall.
Dec. 16 -- Judy Collins Christmas Show, Procter & Gamble Hall.
Dec. 20 -- Colors of Christmas, featuring Jeffrey Osborne and Sheena Easton, Procter & Gamble Hall.
Jan. 30 -- Blood, Sweat & Tears - America, Procter & Gamble Hall.
Feb. 12 -- Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians with Al Pierson, Music Hall Ballroom.
Feb. 21 -- Bayou to Bourbon Street, featuring BeauSoleil, Procter & Gamble Hall.
Feb. 26 -- Jurys Irish Cabaret, Procter & Gamble Hall.
Feb. 27 -- Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, ArtReach Touring Theatre, Memorial Hall.
March 4 -- The Ishangi Dancers, Procter & Gamble Hall.
March 5 -- Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Procter & Gamble Hall.
March 6 -- Big Band '99, the Fabulous Dorseys, Procter & Gamble Hall.
March 11 -- Peking Acrobats, Procter & Gamble Hall.
March 14 -- Schoolhouse Rock Live!, Procter & Gamble Hall.
March 27 -- Golden Goose Feathers, Madcap Puppet Theatre Productions, Memorial Hall.
April 10 -- William Menefield, Aronoff Center Jarson-Kaplan Theater.
April 16 -- Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, Procter & Gamble Hall.
April 17 -- Doc Severinsen and His Big Band, Procter & Gamble Hall. April 23 -- Woody Herman Orchestra, Music Hall Ballroom.
May 18-19 -- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Procter & Gamble Hall.
Tickets are on sale to CAA members. Tickets go on sale to the public Sept. 11. To receive a season brochure, call 621-2787.
