‘Glee,’ ‘Office’ stars highlight season as Central Kentucky arts groups, venues return

We are about to enter a time of year arts fans relish, when theaters re-open, welcoming everything from local avocational artists to some of the biggest national and international stars.

Obviously, that did not happen last year as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered theaters around the world. While the 2021-22 season will be far from back to normal, and the Commonwealth is in the throes of yet another surge in cases of COVID-19, there are a number of Central Kentucky venues and groups planning to kick off seasons this fall.

We have already highlighted some venues such as the Lexington Opera House’s Broadway Live series and the Lexington Children’s Theatre. Here are some venues and organizations that have recently released their season schedule of shows.

Norton Center for the Arts season

The Centre College venue is coming close to half a century of bringing astonishingly big names to the little college town of Danville, pop. 16,730. The 2021-22 season continues that tradition right off the bat with TV stars Jane Lynch (“Glee”) and Kate Flannery (“The Office”) opening the season with their Cabaret act “Two Lost Souls” with the Tony Guerreo Quartet Oct. 9.

Cello superstar Yo-Yo Ma will make his fourth Norton Center appearance with pianist Kathryn Stott April 21, and one of the most recognizable names in classical music, The Vienna Boys Choir, visits Feb. 19. Two well received juke-box musicals come to the center this season – “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” March 16 and “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical” April 11 – along with operetta from the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players with “The Pirates of Penzance” March 11, and film music with “Disney Princesses: The Concert” April 9.

Here’s the Norton Center for the Arts lineup:

• Oct. 9: Jane Lynch and Kate Flannery (comedy, cabaret)
• Nov. 5: Fifth House Ensemble: Journey LIVE (chamber music with film)
• Nov. 19: Dirk Powell & Friends featuring Nokosee Fields (folk, roots music)
• Jan. 11: MOMIX (modern dance)
• Feb. 12: Matthew Whitaker (jazz)
• Feb. 19: Vienna Boys Choir (classical)
• Mar. 3: Velocity Irish Dance
• Mar. 11: “The Pirates of Penzance,” New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players (operetta)
• Mar. 16: “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical”
• Mar. 26: Invoke (string quartet)
• April 9: Disney Princess: The Concert
• April 11: “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical”
• April 21: Yo-Yo Ma & Kathryn Stott (classical)
• April 29: The Queen’s Cartoonists (classic cartoons with live music)
• May 14: Kat Edmonson (singer-songwriter)

Season subscriptions are on sale now at nortoncenter.com or by calling 859-236-4692. Individual performance tickets go on sale in September.

Woodford Theatre season

Classic musicals and plays mark the Versailles theatre’s line up, as well as a little early coronavirus caution.

The season starts with a contemporary comic classic, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” in the relative outdoor safety of Equus Run Vineyards Sept. 10 and 11. The return to the main stage in the Falling Springs Arts and Recreation Center is “White Christmas” Dec. 3 to 19, followed by the classic mystery “The Mousetrap” Feb. 4 to 20, Neil Simon’s comedy “Barefoot in the Park” March 25 to April 10, and a musical loaded with timeless tunes, “Guys and Dolls,” May 27 to June 12.

Individual show tickets and season subscriptions are available now at woodfordtheatre.com, by calling 859-873-0648 or emailing boxoffice@woodfordtheatre.com.

Studio Players theater season

Lexington’s long-running community theater plans to return to the Carriage House Theatre on Bell Court starting next month with a lineup of familiar and new comedies.

• Sept. 9-26: “Bloody Murder” by Ed Sala
• Nov. 11-28: “A Tuna Christmas” by Ed Howard, Joe Sears, Jaston Williams
• Jan. 13-30: “Becky’s New Car” by Steven Dietz
• March 10-27: “Flatspin” by Alan Ayckbourn
• May 12-29: “Neo-Futurist Plays from Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind” (30 Plays in 60 Minutes) by Greg Allen

Tickets will go on sale in early September. Visit studioplayers.org for more information.

Chamber music Festival of Lexington returns

After taking a year off in 2021, the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington is returning to the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center for an abbreviated edition Sept. 17-19. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the festival featured several ensembles playing around the Lexington area for a few weeks. This year’s festival will focus on the core ensemble, led by Lexington native Nathan Cole, first associate concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and artistic director of the festival.

The artists-in-residence this year are pianist Lucille Chung and violinist Johnny Lee. Chung, fest fans may know, is married to core ensemble pianist Alessio Bax. Since the ensemble is rounded out by violinist Akiko Tarumoto, who is married to Cole, and violist Burchard Tang and cellist Priscilla Lee, who are also married, this will almost be an all-couples fest. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 and 18, and 2 p.m. Sept. 19. Visit chambermusiclex.org for tickets and more information.