MUSICAL ICON B.J. THOMAS TO KICK OFF 2018 SEASON
With 70-million records and five Grammys to his credit, B.J. Thomas (“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”) will kick off the 2018 season for the Clermont Performing Arts Center on Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. with An Evening with B.J. Thomas. Tickets go on Friday, August 3 at www.clermontpac.com and at the box office located at 3700 S. Highway 27.
Since the mid-1960s, Thomas has scored hit after hit and is the only recording artist to successfully rise to the top of three genres: pop, country and contemporary Christian music. In addition to his Oscar-winning “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” Thomas had 40 pop hits, 10 Top 40 country chart-toppers, five Grammys, two Dove awards and 15 gold and platinum records.
Thomas’ first hit, at 24, was “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” That song ignited a career that included million-sellers “Hey, Won’t You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” and “Hooked on a Feeling.”
“We wanted a superstar to open our 2018 season, and we found one in B.J. Thomas,” said Chris Dudeck, theater manager for the Clermont Performing Arts Center. “His music reaches across generations and genres. We’re excited to share his talent with Central Florida.”
The Center has dubbed its diverse 2018-2019 itinerary a Season of Surprises with an imaginative, entertaining roster that includes: “iLuminate”(as seen on “America’s Got Talent”); the radio play “Steel Magnolias,”straight from Los Angeles, featuring a star-studded cast with Emily Kuroda (“Gilmore Girls” and “Grey’s Anatomy”) and Cerris Morgan-Moyer (“Pride & Prejudice); and Golden Dragon Acrobats, which the “Washington Post” raved, “There is a precision and beauty about everything these performers do.”
Other programs in the 1,200-seat Mainstage include: “Journey to Oz;” “One Night in Memphis,” featuring the music of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis; “Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana,” “Broadway and More,” “Clermont Comic Con,” and “The Manopause Boys,” which “The Huffington Post” described as “Funnier than ‘Menopause The Musical.’”
There are delightful holiday specials for adults and children: “A Sleeping Beauty Christmas” and “Sleigh.” And back by popular demand is Pop, Rock and Doo Wopp Live! featuring ‘60s-hitmakers Jay & the Americans (“This Magic Moment”), Charlie Thomas & The Drifters (“This Magic Moment”) and Shirley Alston Reeves, the lead singer from the Shirelles (“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”).
Dudeck said the Center’s 250-seat Black Box, an intimate, theater-in-the-round, also has a full lineup that includes comedy and variety shows on Friday nights and a matinee series, “You Are There,” hosted by Emmy-Award-winning producer Charlie Grinker.
For more information about the full season, or to purchase tickets, go to www.clermontpac.com or call 352-394-4800.
