Guess what year The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour debuted. Prepare yourself: 1967. Tom and Dick Smothers’ comedy was ahead of its time then yet timely now, which will be evident in their show at The Grand Opera House on March 15. The brothers have continued to crack up live audiences from coast to coast with their satirical and gloriously uncensored bits. It was their struggle against censorship that got them fired from CBS in 1969. Many trophies sit on their mantels now, including the George Carlin Freedom of Expression Award, which recognized the brothers’ unfailing support of the First Amendment. “The Smothers Brothers continue to amaze,” says The Grand’s executive director, Steve Bailey. “After all these years, their show still pushes the envelope and continues to entertain in the same way their legendary TV show did in the 1960s.” For more, visit grandopera.org, or call 652-5577. —Maria Hess
Page 2: Mandolin Strings
Mandolin Strings
Mandolinist and vocalist Chris Thile performs his new concerto “Ad astra per alas porci” (“To the Stars on the Wings of a Pig”) with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra March 19-20. The show reunites Thile with DSO music director David Amado. “We worked together at the Hollywood Bowl,” says Amado, who conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Thile’s former band, Nickel Creek. “I don’t know a more versatile musician, equally comfortable in so many genres. And although this is his first foray into the world of serious-minded orchestral music, with a talent like his, I have no doubt that it will be incredible.” For more, visit desymphony.org, or call 652-5577.
Page 3: The Sales Figure
The Sales Figure
There comes a time when we realize our dreams were delusions and our hopes false. Willy Loman, the main character in Arthur Miller’s magnum opus, “Death of a Salesman,” embodied that aching truth. UD’s Resident Ensemble Players will present the play at the Roselle Center for the Arts March 11-25. The timing couldn’t be better. “It is more than ever painfully clear that our materialistic values leave hundreds of thousands of working men and women, many Willy Lomans who have devoted themselves to trying to achieve the American dream, without an income and without their dignity,” says director Sandy Robbins. “More than ever it is true that, as Linda Loman says, ‘Attention must be paid.’” For more, visit udel.edu/theatre, or call 831-2204.
Page 4: Fiddling at the Schwartz
Fiddling at the Schwartz
The Schwartz Center for the Arts in Dover is fiddling around this month, featuring “Barrage” March 18 and “Fiddler on the Roof” March 26-27. “Barrage” is a high-energy show with triple-threat performers who sing, dance and play violin. The classic “Fiddler on the Roof” needs little explanation, except to say that Clear Space Productions will produce it. For more, visit schwartzcenter.com, or call 678-5152.
