Alberta Bair’s New Season – Our Top 10 Picks

With Alberta Bair’s brand new season bringing so much talent to the area, it can be hard to pick which performances you can make it to.  To help you out, we’ve come up with our Top 10 Picks for Alberta Bair’s 2011-2012 Season.  Tickets are on sale for all of the following events, and can be purchased at albertabairtheater.org.  Be sure to check out their entire schedule for great children’s performances, inexpensive matinees and student discounts.

Now, on to our Top 10, listed in the order they will be performing:

1) Alice Cooper – Aug. 5
The one and only Alice Cooper returns to Billings August 5 with his “No More Mister Nice Guy” Tour. If you missed him when he came to town with Rob Zombie, here’s your chance to meet the legendary shock rocker whose theatrics have made him a legend of rock and roll.

2) Blue Man Group – Aug. 29
Blue Man Group is best known for their wildly popular theatrical shows and concerts which combine comedy, music, and technology to produce a totally unique form of entertainment. With no spoken language, BLUE MAN GROUP is perfect for people of all ages, languages, and cultures. The first two rows are “Poncho Seats,” because you might get splattered if you sit that close!

3) Kingston Trio – Sep. 24
In 1957 The Kingston Trio emerged from San Francisco’s North Beach club scene. Taking the country by storm, The Kingston Trio bring the rich tradition of American folk music into the mainstream. Through changing times, the Trio has remained popular for a simple reason… great songs that sound as good today as the first time you heard them.

4) Cirque Mechanics – Boomtown – Oct. 11
The magic of Cirque du Soleil meets the Gold Rush in Boomtown. Transport to the 1860’s small frontier town of Rosebud, where two ambitious saloon owners have set up shop in the hopes of cashing in on the town’s gold rush frenzy. You will find performers climbing up telegraph poles, dancing on a swinging chandelier, flying high and fast on a revolving crane, flipping and jumping on moving ore carts or balancing on whiskey jugs.

5) Rocky Horror Picture Show Ball – Oct. 29
Back by popular demand, The Rocky Horror Picture Show Ball is a fun and frightful Halloween celebration. There will music, dancing, costume contests, Time Warp Dance contest and of course the movie that inspired it all, Rocky Horror Picture Show. If you enjoy the movie, Halloween, or simply having a wickedly entertaining night this is a must.

6) Fiddler On the Roof – Nov. 13
Enjoy a Tradition with Fiddler on the Roof, the Tony Award® winning musical that has been lauded by critics again and again, winning the hearts of people all around the world. Filled with a heartwarming score, including “Tradition,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and “If I Were A Rich Man,” Fiddler on the Roof is a timeless classic.

7) Young Frankenstein – Dec. 3
It’s Alive!!! This wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Frankenstein legend follows bright young Dr. Frankenstein (it’s Fronkensteen) as he attempts to create a monster–but not without scary and hilarious complications. The brains behind the laughter is mad genius and three-time Tony® winner Mel Brooks himself–who wrote the music and lyrics and co-wrote the book.

8 ) Doubt – Feb. 11
Presented by the Montana Repertory Theatre, Doubt is an intense dramatic experience. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, Doubt provides that rare evening of theatre that thoroughly entertains and is altogether captivating emotionally, psychologically, and intellectually. This is theatre that brings audiences to the edge of their seats and introduces topics that will be discussed long after the final curtain.

9) Damn Yankees – Mar. 3
Faust, fly balls and devilishly good fun all meet at the home plate of the 7 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Damn Yankees. This is the story of a 1950s middle-aged baseball fanatic who trades his soul to the Devil for a chance to lead his favorite team in the pennant race against The New York Yankees only to realize the true worth of the life (and wife) he’s left behind. Filled with hit songs this show is a musical comedy home run!

10) Blast! – Mar. 13
Ireland gave us Riverdance, England produced Stomp, now come the Americans with Blast!. This Tony Award® winning show is a fusion of music, dance, percussion, lights and is the world’s hottest new entertainment phenomenon. The Chicago Tribune hails, “Blast! is explosive entertainment. A non-stop mix of spectacle and sound,” and The New York Daily News raves, “What a cast, what a BLAST! This show is a pure joy.”

Did we pick some good ones?  Which ones do you want to see?