Bill Cosby, Judy Collins Part of Varied Season at Barclay

IRVINE — Bill Cosby will headline the 1997-98 season at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, along with an eclectic lineup of artists, including John Hammond, Judy Collins, Danny Glover, Joshua Rifkin, Andrea Marcovicci, Thelonious Monk Jr., Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

The season opens Oct. 6 with a theater-dance spectacle, “Umbatha: Zulu Macbeth,” co-sponsored by the Barclay and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. The work is loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and recently played at the Lincoln Center Festival ’97 in New York.

The Barclay is also presenting the Glendale-based classical theater company A Noise Within, which will perform its touring version of Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations.” The original won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award for outstanding production in 1996 and was the LADCC’s most honored production that year.

Another major event will be a series of concerts by rising flamenco star La Tania. She and her troupe will dance the world premiere of “Abrazo: Cantes de Ida y Vuelta” (“Songs of Coming and Going”), co-commissioned by the Irvine Barclay. Also, Cirque Eloize from Montreal will present its new show, “Excentricus.”

The Irvine Barclay’s Contemporary Dance series and the World Stages series (co-sponsored with the Philharmonic Society), were announced previously.

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Irvine Barclay Theatre 1997-98 Schedule

SPECIAL EVENTS

Feb. 14: Bill Cosby ($70-$90)

March 25-29: La Tania ($22-$26)

April 8-11: Cirque Eloize: “Excentricus” ($17-$28)

THEATER

Oct. 6: “Umbatha: Zulu Macbeth” ($25-$35)

Nov. 1: “Oscar Wilde: Diversions and Delights” ($16-$20)

Feb. 27: Danny Glover and Felix Justice in “An Evening With Langston and Martin” ($24-28)

May 15: A Noise Within’s “Great Expectations” ($18-$22)

BLUES AND JAZZ

Oct. 10: John Hammond and the Duke Robillard Band ($20-$24)

Oct. 12: Monk on Monk, with Thelonius Monk Jr. ($24-$28)

July 10: Preservation Hall Jazz Band ($23-$28)

POP MUSIC

Oct. 17: Joshua Rifkin “Rags and Tangos” ($16-$20)

Dec. 7: Judy Collins Christmas Concert ($30-$38)

March 13: Andrea Marcovicci ($27-$35)

March 14-15: Ladysmith Black Mambazo ($24-$32)

FAMILY EVENTS

Nov. 28-29: “Warren Miller’s Snow Riders 2: The Journey Continues” ($13)

Dec. 12-23: Ballet Pacifica’s “The Nutcracker” ($14-$17)

Jan. 16: Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration on Tour: “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.” ($6-$10)

April 4: “The Magic School Bus--LIVE!” ($12-$17)

The Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. Information: (714) 854-4646.