There’s something for everyone in this extensive lineup
As we swelter through the last bits of another Delaware summer, I’m greatly anticipating the opportunity to chill out with our local arts folks. There’s something here for everyone, so let’s take a refreshing ‘Nestea plunge’ into the Arts this fall.
Arden Concert Gild
The Gild starts an exciting season with the perennially popular Arden Fair on Saturday, Sept. 1. Fairgoers can revel in delicious kettle corn and baked goods, rides and games, art and the (free) Shady Grove stage with top-notch bands, including The Blues Reincarnation Project, Sarah Koon and The Tall Pines. Friday, Sept. 7, is the earliest show ever for Arden, heralding the return of the California Guitar Trio with Jesse Marchant opening. Saturday, Nov. 3, brings Toronto-based Kaia Kater Trio’s acoustic music, influenced by the Caribbean, Appalachia and Canada. Opening that show is Richie and Rosie, featuring Richie Stearns (Horseflies banjo player) and Rosie Newton (The Duhks and The Mammals). The Gild has already sold out its Sunday, Dec. 9, concert with Lisa Loeb. If you’ve never been, plan a trip to this musical hamlet soon!
2126 The Highway, Arden • 898.9308
Tickets: ardenconcerts.com
Facebook: @ArdenConcertGild • Twitter: @ArdenConcerts
The Arts at Trinity
Once again, Trinity offers a season of exceptional musical performances with no admission charge. The year opens on Sunday, Oct. 21, with an all-Beethoven program from The Archduke Trio and other works featuring violinist Kate Ransom, pianist Jennifer Nicole Campbell and cellist Guang Wang. A November performance will include a sacred music concert during the church’s public worship service.
1108 N. Adams St., Wilmington • 652.8605 • theartsattrinity.org
Facebook: @TheArtsatTrinity
Brandywine Baroque
Brandywine Baroque opens its 2018-19 season the weekend of Oct. 12-14 with “The Triumph of Virtue”—a selection of sonatas and carats by Bousset and Stanley, plus sonatas for violin by Croft and Rebel. Guest violinist Heather Miller Lardin joins gambist John Mark Rozendaal for “Sonata for Viola da Gamba and Violone” by Buxtehude. On the weekend of Dec. 7-9, the ensemble revels in “The Delirium of Love,” a musical celebration of concertos and cantatas, with guest vocalist Augustine Mercante.
205 Center Meeting Rd., Wilmington • 652.4190
Tickets: brandywinebaroque.org
Facebook: @BrandywineBaroque
City Theater Company
CTC launches its 25th season with new Artistic Director Kerry Kristine McElrone in an exciting residency at The Grand Opera House and a Best of Delaware nod. A one-night-only, concert-style revisit of their blockbuster Green Day’s American Idiot is set for the baby grand on Saturday, Oct. 6. The fall production is the rollicking musical Mamma Mia!, running Dec. 7-15. Monthly Fearless Improv performances will be held in The Grand’s Sarah Bernhardt Salon, and improv classes at the Delaware Historical Society begin in October. Spring welcomes the return of the Fearless-co-hosted Tax-Free Comedy Festival. Look for 25th anniversary “pop-up” celebrations throughout the season.
Performance venue: The Grand, 818 N. Market St., Wilmington
city-theater.org • 220.8285 • Tickets: TheGrandWilmington.org
Facebook: @CityTheaterCompany
Twitter/Instagram: @CityTheaterCo
Christina Cultural Arts Center
Christina partners with the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew & Matthew for the
Photo Alisha Jones Photography
“Soul of the City Festival” on Saturday, Sept. 29. Showcasing both organizations with a family fair and musical block party, the event includes food and retail vendors circling the blocks of Shipley, Market & 8th streets. Family activities begin at 10 a.m. with live music starting at 2 p.m. Christina’s known for intimate performances by acclaimed jazz and R&B artists. This season is no different, starting with Grammy-nominated jazz/R&B duo The Baylor Project on Sunday, Oct. 7, and continuing Friday, Nov. 2, with five-time Grammy nominee Christian Sands. In December, the stunning contemporary dance-music-narration of “Carols in Color” features Eleone Dance Theatre. Christina also hosts monthly visual art exhibits, beginning with Stephen Kingsberry’s “Burden of Palestine” on Friday, Oct. 5.
705 N. Market St., Wilmington • 652.0101 • Tickets: ccacde.org
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @CCACDE
The Delaware Art Museum
This fall, The Delaware Art Museum presents two female artists and activists. Opening on Saturday, Nov. 3, is Politics and Paint: Barbara Bodichon and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Bodichon was a tireless reformer and champion of women’s rights. Her 1854 Brief Summary of the Laws of England Concerning Women helped promote the passage of the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882. Monday and Wednesday, Nov. 5 and 7 (at the Rt. 9 Library & Innovation Center), the Museum opens Okwui Okpokwasili’s Poor People’s TV Room. Okpokwasili’s multimedia dance is informed by two historical incidents in Nigeria: The Women’s War of 1929, a resistance against British colonial powers; and the Boko Haram kidnappings of more than 300 girls, which launched the Bring Back Our Girls movement. Note: The performance includes partial nudity.
2301 Kentmere Pkwy., Wilmington • 571.9590 • Tickets: delart.org
Facebook: @DelawareArtMuseum
Twitter/Instagram: @DelArtMuseum
Delaware Children’s Theatre
The theater’s season opens with Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Jr., running Oct. 6-28. This classic is a romantic fairy tale featuring DCT’s finest young actors and terrific songs. The Christmas Carol story always delights and touches the heart as Scrooge 
and Tiny Tim bring us the best of the holidays, and DCT brings the story to life with Scrooge the Musical, Nov. 17-Dec. 9. New this season is a family event—Dickens’ Christmas Party on Friday, Dec. 14.
1014 Delaware Ave., Wilmington • 655.1014
Tickets: dechildrenstheatre.org
Facebook/Instagram: @DelawareChildrensTheatre
The Delaware Contemporary
The Contemporary begins its season with its Forged of Nature Fashion Fundraiser on Saturday, Sept. 29. The event features a runway show by Ellen Durkan of Iron Maiden Forge and Shannah Warwick of BlckBts. These artists blend opposing techniques and materials to challenge the perception of fashion as wearable 
expressions of art. Saturday, Nov. 17, go on an art-buying adventure with SABA IV (Small Art, Big Auction). Art lovers can choose from intriguing selections of 6”x6” artwork, at $25 each. All works are listed anonymously until sold, so you could snag a piece from a well-known talent. Every third Wednesday is the series ON ART—conversations with the artists, featuring exhibiting artists, regional artists and curators.
200 S. Madison St., Wilmington • 656.6466
Tickets: decontemporary.org
Facebook/Instagram: @DEContemporary
DelawareShakespeare
Explore social justice with the Bard’s most famous trial scene during Shylock v. Antonio and the City of Venice: The Appeal. This mock trial features Dean Rodney A. Smolla arguing for Shylock, and Kathleen Furey McDonough of Potter Anderson & Corroon responding for Antonio, with an all-star panel of retired Delaware judges at Delaware Law School on Tuesday, Oct. 16. It’s a fundraiser for DelShakes’ 2018 Community Tour of The Merchant of Venice, expanding to 18 statewide
Photo Alessandra Nicole
performances for audiences that traditionally have limited access to the arts. The Tour concludes with public ticketed performances at OperaDelaware Studios, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 17 & 18. Next, Shakespeare, Poe & Fiends haunts four historic spaces—the New Castle Court House Museum, the Stone Stable in Odessa, Old Town Hall in Wilmington and the Old State House in Dover—Oct. 11-14.
Performance venues: Various in Delaware • 415.3373
Tickets: delshakes.org
Facebook/Instagram: @DelShakes
Delaware Symphony Orchestra
DSO’s main Classics Series, in Copeland Hall at The Grand, is preceded by a talk from the stage from Maestro David Amado. The American Dream: A Tribute to Leonard Bernstein on Friday, Sept. 28, includes Bernstein’s Serenade and Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring: Suite, as well as violinist Jennifer Koh. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity is celebrated on Friday, Nov. 9, in collaboration with the University of Delaware Symphonic Choir for Cherubini’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica.” The more intimate Chamber Series, in the Hotel du Pont’s Gold Ballroom, starts Tuesday, Oct. 23, with An Evening with DSO Winds, with the DSO Woodwind Quintet: Kimberly Reighley, flute; Jeffrey O’Donnell, oboe; Charles Salinger, clarinet; Erik Höltje, bassoon, and Karen Schubert, horn. Tuesday, Dec. 11, features violinist David Southorn and pianist Lura Johnson in DSO Principals: Violin and Piano.
Performance Venue: The Grand, 818 N. Market St., Wilmington • 656.7442 • delawaresymphony.org • Tickets: TheGrandWilmington.org
Facebook: @DelawareSymphony • Twitter: @DelawareSymph
Delaware Theatre Company
DTC continues to develop new works with the world premiere of Bruce Graham’s Sanctions, Sept. 12-30. Inspired by true events, this incendiary new drama explores scandal and conflict threatening the reputation of a university athletic department whose NCAA probation was just lifted. Next, Fully Committed, written by Kathryn MacMillan, offers plenty of laughter Oct. 17-Nov. 4. Can an out-of-work actor juggle coercion, threats, bribes and histrionics of callers as he mans the reservation line of Manhattan’s top restaurant? Then groove in your seats for A Sign of the Times—a ‘60s musical featuring Petula Clark and other hit-makers, Nov. 28-Dec. 23. Created by Richard J. Robin with book by Bruce Vilanch, this feel-good musical is the story of a young woman coming into her own in a turbulent world.
200 Water St., Wilmington • 594.1100 •
Tickets: DelawareTheatre.org
Facebook/Instagram: @DelawareTheatreCompany
Twitter/Snapchat: @DelawareTheatre
First State Ballet Theatre
First State Ballet Theatre’s presents Don Quixote from Oct. 19-21 in the baby grand. On Friday and Saturday, Nov. 16 and 17, FSBT presents one of its most popular
Photo Tisa Della-Volpe
events, Up Front with FSBT, giving audiences an opportunity to experience classical and contemporary works and rub elbows with the dancers in a reception afterward. And it wouldn’t be a holiday season without The Nutcracker, and FSBT delivers with its lavish production in Copeland Hall, Dec. 21-23.
Performance Venue: The Grand,
818 N. Market St., Wilmington
658.7897 x3851 • firststateballet.com
Tickets: TheGrandWilmington.org
Facebook/Instagram: @FirstStateBallet
Twitter: @FSBTheatre
Gable Music Ventures
After another successful Ladybug Festival, Gable continues to be the channel for live music in the Wilmington area, booking artists in venues all over town and curating 
the popular Wilmo Wednesdays at Ernest & Scott Taproom in Wilmington. Gable ups the ante this fall with the Fortify Music Festival at Delaware City’s Fort Dupont on Saturday, Sept. 29—a daylong battalion of local bands and national-touring tribute acts on two outdoor stages. Check Gable’s website for details.
Performance venues: Various in DE • gablemusicventures.com
Facebook/Instagram: @GableMusicVentures
Twitter: @GableMusic
The Grand Opera House & The Playhouse on Rodney Square
The Grand brings another fantastic season of programming with some 52 shows confirmed and growing. The newest season of Broadway in Wilmington presented by Bank of America features blockbusters like Finding Neverland, The Sound of Music, Something Rotten, SPAMALOT, Cirque Dreams Holidaze and Legally Blonde The Musical. Get your Celtic music fix with Lúnasa: Christmas in Ireland, The Young Dubliners or Songs of Ireland. For comedy lovers, there’s Lewis Black, Kathleen Madigan, David Sedaris. Enjoy tunes from Del and Dawg, Jim Brickman, Take Me To The River Live, I’m With Her featuring Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan, and more! Families will love Drumline LIVE, A Charlie Brown Christmas Live or one of the new sensory-friendly shows, including The Rainbow Fish.
The Grand: 818 N. Market St., Wilmington • 652.5577
Tickets: TheGrandWilmington.org
The Playhouse: 1007 N. Market St., Wilmington • 888.0200
Tickets: TheGrandWilmington.org
Facebook: @TheGrandWilmington • Facebook: @ThePlayhouseDE Twitter/Instagram: @TheGrandWilm
Light Up the Queen Foundation
Light Up the Queen has partnered with Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation for On Screen/In Person—a series of independent socially relevant films, at The Queen. Screenings are pay-what-you-can at the door. It begins Sunday, Sept. 23, with Break the Chain, a look at the human trafficking industry told by two survivors. Holden On, Sunday, Oct. 21, is based on the true story of a high schooler in a small Georgia town who hides his mental illness as he morphs from a well-liked football player to a lost, self-medicating prophet. On Tuesday, Nov. 13, Tyrus tells the story of Tyrus Wong, an American artist born in China who produced a breathtaking scope of work while navigating personal and professional bigotry in 20th century America.
500 N. Market St., Wilmington • 610.616.0134 •
Tickets: lightupthequeen.org
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @LightUpTheQueen
Market Street Music
Wilmington’s most affordable, diverse music series presents its season’s first full-length Festival Concert on Sunday, Oct. 14, with organist David Schelat and continues with Pyxis Piano Quartet Sunday, Oct. 28; vocal ensemble Variant 6 Sunday, Nov. 11, and Mastersingers of Wilmington on Saturday, Dec. 1. Thursday Noontime Concerts begin Oct. 4 with a roster including the Copeland String Quartet with baritone Grant Youngblood; pianist Daniel Carunchio; Taggart-Grycky flute & guitar duo; and a return by the Lyra Russian Choir of St. Petersburg. Thursday Noontimes culminate in the holiday traditions of the Cartoon Christmas Trio on Dec. 6 and a concert by Center City Chorale on Dec. 12.
Performance venue: First & Central Presbyterian Church, 1101 N. Market St., Wilmington & The Delaware Historical Society, 505 N. Market St., Wilmington • 654.5371 • Tickets: marketstreetmusicde.org
Facebook: @MarketStreetMusicDE
Mélomanie
This Wilmington ensemble celebrates its 26th season with new cellist Ismar Gomes and new concert venue for their Wilmington Series—the Delaware Historical Society. This year there is new music by Suzanne Sorkin, Richard Belcastro, Roberto Pace,
Photo Tim Bayard
Christopher Cook and Larry Nelson as well as baroque works of Couperin, Telemann, Abel and Rameau. Also new is a collaboration with local jazz artist Jonathan Whitney. Their Opening Concert, Sunday, Oct. 8, features a multimedia piece, Hubble’s Eye, by Christopher Cook, paired with video from the Hubble Deep Space Telescope. On Friday, Dec. 7, the ensemble presents a Winter Concert by Candlelight.
Performance venue: The Delaware Historical Society, 505 N. Market St., Wilmington
Tickets: melomanie.org • Facebook: @MelomanieDE
The Music School of Delaware
The Music School begins with Opening Night—The Magic of Music! on Wednesday, Oct. 3—with works by Rossini, J.S. Bach & Mozart. The Cultural Crossroads series features music of the 1930s (Sunday, Nov. 11); a January 2019 Martin Luther King, 
Jr. celebration; and a springtime commemoration of Woodstock’s 50th anniversary. Alumni All-Stars return on Wednesday, Nov. 28. And the school continues to host Classical Café (beginning Saturday, Oct. 20)—a coffee-and-donuts roundtable on music. There are also community Open Mic Nights (beginning Thursday, Sept. 13), a monthly Bluegrass Jam, and jazz and rock ensemble performances.
4101 Washington St., Wilmington • 762.1132
Tickets: musicschoolofdelaware.org
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @MusicSchoolofDE
OperaDelaware
OperaDelaware’s series, Opera Uncorked—coupling operatic highlights with wine tastings by Swigg Real Wine, Craft Beer & Spirits—celebrates Halloween on Friday, Oct. 19, and Sunday, Oct. 21, with Mayhem, Madness, Malbec & More. Top-flight singers perform songs from opera’s most chilling scenes, paired with an optional wine tasting. Sunday, Nov. 11, welcomes back mezzo soprano Megan Marino for Artist Spotlight: Megan Marino with pianist John Arida. Marino appears courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera.
4 S. Poplar St., Wilmington • 442.7807 • Tickets: operade.org
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @OperaDelaware
Pyxis Piano Quartet
On Thursday, Sept. 27, the Pyxis Piano Quartet opens its 10th Anniversary Season at the Delaware Art Museum with their dramatic musical response to the current exhibit of Hank Willis Thomas’ retroreflective photographs of the 1968 National Guard occupation of Wilmington. This concert features music of Schnittke, Hailstork, Debussy and Gal. The ensemble continues their celebratory season with the first program of their two-concert residency at First & Central Church (Sunday, Oct. 28, see “Market Street Music” above), which includes Martinu’s whimsical Three Madrigals for violin and viola, along with piano quartets of Mozart and Mendelssohn.
Performance venue: Delaware Art Museum, 2301 Kentmere Pkwy., Wilmington
Tickets: pyxispianoquartet.com • Facebook: @PyxisPianoQuartet
The Queen Wilmington
The Queen will draw national touring acts that have never performed in the area, including Andy Grammer, Nothing More, UB40 and Reel Big Fish, with genres ranging from reggae to rock to hip-hop. The Queen also spotlights local content such as the Saturday, Sept. 29, event, Local Brews Local Grooves—a beer and music festival with 17 Delaware breweries and eight local bands. For the full calendar, see the website.
500 N. Market St., Wilmington • 202.730.3331 • Tickets: thequeenwilmington.com
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @QueenWilmington
The REP (Resident Ensemble Players)
The REP opens its 2018-19 season with Lettice and Lovage by Peter Shaffer (Sept. 13-Oct. 7), a madcap comedy about friends, history and white lies. Next is the Tony-nominated black Irish comedy, The Seafarer by Conor McPherson (Sept. 20-Oct. 7). “Sharky” Harkin, in Dublin for a whisky-soaked Christmas Eve, suddenly realizes that he’s playing the ultimate high-stakes game. Woman in Mind by Alan Ayckbourn (Nov. 8 – Dec. 2) is a darkly wry yet poignant story of feuding families—one real, one imaginary.
Roselle Center for the Arts, 110 Orchard Rd., Newark
831-2204 • Tickets: rep.udel.edu
Facebook: @rep.udel.edu • Twitter/Instagram: @Delaware_REP
University of Delaware Department of Music
UD’s Department of Music’s season opens Friday, Sept. 14, with the Faculty Gala, as
Photo courtesy of University of Delaware
well as Resident Ensembles and Faculty Artist Recitals throughout the semester. Students perform in the UD Marching Band at football games, in the mighty Wind Ensemble, the Symphonic Band, Jazz Ensembles, and the award-winning Chorale. The season includes the return of world-class guest artists the Calidore String Quartet on Friday, Sept. 28, with a North American premiere by composer Caroline Shaw, and a Cabaret Night on Saturday, Oct. 13.
Mitchell Hall, Roselle Center for the Performing Arts, Newark • 831.2578
Tickets: music.udel.edu
University of Delaware Master Players Concert Series
Producing Artistic Director Xiang Gao announces the opening of the 13th Master Players Concert Series “Modern Pioneers” on Sunday, Oct. 7, with Great Musical Families: David Finckel & Wu Han, leading listeners through the evolution of classical music. Anne-Marie McDermott & Friends on Sunday, Nov. 4, features the world premiere of a piano quartet by renowned composer Bright Sheng. Soprano Irini Kyriakidou sings in the holiday season with A Holiday in Greece on Saturday, Dec. 8. Concerts are at 3 p.m. in Gore Recital Hall. For more information, visit www.masterplayers.udel.edu.
Gore Recital Hall, Roselle Center for the Performing Arts, Newark • 831.2905
Tickets: masterplayers.udel.edu
Facebook/Twitter: @UDMPCS
Wilmington Drama League
In its 86th season, the Drama League opens with the Tony Award-winner Fun Home (Sept. 14-23), directed by Chris Turner and music directed by Kelly Kline. When Alison’s father dies unexpectedly, she dives into her past to tell the story of the man who defined her family and life. Next, WDL spreads Neil Simon’s Rumors (Oct.19-28), where at Sneden’s Landing the Deputy Mayor of New York has just shot himself. As confusion mounts, the evening spins into farcical hilarity. Get a double shot of nostalgia and holiday spirit with A Christmas Story, The Musical (Dec. 14-30). Join in the fun with Ralphie: dreams of a BB-gun for Christmas; a tongue stuck to a flag pole; a garish leg lamp; and a Chinese Christmas dinner.
10 W. Lea Blvd., Wilmington • 764.1172
Tickets: wilmingtondramaleague.org
Facebook: @WilmingtonDramaLeague
Instagram: @WilmingtonDramaLeague
OTHER ARTSY ITEMS OF NOTE
Humble Park Concert Series
A partnership of Spaceboy Clothing, Downtown Visions, IN Wilmington, Bruce Productions, Poppycock Tattoo, Jerry’s Artarama, The Buccini/Pollin Group, Tri-State Underground & Southbound Comedy has led to The KEEP IT COOL Music, Art & Comedy Series at Humble Park. The outdoor series, which runs Fridays until October, features local bands, comics, artists and food trucks. The series runs from 7-11 p.m. On Friday, Sept. 7, there is music from The Wasted Arrows Band, Mighty Joe Castro & The Gravemen & The Parsnip Revolt. Sept. 21 and Oct. 5 are comedy nights with Brandon Jackson & Friends.
4th & Shipley Streets, Wilmington • spaceboyclothing.com
Facebook: @HumbleParkWilmington
Tonic & Michele Mitchell Pastry Series
Culinary artist and pastry diva Michele Mitchell has struck out on her own and now conducts this series of Sunday classes for the public at Tonic Bar & Grill. Each class incudes a demonstration, hands-on work with guidance from Mitchell, a themed cocktail and take-home recipes. Oct. 14 is The Art of Making Macaroons; Nov. 11, learn Holiday Gifts—Mason Jars, Treats/Quick Breads/Loaf Cakes. And sign up now for the popular Dec. 9 Christmas Cookies & Holiday Cakes session. All classes are 2-4 p.m.
Tonic Bar & Grille •
111 W. 11th St., Wilmington • 777.2040
Facebook/Instagram: @mmpastrydesigns
