My daughter Angie was 5 years old when I took her to see Disney’s “The Lion King” at Tucson Music Hall (now Linda Ronstadt Music Hall).
We spent a few extra bucks for seats that were near the aisle where the phalanx of elephants, birds, giraffes and antelopes paraded to the stage. I remember Angie’s eyes getting wide with wonder when she heard that clarion call from the stage opening the glorious Elton John/Tim Rice anthem “Circle of Life” and seeing those characters so close she could almost touch them.
Eighteen years later, Angie can still recall that scene. Live entertainment and art has that affect on people. You will likely forget the movie you saw last week, but if your friends ask you about the band you saw a month ago, you will gush about the songs they sang, the audience’s reaction and the way it made you feel days and weeks later.
When it comes to gift-giving, giving the gift of live entertainment will create memories that will far outlast any toy, digital device or sweater on your wish list.
“Live entertainment is a memory that will last a lifetime, better than anything material that you’ll use or even give away,” said Broadway In Tucson General Manager Mario Di Vetta, who has been involved in Tucson’s performing arts scene since he joined the former UAPresents as a stagehand when he was a University of Arizona freshman in 2001.
Di Vetta first got interested in live theater when his parents took him to see “Phantom of the Opera” when he was 9 or 10.
“I just remember being enthralled with the stagecraft,” recalled Di Vetta, who has been Broadway In Tucson’s general manager since late 2021 after long-term marketing stints with the Broadway presenter and UAPresents, which is now Arizona Arts Live.
Di Vetta is now passing his love of live theater and live entertainment down to his and wife Gabriela’s son Mario and daughter Madison. The couple take the kids to many of the Broadway In Tucson shows, including Disney’s “Aladdin” in September, the annual Disney On Ice show at Tucson Arena, pop and country concerts, as well as Arizona Arts Live performances like the Parsons Dance Company show they saw in November.
“My 9-year-old and 5-year-old were captivated the entire time,” said Di Vetta, 40. “Madison was actually mimicking the choreography from her seat.”
Mario and Gabriela Di Vetta took their kids Mario, 9, and Madison, 5, to see Broadway In Tucson’s run of “Bluey’s Big Play” at Centennial Hall last January. Mario Di Vetta is general manager of the Broadway presenter and takes his kids to a lot of musicals and concerts.
“Going to live theater as a family means dressing up, going out to dinner, getting excited about something that no one else will get to experience for that one singular live performance ... because every live performance is unique and different, and then sharing the memory together forever,” he said.
The Di Vettas are heading to Las Vegas later this month to see country singer Carrie Underwood and will be in Centennial Hall next spring for “Shrek, the Musical,” which Broadway In Tucson is bringing in for one night only on March 7. Tickets go on sale Dec. 8, through broadwayintucson.com.
Here are some other performances coming up that we’ve added to our holiday wish list.
Just for kids
Nickelodeon’s “Paw Patrol Live: Heroes Unite” is at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave., Jan. 26-28; tickets start at $25 through ticketmaster.com.
Cirque du Soleil’s “Crystal” will combine skating and acrobatic feats on the ice and in the air at Tucson Arena, 260 S. Church Ave., from Feb. 29-March 3. Tickets start at $45 through ticketmaster.com.
Broadway In Tucson is bringing “Shrek: The Musical” to Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. on the University of Arizona campus, for one show only on March 7; tickets go on sale Friday, Dec. 8, through broadwayintucson.com.
Young audiences get to sing and dance along with “Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour,” which comes to Tucson May 8.
“Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour” pulls into Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress St., on May 8 with Blippi and Meekah dancing, singing and learning their way around every city they visit. This is a kiddos’ dance party, where the audience is encouraged to sing and dance along. Tickets are $20-$60 through foxtucson.com.
Tucson Symphony Orchestra performs the live soundtrack to “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” in its second cineconcert of the season. This one is at Centennial Hall on May 17; tickets are $54-$125 through tucsonsymphony.org.
The musical comedy “Mrs. Doubtfire” is at Centennial Hall May 28-June 2; tickets are $30-$140 through broadwayintucson.com.
For those who want to rock
There are several concerts we’d love to see, including:
Black Violin, from left, Will B and Kev Marcus, return to the Rialto Theatre on Jan. 26. We are their first show of 2024.
If you haven’t seen Black Violin in its previous Tucson shows over the past several years, you should plan to see them when they return to Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., on Jan. 26; tickets are $40.50-$69 through rialtotheatre.com.
Country legend Clint Black will be at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall with his wife, Lisa Hartman Black, and daughter Lily Pearl Black on Feb. 8. Tickets start at $33 through ticketmaster.com.
Bass-driven electronica DJ Excision brings “Nexus,” his most ambitious stage show to date, to Tucson Arena on Feb. 18; tickets are $47-$87 through ticketmaster.com.
Multi-instrumentalist Brian Culbertson’s “The Trilogy Tour” stops at Rialto Theatre on Feb. 23; tickets are $39.50-$54.50 through rialtotheatre.com.
Willie Nelson's son Lukas Nelson, center, is bringing his Promise of the Real (aka POTR) band to Rialto Theatre on March 11.
If you love Willie Nelson, you’re going to really love his son Lukas Nelson and his band Promise of the Real when they play the Rialto on March 11; tickets are $29.50-$49.50 through rialtotheatre.com.
The 1970s-’80s pop band Toto (“Africa,” “Hold the Line”) will take some of us back to high school and/or college when they take the Rialto Theatre stage on March 19; there are only a few tickets left starting at $57 through rialtotheatre.com.
Country superstar Lainey Wilson headlines Country Thunder 2024 in Florence on April 11, the first of the four-day festival that runs through April 14. Other headliners include Eric Church, Jelly Roll and Texas outlaw country singer Koe Wetzel. Four-day passes start at $300 through countrythunder.com/az.
For the jazz lover
The 10th annual HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival Jan. 12-20 is bringing in 10-time Grammy-winning trumpeter Arturo Sandoval to kick things off at the Rialto Theatre on Jan. 12. The Havana, Cuba-born Sandoval, whose mentor and greatest influence was the American jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie, is largely regarded as one of the world’s greatest jazz trumpet and flugelhorn players. Tickets are $42-$85 through tucsonjazzfestival.org.
Calexico’s John Convertino, left, and Joey Burns will join the Tucson Symphony Orchestra for a Tucson Jazz Festival concert on Jan. 13.
Tucson’s own Calexico makes its debut with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra on Jan. 13 — the 95th anniversary of the orchestra’s very first concert. This is a makeup concert from the show in 2012 that Joey Burns and John Convertino were supposed to do with the orchestra but had to cancel. There are not a whole lot of tickets left for their show at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, so don’t delay; $29-$89 through tucsonsymphony.org.
Arizona Arts Live and the Tucson Desert Song Festival are presenting Cécile McLorin Salvant in concert as part of the 2023 HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival on Jan. 19.
Other jazz fest gift ideas include a concert with award-winning jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant on Jan. 19 at Centennial Hall that’s presented by Arizona Arts Live and the Tucson Desert Song Festival; the Blue Note Quintet celebrating Blue Note Records’ 85th anniversary on Jan. 20 at Fox Tucson Theatre; and Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue at the Fox on Jan. 20. Get more info at tucsonjazzfestival.org.
For the classical music lover
The 12th annual Tucson Desert Song Festival Jan. 14-Feb. 15 and March 2-April 9 is bringing to Tucson stages eight vocalists that we’ve never heard before and reuniting us with several who have become familiar faces and voices. Check out the festival’s website at tucsondesertsongfestival.org for a complete lineup and schedule, but we think we’d love to see True Concord Voices & Orchestra‘s “Mozart & Hagen: Two Important Encores” Jan. 26-28; the Feb. 15 world premiere of “Quiet Poems,” which the song festival commissioned from Peruvian composer Jimmy López Bellido for renowned tenor Michael Fabiano; and Tucson Symphony Orchestra’s Verdi’s Requiem with the TSO Chorus and soloists including the return of bass Morris Robinson and soprano Katie Van Kooten.
Soprano Nicole Cabell returns for the 2024 Tucson Desert Song Festival with True Concord Voices & Orchestra.
True Concord also is hosting the return of soprano Nicole Cabell in her third consecutive song festival. She will join the professional choir and orchestra for Poulenc’s “Gloria” April 5-7. The program also includes Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” and selections from Bernstein’s “Candide.”
Links to ticketing sites are available through tucsondesertsongfestival.org.
Tucson Symphony Orchestra conductor José Luis Gomez will lead the orchestra in several concerts that are on our holiday wish list.
If you waited to get tickets to see cello great Yo-Yo Ma with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra on May 9, you’re too late. TSO officials said the concert sold out within an hour of tickets going on sale months ago. But there’s a few TSO concerts on our wish list, including “100 Years of Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody In Blue’” ($14-$90) with Tucson vocalist Crystal Stark and pianist Stewart Goodyear on Feb. 24-25 and “She’s Got Soul” on March 16-17 ($12-$65) with blues/R&B vocalist Capathia Jenkins performing some of the biggest hits from Anita Baker, Toni Braxton, Chaka Khan & Rufus, Earth, Wind & Fire and Adele. Tickets are available through tucsonsymphony.org.
For a good laugh
We have a few comedy shows that are solidly on our radar, including:
Comedian/podcast host Anthony Jeselnik’s “Bones and All” tour stops at Desert Diamond Casino, 1100 W. Pima Mine Road, on Feb. 3; tickets are $40-$65 through ddcaz.com.
Fortune Feimster’s “Live Laugh Love!” tour pulls into Rialto Theatre on Feb. 29; tickets are $35-$165 through rialtotheatre.com.
Brad Upton is at the Rialto on March 10; tickets are $27.50-$44 through rialtotheatre.com.
New Orleans comedian and podcast host Steve Hofstetter is at 191 Toole, 191 E. Toole Ave., on April 2; tickets are $20-$145 through rialtotheatre.com.
Ali Wong returns for a March 2 show at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall; tickets are $47-$97 through ticketmaster.com.
Emmy-nominated “SNL” writer Nimesh Patel brings his “Fast & Loose” tour to the Fox.
Nimesh Patel brings his “Fast & Loose” tour to Fox Tucson Theatre on Jan. 12; tickets are $39.50 through foxtucson.com.
Brad Williams with J.B. Ball is doing two shows on Feb. 4 at the Fox; tickets are $29.50-$39.50 through foxtucson.com.
Comedian Kathy Griffin hasn't been to Tucson for several years.
It’s been years since Kathy Griffin has stood on a Tucson stage. She brings “My Life on the PTSD-List” to Fox Tucson Theatre April 3; tickets are $37.50-$97.50 through foxtucson.com.
Comedian Wanda Sykes brings her "Please & Thank You" tour to Fox Tucson Theatre on June 2.
Funnywoman Wanda Sykes brings her “Please & Thank You” tour to the Fox on June 2; tickets are $65-$85 through foxtucson.com.
For the theater lover
Invisible Theatre is hosting Ingrid Griffith's one-woman show "Unbossed & Unbowed" that retraces trailblazer Shirley Anita Chisholm's life and times.
Arizona Theatre Company from Jan. 20-Feb. 10 is mounting Lynn Nottage’s 2003 play “Intimate Apparel,” which found new life in 2022 after Nottage teamed up with composer Ricky Ian Gordon to create a chamber opera version. Gordon and the opera’s star Justin Austin were part of the 2023 Tucson Desert Song Festival last February. Tickets are $25-$75 through atc.org.
Invisible Theatre does a lot of innovative things on its stage and on Jan. 20-21, it’s hosting the Tucson run of Ingrid Griffith‘s one-woman show “Unbossed & Unbowed,” inspired by the life of trailblazer Shirley Anita Chisholm, the first African-American woman to be elected to Congress. The performance will be at the Berger Center for the Performing Arts, 1200 W. Speedway; tickets are $45 through invisibletheatre.com.
The University of Arizona’s Arizona Repertory Theatre will reopen the Marroney Theatre on Feb. 25 with its winter musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” The Stephen Sondheim/Hugh Wheeler musical thriller runs Feb. 25-March 17; tickets are $24, $15 for students with ID through theatre.arizona.edu. The Marroney has been closed since last November when work began on an $8.5 million renovation and expansion project that was part of the Arizona Arts Master Plan approved in March 2020.
Arizona Opera is bringing one of the greatest love stories of all time to Linda Ronstadt Music Hall on March 9 and 10. Gounod’s “Roméo & Juliette” sets Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers to Gounod’s romantic and rapturous soundscape that has made this a perennial audience favorite. tickets are $30-$125 through tickets.azopera.org.
Arizona Arts Live brings innovative programs to interesting spaces on the UA campus. From April 17-21, it’s hosting the Dutch collective Urland’s one-person play “Bedtime Stories” under the stars of Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium. Tickets are $35, $10 for students with ID through arizonaartslive.com.
Tucson Landmarks: Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St., opened in 1919 as a luxurious mainstay for visitors arriving in the Old Pueblo.
The downtown landmark has kept much of its history alive in the past century, while also bringing modern amenities to Tucson natives and tourists.
Video by Riley Brown / For the Arizona Daily Star
