The MSU Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts in Meridian has released the roster of musical and theatrical performances set to celebrate the prominent venue’s 10th anniversary.
Vince Gill opens the 2016-2017 season on Sept. 8. With more than 20 Grammy Awards and numerous Country Music Association awards, Gill is among the country’s most revered artists. His show is the first of many that will feature major artists and several theater offerings.
They include “Fame, The Musical” Sept. 30; Big Head Todd and The Monsters Oct. 15; Keb’ Mo’ Oct. 21; Melissa Etheridge Oct. 27; Patti LaBelle Nov. 3; Rick Springfield Nov. 17; Jessica Lang Dance Dec. 1; and the Oak Ridge Boys with “Christmas Night Out” Dec. 8.
Jazz maestro Wynton Marsalis is the first performance in 2017, on Jan. 17. Several theatrical productions, including Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Nile” Feb. 10, round out the current schedule.
Tickets
Current season-ticket holders must renew by Wednesday, July 27 to receive the same seats. New season-ticket sales open Monday, Aug. 1. Buyers can also “build your own package” by choosing three more shows in the 2016-2017 fall/winter series to receive a discount and early seating options. Package options go on sale Monday, Aug. 8.
For more information and individual show pricing, go to msurileycenter.com, contact the box office at 601-696-2200 or email [email protected].
The center
The center opened with fanfare in 2006 and has showcased a wide variety of art forms each season since, regularly attracting visitors from not only the Golden Triangle area but from throughout the state.
The Riley Center’s “jewel box” theater seating about 950, and the facility’s 30,000 square-foot conference center, are the result of painstaking renovation originally spearheaded by community leaders and Mississippi State University. The project represents a $25 million restoration effort of what was formerly known as the Grand Opera House, which had fallen into disrepair. Master planning began in 2002; demolition work began in 2003, with construction work starting later that year.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.