Five New Shows Added to 2005-2006 Season

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For Immediate Release

December 5, 2005

Just after releasing the news that a second concert featuring Yo-Yo Ma with the Silk Road Ensemble has been added in February, The Paramount is announcing four more new performers that will appear on the 2005-2006 Season schedule -- hit country group Lonestar, multi-faceted performer and comedienne Kathy Griffin, classical and gospel singer April Jana Johnson-Bynes in an event commemorating the African-American experience at The Paramount, and country headliner Hal Ketchum.

The career of master cellist Yo-Yo Ma testifies to his continual search for new ways to communicate with audiences and find connections that stimulate the imagination. Ma's Charlottesville engagement features the Silk Road Ensemble, which he founded in 1998. Silk Road explores the rich cultural traditions of the historic trade route of the same name, which connected Asia and Europe, its peoples and customs. The Ensemble's music reflects a multicultural reality of transnational voices belonging to one global community. The added performance with Ma and Silk Road will be on Thursday, February 23, 2006 at 8 pm, and tickets are $100, $75, and $50.

Self-proclaimed "good 'ole boys from Texas," Lonestar will bring some of latter-day country music's biggest hits to a show at The Paramount on Saturday, February 11 at 8 pm. With hits such as "Coming Home,""Amazed," "My Front Porch Looking In," and "I'm Already There," the band illustrates the artistic appreciation for everyday life that is the backbone of country music. By noticing taken-for-granted moments and infusing them vocally and instrumentally with emotion and passion, the commonplace becomes classic. Seats for Lonestar's concert are $55, $52, and $49.

Chicago native Kathy Griffin is probably best known for playing Vickie Groener, Brooke Shields' acerbic colleague on the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan. Griffin's standup specials include Hot Cup of Talkon HBO, Bravo's The D-List and Kathy Griffin Is Not Nicole Kidman, and her DVD Allegedly. Other credits include TV guest appearances on Seinfeld, The Drew Carey Show, ER, Mad About You, and Whose Line Is It Anyway? among others, and the films Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, and The Cable Guy. Griffin's Paramount show will be on Thursday, February 16 at 8 pm, and tickets are $40, $37, and $34.

In a bittersweet yet celebratory event, The Paramount will honor part of its own history with a commemoration of the theater's Third Street Entrance on Tuesday, April 11 at 8 pm. Featuring a concert with classical, opera, and gospel singer April Jana Johnson-Bynes, the evening will testify to those members of the African-American community who experienced The Paramount as a segregated public space. A permanent photo and text collage in the Third Street Entrance will honestly share the theater's entire past to foster greater understanding, and strengthen human and race relations for the future. Tickets to the event are $25, $22, and $19. A $10 student ticket will be offered, and a $50 Patron ticket is also available.

Singer/songwriter Hal Ketchum first made big noise in country circles with 1991's "Small Town Saturday Night," which went straight to number one, and scored the musician his first Gold record. The "poet laureate of country music," Ketchum has a wealth of stories to tell and been inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. In the past decade, he has had fifteen memorable top 10 records, including the hits "Past the Point of Rescue," "Sure Love," "Hearts Are Gonna Roll," and "Mama Knows the Highway" and "Stay Forever." His Paramount concert will be on Tuesday, April 18 at 8 pm, and tickets are $32, $29, and $26.

All five performances will go on sale to Paramount Theater Members on Monday, December 12, and the general public on Monday, December 19. Anyone who is not currently a Member of The Paramount may join during the Member sales period and take advantage of early purchasing. For tickets and information, contact The Paramount's Box Office at 434.979.1333.  Tickets will be available online on December 12.