RESTON, VA — Reston Community Center (RCC) proudly announce s the 2021 – 2022 Professional Touring Artist Series (PTAS) at the CenterStage. The season offers an exciting mix of new artists and those Reston has come to know and love. Tickets will be available to Reston residents and employees on August 1 and to the general public on August 8. Highlights of the season include longtime bluegrass band The Seldom Scene, author Heather McGhee (The Sum of Us) and the hilarious Dragapella® music of The Kinsey Sicks.

“It is our great pleasure to welcome our audiences back to the CenterStage,” said RCC Arts and Events Director Paul Douglas Michnewicz. “Whether you are seeking an escape from your troubles with sublime dance or want to be inspired by thought leaders or you just need to laugh, the Professional Touring Artist Series has something for everyone to enjoy.”

The 2021 – 2022 PTAS season includes:

Mutts Gone Nuts, A Comedy Dog Act

Sunday, September 19

3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

$10 Reston/$15 Non-Reston

Expect the unexpected, as canines and comedy collide in a smash hit performance that’s leaving audiences everywhere howling for more.

National Heritage Award Fellows Paschall and Company and Chuck Brown Band at the Reston Multicultural Festival

Saturday, September 25

11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. (Performance times vary)

Lake Anne Plaza; Free, All Ages

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) National Heritage Fellowships are the nation’s highest honor in folk and traditional arts. Come to the annual Reston Multicultural Festival to see some of these great artists and so much more.

The Seldom Scene

Saturday, October 2

8:00 p.m.

$25 Reston/$35 Non-Reston

What does it take for a bluegrass band to remain popular for more than four decades? For The Seldom Scene, it has taken talented musicians, a signature sound and a solid repertoire, as well as a delightful sense of fun.

The Blackest Battle

By Psalmayene 24

Monday, October 25

7:30 p.m.

$15 Reston/$20 Non-Reston

As part of the Washington West Film Festival

Directed by Raymond O. Caldwell

In this revolutionary hip-hop musical, Bliss and Dream, members of warring rap factions, fall in love while wrestling with making sense of their turbulent lives.

The Dancing Light

Celebrating the Warmth of Winter

Akua Allrich and The Tribe

Saturday, November 20

8:00 p.m.

$15 Reston/$20 Non-Reston 

Come share an evening filled with music from around the world celebrating the wonder of the season and joy of living.

Baratunde Thurston

Writer, Comedian, Activist

Sunday, January 16

2:00 p.m.

$15 Reston/$20 Non-Reston

Baratunde Thurston holds space for hard and complex conversations with his blend of humor, wisdom and compassion.

Reston Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration Keynote Address and Community Lunch

Heather McGhee

Monday, January 17

11:00 a.m.

$5 Reston/$10 Non-Reston

Heather McGhee is one of the most brilliant and influential thinkers exploring inequality today. Both her viral TED talk and her instant New York Times bestseller The Sum of Us reveal the devastating true cost of racism – not just for people of color, but for everyone.

A Reading of American Moor

With Keith Hamilton Cobb

Saturday, February 5

8:00 p.m.

$15 Reston/$20 Non-Reston

Keith Hamilton Cobb embarks on a poetic exploration that examines the experience and perspective of Black men in America through the metaphor of Shakespeare’s character Othello, offering up a host of insights that are by turns introspective and indicting, difficult and deeply moving.  

Ibram X. Kendi

Author of How to Be an Antiracist

Wednesday, February 9

8:00 p.m.

$15 Reston/$20 Non-Reston

Ibram X. Kendi is one of America’s foremost historians and leading antiracist voices. His book, How to Be an Antiracist was published in 2019 to great acclaim.

Art Spiegelman

What the %@&*! Happened to Comics?

Sunday, February 27

3:00 p.m.

$20 Reston/$30 Non-Reston

Pulitzer Prize-winning artist/illustrator and author Art Spiegelman, author of Maus and Maus II, almost single-handedly brought comic books out of the toy closet and onto the literature shelves.

Lúnasa

Sunday, March 20

3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

$25 Reston/$35 Non-Reston

Named for an ancient Celtic harvest festival in honor of the Irish god Lugh, patron of the arts, Lúnasa is a gathering of some of the top musical talents in Ireland.

Spectacular Falls, A Slippery Solo Musical

With Anita Hollander

Saturday, March 26

8:00 p.m.

$15 Reston/$20 Non-Reston

Come share a humorous, edgy, moving and somewhat slippery exploration of how we all fall, how the world can fall apart and how we rise again.

Mr. Vaudeville and Friends Present Mystery! at the Vaudeville House

Saturday, April 2

3:00 p.m.

$5 Reston/ $10 Non-Reston

Bring the family and join an audience of unlikely sleuths for an afternoon of high crimes and high jinks.

Class: The Carla Perlo Story

Wednesday, April 6

8:00 p.m.

$15 Reston/$20 Non-Reston

Experience a documentary film, interspersed with live performance, about dancer and choreographer Carla Perlo and her influence on her students, the field of dance, the communities in which she worked and her advocacy for property ownership by artists over the course of 48 years.

123 Andrés

Saturday, April 9

3:00 p.m.

$5 Reston/ $10 Non-Reston

123 Andrés is the award-winning duo of Andrés and Christina, who entertain with catchy songs and a high-energy show that gets kids and families singing and dancing in Spanish and English.

Reduced Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet’s Big Adventure (a prequel)

Sunday, April 24

3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

$25 Reston/ $35 Non-Reston

The Reduced Shakespeare Company returns to Reston with the Washington, DC premiere of

this hilarious (and completely fictional) prequel to Hamlet.

Living Simply So Others Might Simply Live

Ed Begley Jr.

Actor

Wednesday, May 4

8:00 p.m.

An Earth Day Special!

$15 Reston/$20 Non-Reston

Ed Begley Jr. will share his inspiration and insight into one of the world’s most important causes – environmental sustainability. All ticketholders will be given a packet of pollinator flower seeds. Stay afterward for a book signing.

A Quest for Freedom: A collaboration between Nai-Ni Chen Dance and the Ahn Trio

Wednesday, May 18

8:00 p.m.

$20 Reston/$30 Non-Reston 

Originally inspired by the Ahn Trio’s adaptation of David Bowie’s Space Oddity and their interpretation and performance of Purple Rain by Prince at Ellis Island, Nai-Ni Chen worked with the Trio to find their common vision in this dance and live music performance.

The Kinsey Sicks

Saturday, June 4

8:00 p.m.

$20 Reston/$30 Non-Reston

America’s favorite Dragapella® Beautyshop Quartet will serve up a feast of a cappella music and comedy.

Unless otherwise noted, all performances take place at the CenterStage, located at Reston Community Center Hunters Woods. Additional information about each of the performances is available online at www.restoncommunitycenter.com.

Tickets will be available for purchase as follows:

August 1: Sales Open to Reston Residents and Employees, 1:00 p.m.
Residents and employees within Small District 5 can purchase tickets. Proof of residence or employment status may be required.

August 8: Sales Open to the General Public; Online Sales Begin, 1:00 p.m.
The general public, as well as Reston residents and employees, can purchase tickets.

Box Office Business Hours are as follows:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 4:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Saturday: 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Two Hours Prior to Curtain Time for Each Performance

  Photo: L to R: Nai-Ni Chen, Heather McGhee, The Kinsey Sicks. Photos courtesy RCC.