Tickets to Comedian Bill Cosby’s Sept. 26 appearance sold out in about two hours, Reynolds Performance Hall Director of Finance and Marketing Ashley Love said.
Cosby starred in the 1980s sitcom, “The Cosby Show” and has entertained people for more than five decades. He has received eight Gold records, five Platinum records and five Grammy Awards. Cosby’s role in the television series “I Spy” made him the first African-American to co-star in a drama. He won three Emmy Awards for the role.
The 2013-14 Reynolds season tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. Aug. 12. Prior to that date, Reynolds renewed season tickets and new season tickets opened up in July.
“Surprisingly enough, our lecture for Neil deGrasse Tyson also sold out in about two hours,” Love said. “I’d actually say he was more popular than Bill Cosby because we had more tickets to offer because of season subscriptions.”
Love said Cosby’s performance stands out because he’s been entertaining for more than 50 years.
“Once you get into any age category beyond the students, everyone has grown up with Bill Cosby,” she said. “He really just hits absolutely everybody.”
Despite normally being out of Reynolds’ price range, Love said the performance hall was given a rare opportunity to book Cosby.
“Apparently, within the last couple of years, he changed management and kind of went down on his fees a little bit so he could do more shows,” she said. “Honestly, his agent contacted us.”
Love said Cosby “wasn’t even on our radar” and that the process of negotiating and signing the contract took about four months.
At another sold-out event, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson will speak as part of the UCA Distinguished Lecture series Feb. 27. He is the Hayden Planetarium director and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History .
Love said Tyson has been booked with UCA for two years.
“Something came up and he couldn’t fulfill this last February,” she said.
Love said Herman Edwards replaced his performance.
Another famous face, Audra McDonald of “Private Practice,” will perform Nov. 2. McDonald has won five Tony Awards for her roles on Broadway, including a 2012 win for leading actress in The Gershwins’ “Porgy and Bess.”
Straight No Chaser sold out quickly in its second run at UCA.
“We did not see that coming,” she said.
Love said she didn’t think people would come to see them again.
All-male a cappella group Straight No Chaser will return this fall following a sold-out performance at Reynolds in November 2012.
About 200 students got tickets on the first day tickets went on sale for Straight No Chaser.
Love said it wasn’t difficult to get Straight No Chaser to return to UCA after last year’s performancec sold out.
“While people were standing in line [for autographs], they kept approaching [former UCA Public Appearances Director Jerry Biebesheimer]and myself and asked to bring them back,” she said.
Love said the group’s new album featuring songs with big-name artists such as Sara Bareilles, Jason Mraz and Elton John will make them less likely to return to a smaller venue in the future.
“They are going to be way too big to do again in a facility like ours,” she said.
Love said she is thrilled to have musicians Béla Fleck and Chick Corea as performers this season. The duo combines musical styles and will be at Reynolds on April 22.
Cirque Éloize opens the season with “Cirkopolis,” a show that combines circus, dance and theatre, on Sept. 14.
Other performances, which will be featured in the Broadway series, include “The Addams Family Musical” on Nov. 18 and “Sweet Charity,” a look into the life of a romantic in New York City, on March 20, 2014.
Journalist Lisa Ling, executive producer and host of “Our America” on the Oprah Winfrey Network, will speak at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 25. At the age of 21, she covered the civil war in Afghanistan.
Ling is also an author of “Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home.” The book, co-written with her sister Laura, details the detainment of Laura in North Korea and Lisa’s attempts to free her.
For the first time in the history of Reynolds, the stage will transform into an ice skating rink Jan. 21 for “Broadway on Ice.”
“[Preparing for the show] will probably be one of the hardest things we’ve ever done,” Love said.
Senior Taylor Ward said he is looking forward to seeing Cosby and Tyson this season.
“I’ve seen [Tyson] on the Science Channel and he seems interesting,” Ward said.
Reynolds started a marketing technique this season aimed at more options for people interested in seeing certain events.
“Pick Six” allows people to purchase subscriptions based on personal preferences in each series.
“Between season ticket renewals and new season tickets, and probably a lot to do with this “Pick Six,” it’s no surprise that it filled up really quickly when we opened ticket sales,” she said.
This season, Reynolds has added a special performance from Lightwire Theater. The production is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Ugly Duckling” and Aesop’s fable, “The Tortoise and The Hare.” Lightwire Theater was a semi-finalist on the NBC competition show “America’s Got Talent.”
Love said she feels anyone, regardless of age, will be captivated by the production that features technology and moving sculpture. The event, sponsored by Alice 107.7, will be at 10 a.m. Oct. 5.
For more information about 2013-14 season tickets, call the box office at 501-450-3265 or visit uca.edu/publicappearances.
