Music and comedy lovers have reason to celebrate this February at the Lillian S. Wells Hall at The Parker.
With a legendary career spanning several generations and a multitude of genres, Aretha Franklin truly earned her title, “The Queen of Soul.” A Tribute to Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul on Thursday, February 3 at 8 p.m. features musician, vocalist and composer Damien Sneed, who toured with the incomparable Franklin, and special guest Valerie Simpson. Backed by an accomplished cast of jazz, gospel, and soul musicians and vocalists, Sneed’s multi-media tribute delivers fresh renditions of Franklin’s most cherished hits including “Respect,” “Knew You Were Waiting,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Precious Memories,” “Think,” “Until You Come Back To Me,” “Daydreaming,” “Freeway,” “Natural Woman,” and others. Simpson, a six-time Grammy nominee, is half of the songwriting-performing-producing entity known as Ashford & Simpson. Along with her late husband Nick Ashford, she penned classic hits such as, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “You’re All I Need to Get By,” “Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand,” “I’m Every Woman,” and many others that were made famous by Franklin. Tickets are $29.50-$79.50.
Billy Prine and the Prine Time Band present The Songs of John Prine on Friday, February 4 at 8 p.m. in a concert presented by the Broward Center and AEG Presents. Natural-born storyteller Billy Prine pays tribute to his late brother John, a two-time Grammy® Award winner who was among the English language’s premier phrase-turners and a natural-born songwriter. Billy will tell stories about or surrounding some of John’s most beloved songs before leading his band through his version of John’s timeless masterpieces, including the first time John plated his classic song “Paradise” for their father as the family sat around the kitchen table. Tickets are $33-$53.
Seth Rudetsky’s Broadway Concert Series presented by Mark Cortale continues as Santino Fontana joins Rudetsky to dish the dirt and raise the roof on Saturday, February 5 at 8 p.m. Fontana received the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for his cross-dressing role in Tootsie and was nominated for Broadway’s highest award for his starring role as Prince Topher in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella although his voice may be best known as that of another prince – Prince Hans in the Walt Disney Animation Studios films Frozen and Frozen 2. His other Broadway credits include originating the role of Tony in the New York production of Billy Elliot and the revivals of Brighton Beach Memoirs, Sunday in the Park with George, The Importance of Being Earnest and Hello Dolly. His television appearances include starring in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Moss Hart in Lincoln Center’s production of Act One which was filmed for PBS as well as Fosse/Verdon, Mozart in the Jungle and Shades of Blue. Tickets are $37-$67 with $123 VIP tickets which offer premium seating and other exclusives.
Broward Center and AEG Presents bring Hot Tuna Acoustic to The Parker on Monday, February 7 at 7:30 p.m. Hot Tuna, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady perform a well-honed and solid power in the groove from their years of experience and mutual inspiration. Hailed as “a psychedelic-blues institution” by Rolling Stone Magazine, no one has more consistently led American music for the last 50 years than founding core members Kaukonen and Casady, who were honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 2016 Grammy Awards. A highly respected interpreter of roots music, blues, Americana and popular rock-and-roll, guitarist and vocalist Kaukonen’s repertoire goes far beyond psychedelic rock. He is a music legend and one of the finest singer-songwriters in music. Casady, considered one of rock’s greatest and most original bassists, made his sweeping melodic mark helping to create the “San Francisco sound” with legendary rock group Jefferson Airplane and went on to track with Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Warren Zevon, members of the Grateful Dead, John Lee Hooker and Gov’t Mule. Tickets are $37.50-$77.50.
Los Lobos will have fans rocking on Wednesday, February 9 at 8 p.m. Four decades and more than 20 albums later, Los Lobos remains true to its east Los Angeles roots through the mix of rock, blues, Tex-Mex, country and Mexican folk. The three-time Grammy Award-winning group was formed by guitarist David Hidalgo and percussionist Louie Perez and has featured the same line-up uninterrupted since 1984. Los Lobos lends its signature musicality to classics like “Will the Wolf Survive,” “Shakin’ Shakin’ Shakes,” “Come On, Let’s Go,” “Don’t Worry Baby,” “Reva’s House” and “La Bamba.” Tickets are $50-$75.
Presented by the Broward Center and AEG Presents, Citizen Cope takes the stage on Thursday, February 10 at 8 p.m. to represent the work of Clarence Greenwood whose meld of folk, blues, hip-hop and various of other styles have earned him critical acclaim and commercial success. Cope built an entire career on trusting his gut and following his muse. He cracked the Billboard 200 for the first time with 2006’s Every Walking Moment, then launched his own label to release 2010’s The Rainwater LP and 2012’s One Lovely Day, his highest charting album to date. Citizen Cope recorded seven studio albums, charting 14 singles on Billboard country charts and won a GrammyAward for the single “Here Comes the Rain.” His latest album, The Pull of Niagara Falls, offers stripped-down acoustic versions of songs originally written for Greenwood’s still-unreleased late 90’s album, Shotguns, along with newly written material. Tickets are $36.50-$56.50.
Using huge projection photos and original film footage, The Simon & Garfunkel Story unfolds at The Parker on Friday, February 11 at 8 p.m. The audience will enjoy a full live band performing all the hits including “Mrs. Robinson,” “Cecilia,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Homeward Bound” and many more. Tickets are $40-$55.
Comedian, actor, singer and YouTube star Whindersson Nunes will perform Saturday, February 12 at 8 p.m. in an evening presented by the Broward Center and AEG Presents. The most popular comedian in his native Brazil, Nunes is also one of the most popular comedians in the world. He starred in Os Parcas, the most popular comedy film in Brazil in 2018 and boasts more than 43 million YouTube subscribers, among the most of any stand-up comedian in the world. Whindersson’s 2017 sold out arena performance in Brazil was filmed as an hour-long special featured on his YouTube channel garnering more than 38 million views. This show is in Portuguese. Tickets are $26.50-$37.50.
To celebrate Black History Month, I Have A Dream comes to The Parker on Wednesday, February 16 at 10 a.m. in a Smart Stage Matinee, presented by JM Family Enterprises. The phenomenal impact of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is chronicled in this compelling dramatization of the life and times of one of the most influential and charismatic leaders of our time. Inspired by the arrest of Rosa Parks, Dr. King becomes the prime mover behind the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, putting his philosophy of non-violent protest to work. Students will be inspired by the story of this great leader’s struggle and his dream of lifting “our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.” Tickets are $8.48.
The woman Rolling Stone called “One of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time,” Tig Notaro performs Friday, February 18 at 7 p.m. Star of the Funny or Die hit series Under a Rock with Tig Notaro, this groundbreaking stand-up comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director has been hailed for her effortless storytelling and fearless stage presence. Her work in various genres of entertainment have yielded several award nominations, including Emmy, Grammy, WGA, GLAAD and The Critic’s Choice Awards. A favorite on numerous talk shows, Notaro is a frequent public radio contributor. In 2018, she starred alongside Jennifer Aniston in the Nextflix film First Ladies, which she wrote with her wife/writing partner Stephanie Allynne and in 2019 she appeared opposite Oscar Award winner Octavia Spencer in the comedy Instant Family. For two seasons, Notaro wrote, produced, and starred in the critically acclaimed semi-autobiographical Amazon series One Mississippi, which she co-created with Oscar Award winner Diablo Cody. Tickets are $35.50 – $63.50.
Tower of Power takes the stage with a dynamic blend of R&B, soul, funk and AM POP on Saturday, February 19 at 8 p.m. in a concert presented by the Broward Center and AEG Presents. With 18 studio albums, Tower of Power has had eight songs on the Billboard Hot 100, with the highest charting
songs including “You’re Still a Young Man,” “So Very Hard to Go,” “What is Hip?” and “Don’t Change Horses (in the Middle of the Stream).” Tower of Powers’ horn section appeared on several other artists’ recordings, such as Otis Redding, Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, Huey Lewis, Santana, Stevie Nicks and more. At least 60 musicians have toured with the band over its 52-year history, but the sound remains the same. Tickets are $32.50-$77.50.
Surrounded by walls of concert-quality sound, the audience will be swept away on a mind-expanding journey driven by cutting-edge lasers, high definition, large-screen video projection and stunning lighting effects choreographed to the incomparable music of Pink Floyd with the Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular on Sunday, February 20 at 7:30 p.m. This year’s show celebrates Pink Floyd’s signature chart-topper Dark Side of the Moon, an album that sold more than 40 million copies and spawned hits like “Money” and “Us and Them,” as well as timeless classics from The Wall. Tickets are $37.50.
The Broward Center and AEG Presents bring multi-talented entertainment personality, comedian and New York Times bestselling author Claudia Oshry to The Parker on Friday, February 25 at 8 p.m., Oshry is the creator of the popular Instagram account, @GirlWithNoJob, amassing a following of three million people. She also hosts and produces the top-rated millennial morning show and podcast, The Morning Toast, and co-founded the podcast network, Toast News Network, which features female voices across TV, lifestyle, wellness and business. Tickets are $32.50-$57.50 with a $158 VIP package that includes premium seating and other exclusives.
Ticketmaster is the only official ticketing service of The Parker. Buy tickets online at ParkerPlayhouse.com and Ticketmaster.com; by phone at 954.462.0222; in person at The Parker box office and at the Broward Center’s AutoNation Box Office.
The Parker is following health & safety guidelines developed in collaboration with Cleveland Clinic and that have been informed by guidance of public health officials including the Centers for Disease Control. Ticket holders two years of age or older are required to wear a suitable face covering that covers the nose, mouth and chin. For entry to performances, all guests 12 years of age and older are asked to provide documentation of a recent negative COVID-19 test with an alternative option of voluntarily presenting documentation of full vaccination. Refunds are available for anyone who submits confirmation of a positive test result in the ten-day period prior to the performance. Performance ticket holders who do not comply with these policies may be required to leave the theater without refund. These health & safety guidelines are available at BrowardCenter.org and will continue to evolve as the environment changes.
The Parker, located in Holiday Park at 707 N.E. Eighth Street in Fort Lauderdale, is an affiliated venue of the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, which provides programming and management of the facility. The performance season at The Parker is supported by the Broward Performing Arts Foundation.
The Parker Complete February Schedule
February 3 A Tribute to Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul
February 4 Billy Prine and the Prine Time Band
February 5 Santino Fontana with Seth Rudetsky
February 7 Hot Tuna: Acoustic
February 9 Los Lobos
February 10 Citizen Cope
February 11 The Simon & Garfunkel Story
February 12 Whindersson Nunes
February 16 I Have a Dream
February 18 Tig Notaro
February 19 Tower of Power
February 20 Paramount’s Laser Spectacular featuring the Music of Pink Floyd
February 25 Claudia Oshry