Artis—Naples brings 'Disney's Aladdin'; 'Mean Girls'; jazzman Marsalis; 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' at 50

Artis—Naples has announced its 2022-23 season, and for big names, they went straight to the top: Walt Disney and the Son of God.

The venue brings its first musical bearing the mouse-maker's name, "Disney's 'Aladdin'" Jan. 17-22. And the groundbreaking Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice pop musical, "Jesus Christ Superstar," is here March 14-19 during its 50th birthday party tour.

Artis—Naples picks up the pandemic pieces 

Like other milestone appearances, the cake and candles are two years late, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down all Broadway shows. In fact, a number of listings have the ring of deja vu because they were previously scheduled here, but were delayed by the pandemic shutdown.

A rescheduled Berlin Philharmonic residency will now bookend the last year of the Chicago Symphony's residency. Sax virtuoso Charles McPherson resumes his concert tour, cut short by the tsunami of COVID's Omicron variant. 

They're back, part of a season that will get Post-its over a number of other big winners at ticket-buying time:

• Among  the musicals: The Tony-winning "Hadestown" (Dec. 27-Jan. 2), which even has a Naples producer, Sandi Moran; and the Jeff Richmond-Nell Benjamin-Tina Fey high-school dram-com "Mean Girls" (April 18-23, 2023).
• For Pops Series fans, an "Unforgettable" evening sharing the hits of Nat King Cole and his daughter, Natalie, Feb. 21-25. There are performances from genre-vaulting Kelli O'Hara, star of musicals like "Jekyll and Hyde" and operas like Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte," among others (Jan. 31-Feb. 4).
• In the Visiting Orchestra Series, finally — fingers crossed — the Berliner Philharmoniker and its chief conductor, Kirill Petrenko, arrive for a two-day, two-concert visit Nov. 21-22. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra returns for the final year of its interrupted residency March 2-4, under Music Director Riccardo Muti. The pandemic not only delayed the orchestra's visit by two years; it delayed Muti's plan to retire as well, so Naples is seeing him in his final season with the CSO after 12 years. Also visiting: The Cleveland Orchestra, Jan. 28.
• In the All That Jazz Series, the final Marsalis brother, Delfeayo, and his trombone star with the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra on March 1. So all four famous Marsalis brothers, and their father, Ellis, will have played here. And those who were disappointed sax wizard Charles McPherson had to cancel his tour have a second chance. They can see him for two shows Nov. 9.

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• Masterworks devotees will see a familiar face in a new role. It's Associate Conductor Radu Paponiu's first time to conduct a Masterworks Series, partnering with the Naples Philharmonic and guest artist Emanuel Ax Jan. 12-14 on Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3. 
• Two dance companies, Ballet X of Philadelphia and Alonzo King LINES Ballet of San Francisco, debut here, along with the annual two appearances of Miami City Ballet. Part of their appeal, according to David Filner, executive vice president of artistic operations, was their desire to work with a live orchestra, one of the strengths of Artis—Naples, with the Naples Philharmonic here. 
• The Baker Museum of Art season was announced as well, including a rare exhibition: "Love Stories from the National Portrait Gallery, London." This number of works is available only because the Gallery has been shut down for extensive renovation. Visitors will see famous faces, but also famous artists, from Thomas Gainsborough to Man Ray and David Hockney. (A story on the museum's entire season will appear in Thursday editions of the Naples Daily News.)

Watch those guest conductors

While the philharmonic is in a search for its new director after Andrey Boreyko leaves, audiences will be paying special attention to the guest conductors.

"We're not asterisking anyone because everyone is someone we're proud to bring to Naples and see if there's chemistry both onstage and offstage, and what breaks that invisible wall between the stage and the audience," CEO and President Kathleen van Bergen said. 

"The important message around our conductors this year is that we've been really pleased to be building relationships over the years with some of these conductors. Some of them were even delayed because of the pandemic, so we're happy to have them on the season," van Bergen said. "But we are always looking at future artistic leadership, even when we have a music director."

Two will be in their second appearance here: Alexander Shelley and Hannu Lintu.

Artis—Naples administration has loosely allied The Baker Museum exhibition season with that of the philharmonic with a theme for a number of years. That will continue on a scale that incorporates its lecture and entertainment series. 

"We don't officially have our theme. You're going to have to wait until our July announcement for that," van Bergen said. "But I will say that love permeates many of the programs."

That is borne out in the parts of the Baker Museum schedule released already. As well as the National Portrait Gallery exhibition, love is a prime motivator in the story of "The Brightness of Light." The Kevin Puts work draws from letters between artist Georgia O'Keeffe and photographer Alfred Stieglitz, chronicling the romance and rocky marriage of two art icons.

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It's sung by Renée Fleming, a familiar concert star, but in her first appearance as a Masterworks soloist Feb. 16 and Feb. 18. She and baritone Rod Gilfrey, both of whom performed the world premiere of "The Brightness of Light," will reprise it here with the Naples Philharmonic and guest conductor Juanjo Mena.

There's multimedia — a projection component as well by Wendall Harrington. Its premiere here is of special significance because the Naples Philharmonic is one of seven organizations that co-commissioned it. 

More audial romance awaits in the Masterworks and Pops series:

• "Jack's Hollywood Epics" Nov. 1-5, which has featured Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly's choices, such as the theme to "Gone With the Wind," "The Way We Were" and "Sophie's Choice";
•  Elgar's "Enigma Variations," on the same program as "The Brightness of Light"
•  Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade" March 9 and March 10;
• Two different approaches to the world's best-known love affair on May 5 and 6, 2023: Tchaikovsky's "'Romeo and Juliet' Overture — Fantasy" and Prokofiev's "Selections from 'Romeo and Juliet'"

David Filner, executive vice president, artistic operations for Artis—Naples, pointed out that there's not only love, there's diversity in the upcoming programming. 

"We're also very proud we have a variety of composers and artists. I think there are eight living composers on the Masterworks programs. There are seven female composers, three composers of color," he said. "There's some diversity in what we're bringing, as well as the Beethovens and the Rimsky-Korsakovs and the Romeo and Juliets."

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Season tickets for subscribers are on sale now; new subscription sales open May 31. See artisnaples.org or call 239-5971900.

Harriet Howard Heithaus covers arts and entertainment for the Naples Daily News/naplesnews.com. Reach her at hheithaus@gannett.com

Three season conversation-starters

• In 2023, the Visiting Orchestra Series at Artis—Naples has three of the top 10 orchestras in the world, according to most critics' lists. (Actually, it's three of the top eight.) The Cleveland Orchestra, which canceled its tour this year because of COVID-19 worries, is back with music director Franz Welser-Möst on Jan. 28; the other two are the Chicago Symphony and the Berlin Philharmonic. 
• The Masterworks Series gets a kickstart Oct. 20 and Oct. 21. Hannu Lintu, a native of Finland, will open the series conducting a work from a fellow countryman that is emotionally charged and geopolitically timely, Jean Sibelius' Symphony No. 2. Composed in 1902 while Finland was agitating for independence under Russian oppression, it is both nationalistic and personal, with one of the most powerful final movements ever written. 
• Visitors to the "Love Stories from the National Portrait Gallery, London" at The Baker Museum will see a work by Thomas Gainsborough, whose "Blue Boy" changed a generation's taboo about using that color for dominance in paintings. The Gainsborough work coming here makes the same point. Lady Kirby's canvas-filling dress is in arresting aqua tones with green shading.