The addition of the Skyline Stage and the expanded campus have brought a new crop of patrons to the Mann. President & CEO Cathy Cahill says last season over 50 percent of younger audience members were first time attendees, "the skyline stage is attracting young bands, young performers, hot artists and young audiences."
Big acts in July include popster Christina Perri, Broadway star Idina Menzel and funny man and filmmaker Seth Macfarlane performing with the Baltimore Symphony.
"He will be with us singing some of the most wonderful songs from the American Songbook. He really sounds like a combination of Frank Sinatra, meets Harry Connick Jr," says Cahil, and it's not just music. You can watch Movies at the Mann too. The Philadelphia Orchestra will play the score from the first movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy as the flick plays on the jumbo-tron. Jazz and pop singer Diana Krall performs with the orchestra July 24th.
"And then we will also be concluding the Orchestra season with an all-Beethoven program with the iconic Beethoven 5th Symphony, an absolute crowd pleaser," says Cahill.
The summer season also includes lots of rock, including Phish, Lenny Kravitz and Alabama Shakes, and Cahill says new food stands offer more dining options, "and at night, when the light hits the downtown buildings, they glimmer and they get this golden glow; no place else like the Mann can you get that view. So come for dinner, stay for the show."
The Mann Summer Season runs through mid-September. For the full schedule and tickets, go to www.TheArtsinPhilly.org.