Two new tribute shows featuring San Diego-area artists performing the music of Taylor Swift and Johnny Cash & June Carter will kick off the new Local Launchpad series this spring at UC San Diego.
Created by ArtPower at UC San Diego, Local Launchpad was created to invest in local artists, give them the space to develop and later premiere their act on the UCSD campus and then tour the country. The first two shows to debut via Local Launchpad are both tribute acts, which are a popular draw with concert audiences. They will both be presented at the university’s new Epstein Family Amphitheater.
The Epstein Family Amphitheater at UC San Diego won the 2023 Orchid for Public Architecture.
(Safdie Rabines Architects)
“Nostalgia and tribute concerts not only entertain but also serve as a fantastic way to introduce community members to our new venue,” said Colleen Kollar Smith, executive director of UCSD’s Campus Performance and Events Office. “We are thrilled to present bands that have built large followings in San Diego like Yachtley Crew and Queen Nation. At the same time, we want to create opportunities for local artists to develop work and provide a platform that will serve them creatively and economically into the future.
“This program is intended to forge a pathway to representation for this work and pave the way for future tours of these concerts to performing arts centers and venues beyond our region,” Kollar Smith said.
The first show, “Because You’re Mine: The Music of June Carter and Johnny Cash,” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. March 22 at the Epstein Family Amphitheater. Tickets are $20 to $45. Featured songs will include the dueta “Jackson” and “Long Legged Guitar Pickin’ Man,” and Cash solos “Because You’re Mine,” “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Ring of Fire.”
It stars married San Diego musical theater artists Charles Evans Jr. as Cash and Caitie Grady Evans as Carter. Charles Evans Jr. won a 2019 Craig Noel Award from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle for his performance as Johnny Cash in Lamb’s Players Theatre’s “Million Dollar Quartet.” Grady Evans also won a Craig Noel Award for her performance at Lamb’s Players’ 2018 production of “Once.” The couple have performed frequently as a concert double act around San Diego.
“We are delighted to be premiering ‘Because You’re Mine: The Music of June Carter and Johnny Cash’ at UC San Diego,” Evans Jr. said, in a statement. “The music of these two country legends has had a massive impact on my life, and this show is something I have dreamt of for a long time. The support we have received as part of the Local Launchpad program has made it possible to bring that idea to life and bring the show to audiences.”
Despite the similar subject matter, proximity and timing, “Because You’re Mine” is not related to the upcoming world premiere musical “The Ballad of Johnny and June,” that Des McAnuff is directing for La Jolla Playhouse. It runs May 28 through July 7 on the Playhouse campus at UCSD.
Cassie “Cassie B” Bauerman of San Diego will debut her Taylor Swift tribute show “Dream Like Taylor” on July 12 at UC San Diego, as part of ArtPower’s new Local Launchpad program.
(Courtesy of Jeff Lewis)
The second Local Launchpad show, “Dream Like Taylor: A Live Band Journey Through the Enchanted Eras of Taylor Swift” will be presented at 8 p.m. July 12 at Epstein Family Amphitheater. Tickets are $25-$35. The show will feature performances of “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Love Story,” “You Belong With Me,” “Look What You Made Me Do,” “Wildest Dreams” and more.
It stars local singer and musician, Cassie Bauerman, who performs under the name Cassie B, with musical arrangements by Taylor Peckham, the music director for the La Jolla Playhouse-born Broadway musical “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” and projections and video by Blake McCarty, a two-time Craig Noel Award winner for Outstanding Projection Design.
“My dream for performing is to always be challenging myself to create bigger and better entertainment for audiences,” Bauerman said, in a statement. “This experience with UC San Diego is a significant step in my career with their support and creativity elevating my performance to a whole new level.”
Tickets for these shows are now on sale at artpower.ucsd.edu/events.