Michael Doucet, Beausoleil’s front man, breaks out his fiddle and joins former Louisiana Poet Laureate John Warner Smith in this pair’s first-ever collaboration of music and the spoken word. This unique show is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 20 at the Theater at Baranco. The PASA team and its team of thinkers dreamed up this performance. Tickets and more information available at pasaonline.org
“These two artists, one musical and one literary, have created a unique experience where poet and fiddler play off each other’s talents,” says PASA executive director Jackie Lyle. “They’ve spent time carefully selecting tunes and poems that mesh exponentially into a grand experience for everyone who attends the concert.”
For the past 50 years, Michael Doucet and his band Beausoleil have been making some of the most potent and popular Cajun music on the planet. Born out of rich Acadian ancestry Doucet’s spellbinding fiddle playing and soulful vocals are pillars of his style. To a large degree, Doucet’s influence has built the international profile of Cajun music. From Carnegie Hall to the Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans, and at many international destinations, Doucet has captivated listeners at venues large and small. He received the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United State’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
John Warner Smith began writing poetry while building a successful career as a public administrator and a banker. Smith has published five collections of poetry and a novel, For All Those Men, which was published by UL Press in 2022. His poems have appeared in numerous literary journals. He was awarded the Linda Hodge Bromberg Poetry Award and in 2019, was named Poet Laureate of Louisiana. In 2020, Smith received a fellowship from the Academy of American Poets. He recently retired from the Shadows-on-the-Teche in New Iberia, LA, where he served as executive director.
The Theater at Baranco, which seats approximately 400, is inside the 100-year-old Dr. Raphael J. Baranco Elementary School (formerly N.P. Moss Middle School), which is located at the intersection of Moss St. and Mudd Ave., in the Sterling Grove neighborhood.
PASA’s Pop-Ups at Baranco, including the performance by Michael Doucet and John Warner Smith, are generously sponsored by the law firm of Oats & Marino and a partnership with 100 Black Men of Lafayette. Additional support has been provided by grants from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tour ism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, as administered by the Acadiana Center for the Arts. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
PASA is supported an operational grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, and an External Agencies Funding Program grant, sponsored by Lafayette Consolidated Government and administered by the Acadiana Center for the Arts.
For more information, contact PASA at 337-769-3231 or email jackie@pasaonline.org.
PASA is committed to an inclusive theater and community experience for all of its patrons. The Heymann Center and other venues are ADA compliant with accessible seating areas and a designated accessible entrance. Early seating is offered for those who need additional time to get to their seats and large print programs are also available. Patrons with disabilities who have additional accessibility requests or who are in need of additional information are encouraged to contact the PASA office at 337-769-3231 or email info@pasaonline.org. The Heymann Center can be reached at 337-291-5540.
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