Livermore, CA – Truly moving into the New Year, Livermore Valley Arts is thrilled to welcome in its Bankhead Presents lineup stars of comedy and music whose names we all know and love. From the much-requested return of Rita Rudner and her comedic insights on Friday, February 28, to the Rae Dorough Speaker Series’ presentation of the drummer of the British rock band The Police, Stewart Copeland, and his “evening with” event Have I Said Too Much? The Police, Hollywood, and Other Adventures on Wednesday, March 5, to the Ambassador of American Songbook, Michael Feinstein in Because of You: My Tribute to Tony Bennett on Friday, March 7, winter at The Bankhead will be filled with laughs and nostalgia, stories and music that will fill the hearts of Tri-Valley audiences with joy. All of these exciting performances will be at the beautiful Bankhead Theater in Downtown Livermore.

A house-filling favorite in Las Vegas since she opened as one of the hottest tickets in town in 2000, Rita Rudner is known for her epigrammatic one-liners. Over the course of a multi-year run, she sold almost two million tickets, grossed over a hundred million dollars, and became the longest-running solo female comedy show in the history of Las Vegas. She was named Las Vegas’s Comedian of The Year nine years in a row and in 2006 received The Nevada Ballet’s Woman of The Year Award, and in 2017 was given the Casino Entertainment Legend Award. Rita’s first solo HBO special, Rita Rudner’s One Night Stand, was nominated for several awards, as was her eponymous English BBC television show that later appeared in the USA on A&E. Rudner’s two one-hour specials for HBO, Born to Be Mild and Married Without Children, were ratings standouts and she performed all over the country, filling Carnegie Hall in New York three times. In 2008 Rita Rudner: Live From Las Vegas was PBS’ first-ever stand-up comedy special. In addition to stand-up, Rudner has written several books: her bestselling non-fiction titles include Naked Beneath My Clothes, Rita Rudner’s Guide to Men, and I Still Have It…I Just Can’t Remember Where I Put It, plus the novels Tickled Pink and Turning the Tables. The audio version of Naked Beneath My Clothes received a Grammy nomination. A former regular guest on both Late Night with David Letterman and The Tonight Show, Rudner is also a frequent collaborator with her writer/producer husband of thirty years, Martin Bergman. The couple’s first produced film script was Peter’s Friends. The film, starring Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Kenneth Branagh, Imelda Staunton, Stephen Fry, and Rita, won the Evening Standard Peter Sellers Award for Best British Film and was nominated for the Goya Award for Best European Film of 1994. The script was nominated for a WGA Best Screenplay Award and Rita won Best Supporting Actress at the American Comedy Awards. The couple’s second film project, a TV movie called A Weekend in the Country, starred Rita, Jack Lemmon, Dudley Moore, Richard Lewis, Christine Lahti, Betty White, and Faith Ford. Bergman and Rudner’s last film, Thanks, premiered at the 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival, won several awards on the film festival circuit, and was bought and frequently aired by Showtime. Her memoir My Life In Dog Years was published in 2022, and the following year, she appeared at the Laguna Playhouse in the world premiere of STAGED, a new comedy written by her and Bergman. Returning to Livermore after countless sold-out performances at The Bankhead, LVA is elated to present once again the hilarical Rita Rudner on February 28 with this much-anticipated return. Tickets for this performance are selling fast.

The Rae Dorough Speaker Series will present an A-List rock star on March 5 with Stewart Copeland, who enjoyed remarkable success with The Police and is one of the greatest drummers of all time, a multi-Grammy winner, and a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. Having played drums for Curved Air from 1975 to 1976, he went on to drive The Police to world domination between 1977 and 1986 before composing Hollywood soundtracks, writing books, forming a supergroup, making films, and composing for ballet, opera, and classical music. In this fascinating “Evening With,” Have I Said Too Much? The Police, Hollywood, and Other Adventures, Stewart will talk about his incredible life as a performer, musician, entertainer, and writer on March 5 in an unforgettable conversation-speaker event at The Bankhead.

The Bankhead will come alive celebrating a Big Band and a musical legacy with Michael Feinstein in Because of You: My Tribute to Tony Bennett featuring the Carnegie Hall Ensemble. In this unforgettable concert, supported by the Carnegie Hall Ensemble, Feinstein pays a heartfelt tribute to the legendary Tony Bennett, bringing his iconic songs to life in a symphony of sound. The performance will feature hits such as “Because of You,” “Rags to Riches,” “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” “The Best is Yet To Come,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Stranger in Paradise,” and many more. Feinstein's dynamic interpretations, coupled with the grandeur of the Carnegie Hall Ensemble, will create an unforgettable night that honors the legacy of Tony Bennett in all its glory. Feinstein’s close friendship with Tony Bennett adds a profound layer to this tribute, as their camaraderie brings authenticity and depth to each note performed. Not only does Feinstein’s masterful interpretation of Bennett’s timeless repertoire pay homage  o an era of classic songwriting, but it also preserves the rich cultural heritage that these songs represent. The show also brings to bear the history of Carnegie Hall, which has been connected to American jazz and big band ensembles for decades. Icons from across the 20th and 21st centuries have graced the stage of Carnegie Hall, from Benny Goodman to Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong to Ella Fitzgerald, and from Frank Sinatra to of course, Tony Bennett. A multi-media element of the show will help to bring this history to life on stage. In the words of Feinstein himself, “Tony Bennett is one of the most enduring icons of the 20th century. He has created a body of work surpassed by none.” Do not this evening of musical excellence at The Bankhead on March 7. (This show is not affiliated with the Tony Bennett Estate.)

Show: Rita Rudner
Date/Time: Friday, February 28, 2025, at 8:00pm Selling Fast
Tickets: $25—$95 ($25 student/military personnel) / Groups of 10 or more save 20%

Show: Stewart Copeland: Have I Said Too Much? The Police, Hollywood, and Other Adventures
Date/Time: Wednesday, March 5, 2025, at 7:30pm
Tickets: $25—$80 ($25 student/military personnel) / Groups of 10 or more save 20%

Show: Michael Feinstein in Because of You: My Tribute to Tony Bennett
Date/Time: Friday, March 7, 2025, at 8:00pm
Tickets: $25—$130 ($25 student/military personnel) / Groups of 10 or more save 20%

Tickets for shows in the 2024-2025 Bankhead Presents season are available online, by calling 925-373-6800, or at the box office windows. For a complete list of events, visit www.LivermoreArts.org