VERO BEACH — Series subscriptions and single tickets for the Emerson Center’s 2015 Celebrated Speakers Series are limited but still available for sale.
An easy phone call to The Emerson Center will buy you that last-minute stocking stuffer ticket for the engaging and informative speakers in the four-program series. Series subscriptions are available for $275 and $255 until Jan. 17.
Single tickets for $80 and $70 are on sale now. Performances are held on Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. with the exception of the speaker on Sunday, Feb. 8.
The series launches with the former Director of the CIA, General David Petraeus on Saturday, Jan. 17. In the most critical days of America’s military role in the Middle East, General Petraeus provided steady, sensible leadership for combat troops, took command of the U.S. Central Command after the 2007 surge in Iraq, and in 2010, he was sent by President Obama to command NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The following year, Petraeus retired from the Army after 37 years of service and was named Director of the CIA. In November 2012, he resigned as Director, citing his extramarital affair with his female biographer. Today, General Petraeus is the chairman of KKR Global Institute, a visiting professor at CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College, a Judge Widney Professor at the University of Southern California, and a member of the advisory boards of several veterans’ organizations.
An exception to Emerson’s usual Saturday performances, ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff will appear at 4:30 and 7 p.m on Sunday, Feb. 8. Abramoff rose to become the nation’s most successful and prominent legislative promoter before becoming enmeshed in a harrowing political scandal.
Well-known scientist Dr. Michio Kaku appears at the podium on Saturday, Feb. 28. His face is known to millions of viewers of network news shows and insightful specials on the Discovery, History, and Science channels and is among America’s most recognized futurists with a unique ability to make sense of complex theories of physics.
Concluding the series on March 21, is movie Producer/Director Lee Daniels. Daniels claimed an Oscar nomination for Best Director (Precious, 2009) and is highly-recognized for The Butler (2013), the heart-felt story of the White House servant who observed a nation’s evolution during eight presidential administrations. Daniels will tell about his determined journey to break into the Hollywood movie business.
Tickets for Emerson Center performances may be purchased either online at www.TheEmersonCenter.org or by calling the Box Office at (772) 778-5249. Student tickets for balcony seating will be sold for $20 for the 6:30 p.m. performance only. Tickets will be sold at the door with a student ID. Active Duty Military are eligible for balcony tickets for $25 at the 6:30 p.m. performance only for General Petraeus.
The Emerson Center is conveniently located on the campus of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach, on the southeast corner of 16th Street and 27th Avenue. It has more than 300 parking spaces, an auditorium that seats more than 800 people in comfortable padded seating, a raised stage that offers everyone unrestricted views, and professional state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems. Ask about the new elevator to the 2nd floor balcony and the seating for the physically challenged.