Composer Marvin Hamlisch and comedian Jonathan Winters have canceled March shows at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto because of illness.
Doug Hosner, marketing director for the Gallo Center, said it's unusual for two artists to cancel shows so close to each other at the same venue. "It's never happened to me before in the business," he said.
Hamlisch, 67, is known for his Oscar-winning work on the movie scores of 1970s films "The Sting" and "The Way We Were," as well as composing the score to the Tony-winning 1970s musical "A Chorus Line."
He gave no explanation for the illness that caused the cancellation of his March 1 show in the 1,250-seat Rogers Theater, as well as shows in other cities, Hosner said.
Gallo Center board members were worried about the low ticket sales of only 300 seats. One board member sent an e-mail last month urging friends to buy tickets to the show as well as to two other shows facing low sales — singer Lorna Luft's tribute to her mother, Judy Garland, set for Feb. 14, and celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, set for Feb. 24. The e-mail said the center could lose "thousands of dollars" on each of those three shows if ticket sales did not improve.
Winters, 86, broke his ribs and was ordered by a doctor to cancel his March 11 Gallo Center show and other tour dates, Hosner said. About 700 tickets had been sold to the 1,250-seat Rogers Theater.
Winters recorded many classic comedy albums beginning in the 1960s and appeared on TV shows such as "The Jack Paar Show," "The Steve Allen Show" and "The Tonight Show." He has appeared in numerous films, most notably 1963's "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and 1965's "The Loved One." Comedian Robin Williams counts Winters as one of his idols.
Those who have purchased tickets to the shows can exchange them for another performance, get a gift certificate in the same amount or receive a full refund.
"It's too bad, because people were looking forward to those two shows," Hosner said.
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