Gary Clark Jr., Chicago, Leno among '17 Freeman Stage acts

A slew of improvements at Freeman Stage at Bayside near Selbyville will be paired with a musical schedule featuring Gary Clark Jr., Chicago, Trombone Shorty, The Wallflowers and Tedeschi Trucks Band this summer.

This year's real star of the 2,500-person Freeman Stage, which is celebrating its 10th season as one of Sussex County's largest concert venues, just might be the actual stage.

A new, mobile 40-by-40-foot stage has been installed, replacing what Freeman officials dubbed "the little stage that could."

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It will give performers twice as much space to strut their stuff at the outdoor venue, which will offer nearly 30 ticketed shows and more than 20 free performances beginning May 27 with the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus.

The Freeman Stage schedule, filled with a diverse mix of original national acts and tribute shows, should keep crowds coming to the venue, which has sold more than 320,000 tickets since opening in 2008.

Firefly Music Festival alums at Freeman this year include scorching blues guitarist and Grammy Award winner Gary Clark Jr. (July 17), the Jakob Dylan-led Wallflowers (July 12), hip-hop/funk hybrid Michael Franti & Spearhead (July 29) and Trombone Shorty (Aug. 3), who won over fans at Freeman in 2015.

Horn-filled, 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Chicago (Aug. 1) are also Delaware-bound, along with blues rockers Tedeschi Trucks Band (June 17) and country singers Mary Chapin Carpenter (Aug. 8) and Dustin Lynch (July 6).

"We want to present a diversity of genres, so we're not known only as a rock or country or even just a music venue," says Patti Grimes, executive director of the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation, the nonprofit arts organization that operates the open-air arts center. "This is a place where people can come and enjoy all types of art. There is literally something for everyone this summer."

Magic and juggling acts will share the same space with ballet and classical shows. And a steady stream of tribute acts are also on the summer schedule, including nights dedicated to the music of  Led Zeppelin, Bob Seger, ABBA, The Band, Michael Jackson, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Michael Bublé, The Beatles and Bruce Springsteen.

For the first time in Freeman's 10-year history, a comedian will headline a night. Former "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno will perform a Friday evening show on June 30.

In addition to the new stage, Freeman has made several other changes in the off-season, including switching its online ticket service from Vendini to Eventbrite, accepting American Express for the first time and adding an additional sponsors-only entrance.

Freeman Stage will also open their gates at 5:45 p.m. for most shows -- 15 minutes earlier than last year -- allowing patrons more time to eat at the collection of food trucks and beverage kiosks that serve pre-show meals.

A change has also been made in the Freeman Stage policy toward free admission for children. In the past, visitors 18 and under were admitted at no cost for select shows. It has been replaced by a new policy, which allows free entry for children 12 and under for all general admission shows. "We tried to make it easier this year for families," Grimes says.

Those changes, along with many of the bookings, came directly from customer demand via surveys filled out by Freeman Stage visitors, she added.

The live entertainment landscape has changed in southern Delaware since the Freeman Stage opened in 2008. Heck, it has changed since just last season with soon-to-open 4,000-person outdoor venue at Hudson Fields near Milton. The venue, operated by Highway One Group, owners of Dewey Beach hotspots the Bottle & Cork and The Rusty Rudder, has already announced shows by country act Old Dominion and California reggae band Dirty Heads.

Throw in the 90,000-person Firefly Music Festival in Dover and there are more shows in the area than ever before.

Even so, Freeman Stage's bookings and attendance have been largely unaffected. Says Grimes: "In general, we see the local market more as a collaboration. Competition due to artists' radius clauses, which can stretch out 150 miles, makes us really have to look at Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Virginia Beach."

Freeman Stage attracts both downstate locals and upstate music fans willing to make the 2-hour drive to see national acts in a charming setting, located beside the lush Bayside Resort Golf Club.

Newark's Wendi Focht Jacobs went to four shows last summer -- The Beach Boys, Huey Lewis and the News, The Band Perry and Cherry Poppin' Daddies. The Beach Boys' July 14 was not only her first time there, but also her son Darren's first concert at the age of 7.

They enjoyed the experience so much that Jacobs and family members kept returning, making three trips to see the four shows. She says she'll check out the new schedule to see what shows they want to see this summer.

"It's a nice small venue, plus I like that it's a charity," she says of the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation. "I'm paying a ton of money for tickets, but something good is going to come out of it down the road for somebody."

In the coming years, big changes are coming to the spot.

A capital campaign to raise funds for a new venue, the $25 million Coastal Arts Pavilion, is about to begin. The larger space, which would incorporate some of the same ground as the Freeman Stage, will be able to host 4,000 people. It is several years away from opening, officials says.

With a capital grant of $10 million from the Carl M. Freeman Foundation and $3 million in funds from the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation, the remainder will be made up through the fundraising drive, which kicks off this year.

Tickets for Freeman Stage's summer shows will go on sale Monday, April 3, at 10 a.m. at freemanstage.org.

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

FREEMAN STAGE AT BAYSIDE 2017 SCHEDULE

June 16: Starry Night Opera: Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra & Opera Delaware ($15)

June 17: Tedeschi Trucks Band ($45-95)

June 23: Kashmir: Live Tribute Led Zeppelin Band ($20)

June 24: The Stray Cat Lee Rocker ($20)

June 30: Jay Leno ($55-$100)

July 1: The O’Jays ($50-$75)

July 6: Dustin Lynch and Granger Smith ($45-$75)

July 11: Blues Traveler ($44-$58)

July 12: The Wallflowers/Better than Ezra ($54-$69)

July 14: “Legally Blonde” by Clear Space Theatre ($15)

July 17: Gary Clark Jr. ($40-$65)

July 21: Back to the ’80s with Jesse’s Girl ($23)

July 23: Hollywood Nights: A Bob Seger Experience ($20)

July 28: Hunter Hayes ($35-$65)

July 29: Michael Franti & Spearhead’s Love Out Loud Tour ($50)

July 30: Sutton Foster Brings Broadway to the Beach ($42)

Aug. 1: An evening with Chicago ($50-$100)

Aug. 3: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue ($35-$60)

Aug. 4: 50th Anniversary Summer of Love: Songs from the Woodstock Generation ($25)

Aug. 8: Mary Chapin Carpenter ($35-$55)

Aug. 11: ABBA the Concert: A Tribute to ABBA ($28)

Aug. 12: Joey Alexander Trio ($25)

Aug. 17: “The Little Mermaid” by Clear Space Theatre ($15)

Aug. 18: The Weight Band: Playing Songs of The Band ($20)

Aug. 19: Invincible: A Glorious Tribute to Michael Jackson ($25)

Aug. 25: Classic Albums Live’s Creedence Clearwater Revival 20 Greatest Hits ($25)

Aug. 26: Shades of Bublé: A three-man tribute to Michael Bublé ($20)

Sept. 1: The Fab Four: The Ultimate Beatles Tribute ($25)

Sept. 8: Bruce in the USA/ Operation SEAs the Day as special guests ($25)

FREE 2017 FREEMAN STAGE SHOWS

May 27: Bindlestiff Family Cirkus

June 17: Two of A Kind Kids Music

June 22: Illusions & Magic: The Jason Bishop Show

June 24: Cascading Carlos, juggler

June 29: Illstyle & Peace Productions Hip Hop Dance

July 1: M&M Friends 

July 8: Books in Motion

July 13: Church Sisters

July 15: Jungle John’s Jurassic Journey

July 20: Kevin MaC

July 22: Great Big Faces with Paul Merklein

July 27: Locals Under the Lights

July 29: Monkey Monkey Music

Aug. 5: Creating Whimsical Masterpieces with John Donato

Aug. 10: Locals Under the Lights

Aug. 12: Milkshake Rock Band for Kids

Aug. 19: “Toad’s Escape” by Rehoboth Summer Children’s Theatre

Aug. 24: First State Ballet Theatre

Aug. 26: Once Upon A Dragon with Storyteller Gary Lloyd

Aug. 31: Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” by Brown Box Theatre Project

Sept. 2: Uncle Pete Rocks

Sept. 2: Labor Day celebration with Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and fireworks

Sept. 16: Arts & Jazz Festival with Joe Baione Sextet and Melissa Aldana