2010-11 Season Announced
I really have to do better about updating this blog, and I will! Expect to see a construction update very soon.
In the meantime– today we released the names of the shows in our 2010-11 Season. The Grand is on track to reopen in September, and the new season was very much influenced by the feedback of the 18,000 hits we received in last January’s Top 100 Survey. The text of the news release is below, and updates to follow. Thanks for your patience, I’ll work harder to integrate myself into the world of blogging!
HISTORIC GRAND OPERA HOUSE ANNOUNCES 2010-11 SEASON
Wisconsin’s oldest operating theatre building to reopen after 1½ years of repair work
OSHKOSH, WI—The historic Grand Opera House, a fixture in Downtown Oshkosh since 1883, will re-open in September 2011. The Grand was closed in February 2009 after structural defects were discovered in its roof trusses and ceiling. After a $2 million repair and renovation project that includes the addition of a privately-funded Grand Lounge, the city-owned theatre will re-open with a private, command performance by actor-singer-songwriter and Tony Award nominee Jeff Daniels. He will re-dedicate the Grand Opera House stage on September 16, and open the performance series to the general public the following evening.
The eleven-show season closes in May 2011 with a similar dose of “star appeal” as one of the most recognized faces on television, Jerry Stiller (“Seinfeld,” “The King of Queens,” Stiller and Meara) closes the season on May 21.
In announcing the performance series, Joseph Ferlo, Executive Director of the Oshkosh Opera House Foundation which manages and programs The Grand, pointed out the outstanding community support that helped shape the re-opening season. “The community has played a tremendous part in this second restoration of The Grand,” said Ferlo, “whether it be through their outstanding community support in last summer’s ‘Stand With The Grand’ movement, through their participation in helping me choose the season through the ‘Top 100’ survey, and especially through their moral support, financial support and community spirit.”
Tickets will go on sale to members of The Grand on July 16, at the theatre’s annual Grand Scoop celebration in Opera House Square. Tickets will be available to the general public beginning in late July. There are discounts for season subscribers as well as seniors and students.
In addition to the performance series, The Grand will also host its popular Student Discovery Series, Screen Scene Film Series, and select Gallery Walk at The Grand presentations. In October there will be a new month-long series of theme-based performances, movies, and guided tours celebrating the theatre’s “spiritual” history as THE GRAND GOES GOTHIC.
Information on becoming a member is available through the Grand Opera House administrative office at (920) 424-2355. A limited number of seats are available to Mr. Daniels’ command performance which includes a unique meet-and-greet opportunity with Mr. Daniels and officially re-opens The Grand on September 16. For information about the command performance, contact Jeff Potts at The Grand’s Administrative Office.
The 2010-11 Grand Opera House Season
Friday, September 17, 2010
“An Evening with Jeff Daniels” $18/24/26/32/38
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
“Borders of the Mind” starring Joshua Kane $15/18/20/24/28
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Tonic Sol-fa $15/18/20/24/28
Friday, January 14, 2011
Kathleen Madigan $15/18/20/24/28
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Tartan Terrors $15/18/20/24/28
Sunday, March 6, 2011
“An Afternoon with Groucho” starring Frank Ferrante $15/18/20/24/28
Thursday, March 24, 2011
California Guitar Trio $15/18/20/24/28
Saturday, April 9, 2011
The Second City: “Fair and Unbalanced” $15/18/20/24/28
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Missoula Children’s Theatre: “Pinocchio” $10/13 – $6 (all seats) for children age 12 and younger
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Monroe Crossing $15/18/20/24/28
Saturday, May 21, 2011
“An Evening with Jerry Stiller” $25/32/38/50/65
INTRODUCING THE ARTISTS
THE 2010-11 PERFORMANCE SEASON AT THE GRAND OPERA HOUSE
AN EVENING WITH JEFF DANIELS
Friday, September 17, 2010
“I’ve been writing songs for over thirty years. I don’t write hits. I don’t send out demos to famous singers. I just write songs. They’re my diaries. I had everything I’ve ever written in this big, black notebook. Some of them were typed, some were in long hand, but all of them had a time and a place that marked some moment in my life. If you really wanted to get to know me, you’d find me in there.” – Jeff Daniels
Jeff Daniels is an actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan. He has performed in a number of stage productions, both on and off Broadway, and has been nominated for the Tony Award as Best Actor for the Broadway play God of Carnage (2009). He has had a thriving film career, from his debut in 1981 in Ragtime, through State of Play in 2009—and including Terms of Endearment, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Dumb and Dumber, and The Squid and the Whale.
BORDERS OF THE MIND starring Joshua Kane
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Mentalist and Psychic Entertainer Joshua Kane performs Borders of the Mind – The Psychic Show for the Whole Family.
Can he read your mind? With warmth and charm, Joshua Kane leads audiences through a dazzling demonstration of the powers of the mind. Discover your inner superhero, as mentalist Joshua Kane identifies audience members with special abilities who will successfully project their own thoughts and tap the powers of their intuition. An amazing, interactive performance where the entire audience experiences simultaneous telepathy and witnesses dazzling feats of lie detection and what must be psychic phenomena. Is it mastery of reading body language that allows Kane to distinguish liars from truth-tellers? Or perhaps it’s the same craft for which witches were burnt at the stake. Audience members of all ages leap at the opportunity to participate in the Strange Happenings that take place at the Borders of the Mind.. Are you ready to cross the Borders of the Mind?
TONIC SOL-FA
Saturday, November 20, 2010 (matinee and evening performances)
Although they are simply four voices and a tambourine, Tonic Sol-fa has spent the past decade on the road carving their niche as one of the nation’s top vocal groups. In that time, this quartet has been named one of the top five “must see” groups in America, has been awarded numerous original song and album awards in pop, gospel and holiday genres, appeared on NBC’s Today Show and in the pages of Newsweek magazine. Outings with Jay Leno, Shawn Colvin, Lonestar and Garrison Keillor have propelled album sales to more than 1,000,000 copies (mostly sold from the back of their trailer!) and have earned the group thousands of intensely loyal fans. The New York Times describes Tonic Sol-fa’s sound as “A vocal kaleidoscope…unique to the human voice.” Improvisational and passionate music combined with cutting-edge stage presence is the benchmark by which critics and fans agree: nobody does it like Tonic Sol-fa.
KATHLEEN MADIGAN
Friday, January 14, 2011 (early and late evening shows)
After returning from a USO Tour of Iraq and Afghanistan, comedian Kathleen Madigan learned she’s entirely too short to be involved in combat and that being in the military is nothing like the commercials on television. She made the monumental trip and performed for the troops with Kid Rock, Lewis Black and Kellie Pickler.
In addition to performing in theaters, festivals and on talk shows, Madigan, dubbed by Jay Leno as “one of the funniest female comics,” has been tapped for her comedic point of view by Dr. Phil as a special correspondent for The Dr. Phil Show with reports on various topics. She also appeared as one of Cheri Oteri’s clients in the AMC interstitial program Life Coach. She also recently completed writing, producing and performing on Lewis Black’s The Root of All Evil, for Comedy Central. Madigan also appeared on the History Channel special Surviving the Holidays where she also served as a producer for the project. The American Comedy Award winner for “Best Female Comedian” appeared on shows for VH1 and TV Guide Network as well as The Joy Behar Show and the new Wanda Sykes Show. In addition to the three CD’s and DVD’s currently available, Madigan will be recording another CD and DVD.
In 2004, Madigan was the only comedian ever to go unchallenged on NBC’S Last Comic Standing and in 2007 was a talent scout during the show’s fifth season. Other television appearances include stints on E!, CNN, The Tonight Show (10 appearances), Letterman (5 appearances), The Conan O’Brien Show, HBO (2 of her own specials), Comedy Central (An hour and half hour special), and ESPN. Madigan also somehow defeated the ever-popular Larry the Cable guy and other notable funny comics to win the 2007 Sirius Radio Comedy Cup.
THE TARTAN TERRORS
Friday, February 25, 2011
Taking the Celtic scene by storm, the Tartan Terrors, North America’s premiere Celtic Event, features the best in music, comedy and dance. Bolstered by the blistering piping of a Two Time World Champion Bagpiper, the driving tones of drums from around the world, and a guitar played unlike any you’ve ever heard, standing room only audiences understand why Dig This Magazine declares “(The Terrors) one act to keep an eye on!”
Combine this musical prowess with championship caliber Highland Dancers and internationally recognized comedic performers and this Celtic Group goes beyond the ordinary. Members of the Tartan Terrors have performed on four different continents, in some of the most prestigious Festivals, Highland Games and Theatres of North America. Join the phenomenon of the Tartan Terrors and see why Celtic Beat Magazine hails them as “the heirs apparent to the [Celtic] mayhem.”
AN AFTERNOON WITH GROUCHO starring Frank Ferrante
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Frank Ferrante is an actor, director, and producer described by The New York Times as “the greatest living interpreter of Groucho Marx’s material.” Animal Crackers and A Night at the Opera co-author Morrie Ryskind called him “the only actor aside from Groucho who delivered my lines as they were intended.” Discovered by Groucho’s son Arthur when Frank was a drama student at the University of Southern California, Frank originated the off-Broadway title role in Groucho: A Life in Revue (written by Arthur) portraying the comedian from age 15 to 85. For this role, Frank won 1987’s New York’s Theatre World Award and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award. He reprised the role in London’s West End and was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for ‘Comedy Performance of the Year.’ Frank played the Groucho role in the off-Broadway revival of The Cocoanuts and has played Captain Spalding in the several productions of Animal Crackers winning a Connecticut Critics Circle Award for his portrayal at Goodspeed Opera House and a Helen Hayes nomination in Washington D.C. at Arena Stage. In Boston in 1988, he played the Huntington Theatre in the record-breaking run of Animal Crackers that landed Frank on the cover of American Theatre magazine. In 2001, Frank starred in, directed and produced the national PBS television program Groucho: A Life in Revue.
Frank Ferrante recreates his PBS, New York and London acclaimed portrayal of legendary comedian Groucho Marx in this fast paced 90 minutes of hilarity. The family-friendly two-act comedy consists of the best Groucho one-liners, anecdotes and songs including “Hooray for Captain Spalding,” and “Lydia, the Tattooed Lady.” The audience literally becomes part of the show as Ferrante ad-libs his way throughout the performance in grand Groucho style. Accompanied by his onstage pianist, Jim Furmston, Ferrante portrays the young Groucho of stage and film and reacquaints us with the likes of brothers Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo, Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, Greta Garbo, Marx foil, Margaret Dumont and MGM’s Louis B. Mayer. A show perfect for all ages!
CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO
Thursday, March 24, 2011
With a whirlwind of instrumental styles fusing classical, rock, blues, jazz, world music, progressive, as well as the quintessential California musical genre surf music, the California Guitar Trio’s stunning virtuosity and sly sense of humor have earned them an enthusiastic following and wide notoriety, with significant crossover in the progressive, acoustic and classical music scenes.
Notably, CGT music was featured on the television coverage of the 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004 Olympics, and also on CBS, NBC, CNN, and ESPN TV programs. The CGT performed on the 2003 Grammy Awards nominated track Apollo on Tony Levin’s CD Pieces of the Sun; and CGT music was sent into outer space as wake up music for the crew aboard NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavor.
Over the past 14 years of nearly incessant touring, the California Guitar Trio has shared the stage with superb musicians and performers such as: King Crimson, Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, John McLaughlin, John Scofield, Tito Puente, Taj Mahal, Peter Rowan and Tony Rice, Dark Star Orchestra, Leftover Salmon, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Steve Lukather, Simon Phillips, David Sylvian, Adrian Legg, Kaki King, Monte Montgomery, Jake Shimabukuro and many more.
Paul Richards of Salt Lake City, Utah, Bert Lams of Brussels, Belgium, and Hideyo Moriya of Tokyo first met in England at one of Robert Fripp’s Guitar Craft Courses in 1987. After completing several of these intensive courses, the three toured worldwide with Fripp’s League of Crafty Guitarists. Wanting to continue working together after the League had run its course, Bert, Paul and Hideyo convened in Los Angeles and founded The California Guitar Trio in 1991, honing their intricate original compositions, surf covers, and classical re-workings.
THE SECOND CITY- FAIR AND UNBALANCED
Saturday, April 9, 2011
The Second City is the leading brand in improv-based sketch comedy. With theatres in Chicago and Toronto, Training Centers in those cites as well as Hollywood, 11 full time touring ensembles, thriving corporate communications and theatricals divisions as well as television and film operations, The Second City has been called “A Comedy Empire” by the New York Times.
Can’t make it to The Second City? THE SECOND CITY will come to Oshkosh! For over fifty years, THE SECOND CITY has taken its act on the road, performing at colleges, performing arts centers, clubs, theatres, fundraisers, festivals, conventions and more.
Performing social and political satire in 2 45-minute acts of scripted scenes, music, and improvisation, THE SECOND CITY TOURING COMPANY is always original, daring, and hilarious. Their alumni list is a veritable “Who’s Who” of comedy including Peter Boyle, Bill Murray, John & Jim Belushi, Mike Myers, Steve Carell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, George Wendt, Ryan Stiles, Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Horatio Sanz, Tim Meadows, Joan Rivers, John Candy, Bonnie Hunt, Stephen Colbert, Chris Farley, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Jack McBrayer, Jason Sudeikis and so many more.
PINOCCHIO- Missoula Children’s Theatre
Saturday, May 7, 2011
The charming tale of “Pinocchio,” the wooden puppet who longed to become a real, live boy, comes to life when the Missoula Children’s Theatre and more than 50 local students perform an original musical adaptation of this classic tale.
From the Missoula Children’s Theatre International Tour project to local activities for kids and adults in Missoula, MCT programs are all designed to develop the personal and professional skills and goals of the participants. The excellence of their productions along with their unique and acclaimed teaching methods result in the successful fulfillment of the MCT mission: The development of life skills in children through participation in the performing arts.
From Broadway musicals and poignant comedies in their beautiful home theatre, to original children’s productions on gym floors and auditoriums around the world, MCT performances have delighted and amazed audiences for nearly four decades. But MCT is really in the business of using an entertainment format to foster enrichment and education in children—of all ages.
MONROE CROSSING
Thursday, May 19 2011Monroe Crossing was formed in September of 2000, but their history goes back much further. Monroe Crossing actually grew out of three different bands; The Pretty Good Bluegrass Band featuring Art and Mark, Big Skyota featuring Art and Matt and the Deadly Nightshade Family Singers which was home to Lisa and Mark. Each of those bands formed between 1995 and 1997 and performed into 2000. Also during 1995, a young banjo phenom named Benji Flaming recorded his first solo work at Mark’s studio.
Between 1996 and the fall of 2000, these five folks had occasion to work together as subs for each other’s bands but it was in August of 1999 that they had the good fortune of working together on the same show and found the combination to work well. Monroe Crossing was formed in September of 2000 with Brian Fesler on the banjo but by January 2001, Benji was on board.
Since then, Art, Lisa, Matt and Mark have constant members of Monroe Crossing. There have been six banjo players over the years. Brian Fesler was with the band from September through December of 2000. Benji joined in December of 2000 and stayed until October of 2001. Graham Sones was next on the five and played until October of 2004 when Jeff Whitson moved up from Arkansas to take his place. Jeff picked with Monroe Crossing until May of 2006. Jason Ericsson of Pennsylvania filled Jeff shoes and stayed until December of 2006. Jason’s departure cleared the way for the return of Benji.
Beginning in October 2004, Monroe Crossing has been playing full-time, a feat few musicians in any genre can claim. With Benji back in the fold, the five original members of Monroe Crossing look forward to entertaining audiences of all sizes from coast to coast and from Canada to the Caribbean. It’s hard to believe that these five individuals just celebrated their tenth anniversary with a year long tour beginning September of 2009.
AN EVENING WITH JERRY STILLER
Saturday, May 21, 2011
One of the most recognized names, faces and characters in the entertainment industry is Emmy Award winning comedian and actor, Jerry Stiller. He is most recognized today as Frank Costanza on SEINFELD and “Arthur” on KING OF QUEENS.
He is legendary in the comedy world where it all began as a member of THE COMPASS PLAYERS ( which later became ‘Second City’) and as half of the comedy team STILLER and MEARA (with his wife Anne). As a legitimate actor, Jerry is a beloved star of Broadway and on the big screen he starred in such classics as AIRPORT ’75 and recent films including ON THE LINE, SERVICING SARA and ZOOLANDER, directed by his son Ben Stiller.
Adults of all ages know Jerry Stiller and will love the laughter through, “An Evening with Jerry Stiller,” on May 21, 2011 at the Grand Opera House in Downtown Oshkosh.
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