Story originally printed in the Holmen Courier or online at www.holmencourier.com
Published - Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Leisure news in brief
Here are a selection of brief news items pertaining to arts, entertainment, culture and other fun things to do in your spare time:
The Great River Big Band will fill La Crosse’s Riverside Park with the sound of jazz once again this summer. The La Crosse-based band will give four performances as part of the Gertrude Salzer Gordon Jazz in the Park series, along with a traditional Fourth of July performance. They’ll close out the summer series with a “Riverside Jazz Party” featuring popular regional groups, the Air National Guard Band of the Midwest, and trumpet virtuoso and actor-singer Byron Stripling.
The 2008 series, held in the park’s bandshell, includes:
n Sunday, June 15, 7 p.m. — UW-La Crosse Day features Coulee Region music scene veteran Tim Henke along with Chancellor Joe Gow and others. The rain site is City Brewery Hospitality Center.
n Sunday, June 22, 7 p.m. — Features Eau Claire singer and actress Cathy Reitz, who is a regular feature with the band. The rain site is City Brewery Hospitality Center.
n Friday, July 4, 8 p.m. — The annual performance during the fireworks at the South Stage during Riverfest.
n Sunday, July 13, 7 p.m. — Features vocalist and entertainer Colleen Raye, who was recently featured on Los Angeles’ “America Swings” radio show. The rain site is City Brewery Hospitality Center.
n Sunday, July 20, 2 and 7 p.m. — features the first Riverside Jazz Party. Includes regional groups John Paulson Quartet, Somethin’ Jazz and Air National Guard Combo in the afternoon set; and the Air National Guard Band of the Midwest along with the Great River Big band in the evening. Byron Stripling, who has performed with the Boston Pops and The American Jazz Philharmonic among others, will perform with the Great River Big Band. The rain site is Green Island Arena.
Admission to the concerts is free; donations will be accepted. UW-L Music Department Chairman Greg Balfany directs the Great River Big Band and the series.
The 95-member strong Great River Shakespeare Festival 2008 company arrived in Winona May 13 to start work on GRSF's fifth anniversary season.
"This is an auspicious season, so it makes sense that we're bigger than ever," said Paul Barnes, GRSF producing director. The festival's productions of Shakespeare's “The Merchant of Venice” and “The Taming of the Shrew” will open the weekend of June 27, and play the following four weeks through Sunday, July 27.
This year's Apprentice/Intern Company project, “Pericles,” will play four performances during the last week of the season, July 22-25 in the Black Box Theatre at the Winona State University Performing Arts Center.
Five-season veteran actor Jonathan Gillard Daly will take the role of Shylock in “The Merchant of Venice,” and will be seen as Gremio in “The Taming of the Shrew.” Re-joining the company for his third season after a one-year hiatus, is New York-based actor Michael Fitzpatrick, who will play Antonio (the merchant in “The Merchant of Venice”) and Baptista, Katerina's father, in “The Taming of the Shrew.”
Founding company member and five-season veteran, Christopher Gerson, will play Petruchio in “The Taming of the Shrew” and Old Gobbo in “The Merchant of Venice.” Gerson's sparring partner will be four-season veteran and Lanesboro resident, Carla Noack, who plays Katerina in “Shrew” and Nerissa in “The Merchant of Venice.”
Meg Weedon and Scott Neale return to design for GRSF's 2008 season. Weedon designed clothes for last season's “Macbeth” and will design costumes for “The Merchant of Venice”; Neale designed sets for “Macbeth” and “As You Like It” and will design sets for the '08 productions.
Camille Assaf joins GRSF for her first season as a costume designer (“The Taming of the Shrew”), as does Lonie Alcaraz, who will design lights for both productions. Northfield's Daniel Kallman (composer) and Katharine Horowitz, Minneapolis-based Sound Designer, return for their second seasons.
More than 30 students from college and university theatre programs will fill positions in the Festival's Technical Theatre and Administrative Internship programs, and study in GRSF's Apprentice Acting Company program. This year's Apprentice/Intern Company project will be directed by founding company member Rick Barbour.
Tickets are now on sale for GRSF's 2008 season. To purchase tickets, call the box office at (507) 474-7900 or log onto www.grsf.org.
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Department of Theatre Arts SummerStage production this summer will be the powerful musical, “Cabaret.”
Kander and Ebb’s musical immerses the audience in a turbulent pre-war Berlin, where the dynamic and wicked Emcee runs the seedy Kit Kat Klub, while its star, Sally Bowles and American writer Cliff Bradshaw suffer a doomed romance. Their struggles are a mirror to the political chaos in the world outside the Klub, chaos that gave rise to the Nazi regime.
“Cabaret” features such well-known songs as “Cabaret,” “Willkommen,” “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” and “The Money Song.”
UW-L’s production of “Cabaret” will be directed by Mary Leonard with musical direction by Gary Walth and choreography by Kathy Gorman. Leonard, Walth, and Gorman have previously collaborated on many UW-L’s productions, including “Evita,” “The Full Monty” and “Oklahoma!”
Performance dates for “Cabaret” are June 27-28 and July 2-3 and July 5 at 7:30 p.m. Sunday matinee performances are June 29 and July 6 at 2 p.m. Performances will be held in the Toland Theatre in the Center for the Arts on the corner of 16th and Vine streets.
Tickets go on sale June 23 at 1 p.m. The box office is in the lobby of the Center for the Arts. Tickets are $16, $14 for non UW-L students, senior citizens, and children and $9 for UW-L students. For reservations call the box office at 785-8522.
A Betty Kendrick Retrospective Exhibition will run through July 15 at the Pump House Regional Arts Center in La Crosse.
The exhibit will highlight art — in various media and themes — that Kendrick has created throughout her life. Her work has been featured in more than 50 exhibitions in the United States.
There will be a chance to meet Kendrick at the artist’s reception, which will take place on Friday, June 13, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Born in 1933, Kendrick, received her bachelor and master’s degrees in art education from Penn State. An artist and art teacher, Betty has spent many years teaching all age groups: very young children, high school and university students and residents of nursing care facilities.
The Pump House is at 119 King St. For more information, call 785-1434 or e-mail info@thepumphouse.org.
The city of La Crosse’s German International Relations Committee will host its 12th annual German American Heritage Dine Out and Dance (fundraiser) on Tuesday, June 17, at the City Brewery Hospitality Center, 1111 S. Third St., La Crosse.
The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a hospitality hour, consisting of City Brewery beer, cash bar and soft drinks. Dinner will begin at 7 p.m. and will feature a buffet of traditional German food.
At 8 p.m., the New Ridgeland Dutchmen will perform and a silent auction is planned.
Proceeds help Central and Logan high school German language students participate in their exchange programs.
Cost is $35. There will a limited number of tickets at the door.
Tickets are available in the gift shop at the City Brewery Hospitality Center; Satori Arts-Gallery, 201 Pearl Street; La Crosse Clock Company,125 S. Second St.; and from Pat Boge at the La Crosse Public Library.
Tickets for the La Crosse Community Theatre’s production of “The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood” are now on sale.
“The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood” tells the legendary story of the man who steals from the rich and gives to the poor, but with an unexpected twist. In a frantically funny Monty Python-esque retelling of the classic, Robin Hood encounters a lovely damsel in distress (oddly obsessed with skin conditions); an ever-scheming sheriff who would rather bowl a strike than hit a bulls-eye; a gold-hoarding, bad-guy monarch wannabe; and a good-natured “Town’s Guy” who manages to make his way into every scene, whether he belongs there or not.
Show dates will be June 13-15 and June 20-21 at 7:30 p.m., with 1 p.m. matinee performances June 14-15 and 21-22.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. For tickets, call the box office at 784-9292, ext. 2, or stop in at 118 Fifth Ave. N. Box office hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and one hour before curtain time during performances.
Big Brother Big Sisters of the Coulee Region will host a double elimination co-ed adult kickball tournament on Saturday, June 28, at Onalaska Community Park, 515 Quincy St.
Teams consist of eight to 12 players and all participants must be at least 18 years old. The cost is $20 dollars per player, which includes a T-shirt, at least two games of kickball and one entry for door prizes.
There will be concessions at the event as well as raffle drawings. All proceeds will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Coulee Region.
For more information or to register, log onto www.bbbsofcr.org/kickinitforkids.html or call 782-2227.
Alice Cooper will join the Scorpions as co-headliners at a Saturday, Aug. 9, performance at Fort McCoy. An opening act is still being sought.
A ticket kickoff will be held June 27, with tickets for $30 that day only. Locally, tickets will be available at the Kwik Trip stores on Highways 16 and 35 in Onalaska and on Rose Street in La Crosse.
Tickets also will be available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Fort McCoy’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) Web site http://www.mccoymwr.com or by calling the MWR events line at (877) 864-4969.
Tickets from June 28- Aug. 8 will cost $35, and tickets the day of the event will cost $40. Ticket sales are subject to ticket availability.
Up-to-date information about the concert will be posted to the MWR Web site or by calling the MWR events line.
Norskedalen’s Midsummer Fest, a Scandinavian-style celebration with fun, food and activities for the whole family, will be held the weekend of June 20-21 at Norskedalen, three miles north of Coon Valley on Highway PI.
The festivities kick off Friday with a bonfire and program at 8:30 p.m. Activities run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, including demonstrations, pioneer baking, trolls, alpacas, fjord horses, wagon rides, petting zoo, children’s games, food and refreshments, the Coulee Region Rosemalers Show, music and more.
For more information, call (608) 452-3424 or log onto www.norskedalen.org.
Pine View Recreation Area Campground at Fort McCoy will host its annual fishing contest through Sept. 1.
The contest is open to the public. All fish must be caught in Fort McCoy waters, registered at the campgrounds office, building 8053, within 24 hours and can't be frozen.
Anglers must follow all applicable Fort McCoy and state regulations and possess state of Wisconsin and Fort McCoy fishing licenses/permits. Personnel can purchase all of these items at the Pine View Campgrounds office.
Participants in the Fort McCoy fishing contest can enter fish in one of six categories: largemouth bass, rainbow trout, crappie, catfish, bullhead and bluegill. Prizes will be awarded by weight and limited to one per person. A first- and second-place prize will be awarded in each category.
For more information, call Pine View at (608) 388-3517.
All stories copyright 2006 Holmen Courier and other attributed sources.