The Central Lakes Community Performing Arts Center announces it will host a livestream solo performance by Ted Manderfeld at 7:30 p.m. May 8.
CLCPAC director Patrick Spradlin described the event as an attempt to return to normalcy.
“It’s been really devastating for performing artists and organizations like ours to try to cope with this pandemic response. Not being able to welcome our audiences into our spaces has been really sad. We’re hoping that our audiences will invite us into their spaces instead.”
To kick off what Spradlin stated will be a continuing series of music and theater events. Ted Manderfeld’s event has been dubbed “quaranTinED.”
“Our audience is totally familiar with Ted’s work,” Spradlin stated. Hailing from St. Cloud, Manderfeld performs more than 120 shows a year with half the shows with the Deuces Wild Dueling Pianos. The duo has traveled from coast to coast in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Panama playing for corporate clients and selling out theaters wherever they go. Along with Deuces Wild, Manderfeld co-produces the annual Rock n Roll Xmas Spectacular with Paul Diethelm of the Fabulous Armadillos and an all-star band.
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“We’ve had Ted on our stages for the past 12 years, with Deuces Wild, Rock n Roll Xmas and a Billy Joel/Elton John tribute show he performed with Greg Armstrong of the Armadillos,” Spradlin stated. “I can’t think of a more fun, engaging and talented performer to present in this format than Ted.”
Manderfeld’s “quaranTinED” will be an interactive event of music, laughter, stories, requests and Q&A.
“We’ll lock Ted in a space with a couple of camera operators and a sound technician, and stream the concert out live to our audience,” explained Spradlin. “There will be a chat feature in our streaming platform that will enable the audience to communicate with Ted in real time. He’ll take requests, answer questions, and speak directly to whoever’s watching. It’s as close to an actual concert event as we can make it.”
While there is no admission charge to the event, viewers will be asked to make a donation to the Central Lakes College Student Support donations page.
“We thought, with this first venture, we’d make it free to see if there is an audience for this type of event,” said Spradlin. “We’re using it as a means of reconnecting with our audience, to thank them for their continued patronage. Because there is such a strong need for student support in these times, we were happy to set it up as a donation-only event to go to a good cause.”
Because this is a private event, an internet link will be sent on the day of the performance to those wishing to attend. Current patrons of CLCPAC will receive the link in an email announcement this week.
Those not on that list will need to notify the Central Lakes Theatre Box Office before 5 p.m. May 7. This is best done by email at clcperformingarts@clcmn.edu . The box office will add those respondents to the patron list and send a link to the event via email.
“We’re hoping that we get a huge response to this,” Spradlin stated. “This is all new to us, so it’ll be a shake-down run for other events we have planned for later in the year. If nothing else, this will be a really fun event, something to break the monotony of being shut in.”
