DIY workshop planned
LITTLE FALLS-A Do It Yourself workshop consisting of three sessions are planned at Great River Arts with artist Pam Collins to make a mosaic table.
Sessions are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, with a break for lunch. Subsequent classes are 5-8 p.m. Wednesday and then Feb. 23-24 to grout the projects.
Pam Collins, an experienced mosaic artist from Staples, will walk students through all steps of the mosaic making process all the way to completion. There will be demonstrations along with some lecture and lots of personal attention. Most supplies will be provided by Collins, but students will need to bring their own table that is no larger than 28-inches in any direction.
The class costs $100 for GRA members and $120 for non-members. Registration can be done through the website www.greatart.org/adult-opportunities or by phone 320-632-0960 or in person at GRA.
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Tonic Sol-fa to perform
LITTLE FALLS-Emmy award winning ensemble Tonic Sol-fa will perform at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24 for the next concert in the 14 Fridays performing arts series at Great River Arts in Little Falls.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $16 and can be purchased online at www.greatart.org/live or by phone 320-632-0960 or in person at GRA.
Tonic Sol-fa is a ground-breaking a cappella ensemble from Minnesota, in constant development since their formation nearly two decades ago. The group has been one of the leading forces in the world of vocal music with Emmy Award winning arrangements and an Independant Grammy for Best Original Holiday Song and Best Pop Song, organizers stated in a news release.
From humble beginnings at St. John's University, Tonic Sol-fa includes founding member and lead vocalist Shaun Johnson; tenor and vocal percussionist, Greg Bannwarth; and bass, Jared Dove.
Together the group reached national prominence with appearances on NBC's Today Show
and in Newsweek magazine. Along the way, they shared the stage with a number of
recognizable performers including Jay Leno, Jeff Foxworthy and Lonestar, and were
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recently part of Garrison Keillor's 30th Anniversary celebration of A Prairie Home Companion.
Dinner theater planned in Little Falls
LITTLE FALLS-Great River Arts will host a spring dinner theater production of "Moon over Buffalo" by Ken Ludwig.
GRA will host a cast read-through today, Feb. 16 and rehearsals will begin Monday and be held from 6-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Performances will take place on March 30-31 and April 1 and April 6-8.
"Moon over Buffalo" centers around Charlotte and George Hay, an acting couple who are on tour in Buffalo in 1953 with a repertory consisting of Cyrano de Bergerac and Noel Coward's Private Lives. Fate has given these thespians one more shot at starring roles in The Scarlet Pimpernel epic and director Frank Capra himself is en route to Buffalo to catch their matinee performance. Will Charlotte appear or run off with their agent? Will George be sober enough to emote? Will Capra see Cyrano, Private Lives, or a disturbing mixture of the two? Hilarious misunderstandings pile on madcap misadventures in this valentine to Theatre Hams everywhere, it states in a news release.
Live Comedy Album show set in Little Falls
LITTLE FALLS-"Jason Schommer: Confessions of a Local Celebrity," a comedy album release party and comedy show, at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at Great River Arts in Little Falls. The show will feature comedian Jason Schommer and special guests Mary Rowles and Ron Lamprecht, who will celebrate Schommer's comedy album release with a night full of stand up comedy, sketch comedy and improvisation.
Rowles is a long time standing figure in the Twin Cities performing arts scene, who has performed, produced, pounded and primed her comedic personality to make audiences laugh out loud.
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Lamprecht has been entertaining crowds from giant theaters to American Legions and VFW halls and everything in-between. He can be seen as a voiceless extra on Netflix, HBO and Cenex commercials.
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at www.greatart.org or by phone at 320-632-0960 and in person during business hours. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for social hour with appetizers. Schommer's "Confessions of a Local Celebrity" was recorded live in front of a sold out audience at the Paramount Theater in St. Cloud.
Schommer, originally from Little Falls, started off his performing career with the community theatre group The Hole in the Day Players where he acted and directed in such productions as "Grease!" "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "Disney's Beauty and the Beast." After graduating from the University of Minnesota, Morris, Schommer made his way to New York City to work on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." It was there that he discovered his passion for stand up comedy when the show's writers signed him up for a performance at The New York Comedy Club. Schommer hit the stage and there was no turning back. Since then he has performed in clubs, colleges, and theatres all over the country. It wasn't long until he crossed paths with Minnesota comedy legend Louie Anderson and was offered the position as Anderson's permanent opening act for his Las Vegas show. After performing nightly in Vegas for two years, Schommer has continued to travel and perform all over the country and abroad, even performing for the troops stationed in Japan.
Schommer was a popular feature on K102 Country Music Morning Show with "From the Trailer" and KFAN radio as the gossip and entertainment reporter. He has also appeared numerous times on Cities97, KDWB, KQ92 and Mix94.9. Schommer caught the attention of many with his Fringe Festival show "STARSTRUCK" earning rave reviews from both audiences and critics and will be restaged at the Paramount Theater in July 2017. Most recently he worked behind the scenes on the hit FX show "Baskets" and is currently writing a TV show pilot with Louie Anderson.
Waffle breakfast planned
The Legacy Chorale of Greater Minnesota will conduct its 5th annual waffle breakfast and
bake sale fundraiser from 9 a.m. to noon Feb. 25 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Brainerd.
Breakfast includes all-you-can-eat waffles with assorted syrups, strawberries and whipped cream along with sausages, kielbasa, juices and coffee.
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Tickets are $8 for 13 and older, $5 for ages 5-12 and age 5 and under eat free. Tickets can
be purchased from chorale members, the Brainerd Dispatch office, Bethany Bookstore or at the door.
The Legacy Chorale consists of 50-70 men and women vocalists of all ages who reside in
a wide range of communities within a 30-mile radius of Brainerd. The group's mission is "to ensure the legacy of excellence in choral music in the greater Minnesota area, while enriching, inspiring and renewing the communities in which we live."
The Legacy Chorale's spring concert series will be April 21-23 with performances of Johannes Brahms' "Requiem."
Visit www.legacychorale.org for more information.
Monroe Crossing to perform benefit concert
MINNEAPOLIS-The Metropolitan Interfaith Council for Affordable Housing will present Minnesota Music Hall of Fame inductees Monroe Crossing for a benefit concert from 2-5 p.m. Feb. 26 at Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Hopkins.
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Monroe Crossing, two-time guest performers at Carnegie Hall and the first ever Minnesota Bluegrass band to play in South Korea, performs a blend of classic bluegrass, bluegrass gospel, and heartfelt originals. They have entertained audiences many times in the Brainerd lakes area and around the world.
Tickets are $25 per person. Go to www.micah.org for tickets.
The proceeds from this benefit will support MICAH in its work, advocating at the State Legislature for equitable and affordable housing throughout the State of Minnesota, organizing in communities in the Seven County Metro Area for affordable housing and transit and fighting for enforcement of the Federal Fair Housing Act in our Seven County Region and throughout the State of Minnesota.
