Behind the Scenes - What does it take to create a new collaborative project?

What inspires you?  That’s the question Sangamon Auditorium and Fifth House Ensemble posed to six faculty members at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS).  Their stories and observations are being integrated with multimedia elements and modern chamber music provided by Fifth House Ensemble to create a new performance event, which will premier in Sangamon Auditorium’s Studio Theatre on Saturday, February 15, at 8 PM.

The concept for this project arose out of the mythological stories of the ancient Greek muses, a group of goddesses who presided over the arts and sciences and were called upon when people needed inspiration.  Sangamon Auditorium staff identified six UIS faculty members whose fields of study or research were connected to the areas traditionally associated with the ancient muses.  The participants include Michael Burlingame (history), Ethan Lewis (English), John Martin (astronomy), Tiffani Saunders (sociology), Yona Stamatis (music), and Missy Thibodeaux-Thompson (theatre).

The faculty participants were each asked to consider what personally inspired them to pursue their fields of study and to think more generally about what inspiration means in their fields. Reflecting on this process, Missy Thibodeaux-Thompson said, “When I first heard about this project with the 5th House, I was intrigued and somewhat frightened, to be honest. As an actor and director, I'm fine working with words and characters provided by a playwright, but to create something on my own was daunting. Which, I suppose, is one reason why I decided to do it. I'm always telling my students to ‘climb the tree, go out on a limb, and start sawing...’ so I figured I'd better take my own advice! If we don't do things that scare us just a little bit, then we'll never really grow and learn.”

After collecting information from all the faculty participants, Fifth House Ensemble brought graphic designer and storyteller Sarah Becan into the project to write a narrative and create images that connect the individual stories together.  Anna Cooksey from Fifth House Ensemble stated, “The scale of this collaboration - pulling in ideas and materials to guide the show from so many different sources - has been one of the many exciting things about the upcoming concert at Sangamon Auditorium. The ability to connect with experts from such varied disciplines has brought great energy and diversity of thought to the planning process.”

For this performance, Fifth House Ensemble will be utilizing an ensemble comprised of piano, flute, oboe, violin, viola, cello, and bass.  The musicians will perform pieces from composers including Philip Glass and Astor Piazzolla, as well as the Midwest premier of a new work by Charles Zoll that was the Rapido! Take Three!! National First Prize Winning Composition.

This project was built on the success of a previous collaboration between Sangamon Auditorium and Fifth House Ensemble.  In 2012, the two entities worked together to develop a project titled “Listen to the River.”  The performance integrated live music with stories, photographic images, and commentary about the Illinois River. The woodwind quintet from Fifth House Ensemble performed water-themed selections interwoven with presentations from noted regional professionals , faculty and students from the UIS Biology and Environmental Studies Departments.

One of the presenters, UIS emeritus faculty member Keith Miller, said, “It was inspiring working with the Fifth House Ensemble for the ‘Listen to the River’ project. The players are professional musicians with immense talent, but they also were skilled collaborators, and graciously brought us into their artistic process. All in all, it was delightful to be involved with this event.”

Tickets for the performance start at $39 and are available by calling the Sangamon Auditorium Ticket Office at 217.206.6160 or 800.207.6069, or by visiting the Sangamon Auditorium website at www.SangamonAuditorium.org.

A World-Premiere Event About Inspiration

Sangamon Auditorium is pleased to once again be working with the dynamic chamber group Fifth House Ensemble on a world-premiere event.  In 2012, the project was "Listen to the River" and focused on the UIS departments of biology and environmental studies and the work being done at the Emiquon Field Station on the Illinois River.  The ensemble's musical selections about water were brought to visual life by vivid projections of the photography of UIS environmental studies graduate student Chris Young and in between selections, faculty and students shared reports and stories about the work being done at Emiquon.  It was a truly unique event.

This year, the event is "Invoking the Muse: What Inspires You?" Fifth House Ensemble has been collaborating directly with six UIS faculty members who will explore the nature of inspiration in fields ranging from astronomy to fine arts.  The scholars will share their own stories of inspiration and thoughts on how inspiration manifests itself in their individual fields.  Intermixed with the presentations will be musical works by Astor Piazzolla, Philip Glass, and others, brought to life by piano, flute, oboe, and four strings.

Fifth House Ensemble

Not only will the piece be performed as part of the Kitchen Sink Series in the UIS Studio Theatre on Saturday, February 15 at 8 p.m., but Fifth House Ensemble will be performing a version of "Invoking the Muse" several times in the Chicago area as part of their more "at-home" concert series.  We are excited that this piece, with an idea conceived by Auditorium Director Bob Vaughn, will have a life outside of the one-time UIS performance and it will bring additional exposure to the UIS faculty members involved.

Following the performance on February 15, the audience will be invited to participate in a post-show discussion with the musicians and scholars involved in the collaboration.  We anticipate a lively discussion about the creative process with additional musings about inspiration will ensue.  We hope you will join us.

For more information about the faculty collaborators on this project, please visit our website.

Top Ten Reasons to See THE TEN TENORS

10.  THE TEN TENORS do an average of 250 shows per year over ten months of touring and have sold more than 3.5 millions concert tickets worldwide.  That many audience members can't be wrong!

9.  THE TEN TENORS are Australian.  Who doesn't like to hear Australians talk?  Or sing?  Recall that some other male Australian singers include these guys:

Hugh Jackman

Keith Urban

8.  The current US tour, which just started on January 24, features THE TEN TENORS singing the music of Broadway.  The list of musical selections from which their February 8 set list will be drawn can be found here.

7.  These tenor jokes:

• How many tenors does it take to change a lightbulb?  None - he thinks it's the accompanist's job.
• How many tenors does it take to change a lightbulb?  Six.  One to do it, and five to say, "It's too high for him."
• How can you tell when a tenor is really stupid?  When the other tenors notice.

6.  THE TEN TENORS have developed a following for performing the music of Freddie Mercury and Queen, but now that there's a Broadway musical, We Will Rock You, using the music of Queen, it is likely we will still get to hear "Somebody to Love" at the Broadway-themed concert.

5.  These guys know how to dress!  Expect sharp-looking, coordinating outfits of which Tim Gunn would be proud.

4.  Included in the list of musical selections from which they will select their February 8 set is Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."  As a general rule, the staff of Sangamon Auditorium have an on-going love/hate (but mostly love) relationship with this song.  

3.  THE TEN TENORS are not stodgy, stuffy male singers.  They are fun-loving Australian blokes with an average age of 26 years.

2.  Included in the list of music from which they will select their February 8 set is Broadway music from modern musicals like Les Miserables, Once, and Wicked, but also more classic Broadway like Guys and Dolls, West Side Story, and The Sound of Music.  Check out the possible set list; there's something for all Broadway lovers here!

1.  The fall 2004 presentation of THE TEN TENORS at Sangamon Auditorium was one of the most energetic audience favorites in the past ten years.  Were you there at the 2004 performance?

It's showtime for Dolly and Junie!

Join us this week for some favorites! A tour of Hello, Dolly! starring the lovely Sally Struthers rolls into town tomorrow.  Ms. Struthers has played the charming and iconic matchmaker Dolly Levi several times in her theatrical career, and now we're pleased to welcome her to our stage in the role.  The show is Wednesday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Then, on Friday, January 24 at 7:00 p.m., we welcome everyone's favorite first-grader, Junie B. Jones back to our family series for her third engagement.  Adults and kids alike will be charmed by her antics and life lessons in this concise, one-hour musical.  Come early at 6:00 p.m. to enjoy pre-show lobby activities that include making your own eyeglasses and journal, just like Junie.

See you at the Auditorium!  

What's your New Year's Resolution?

Have you already forgotten about New Year’s Resolutions?  Many people abandon them before January hits double-digit days, but now that the stress of those extreme resolutions is past since we’re already onto day thirteen, I wonder if I can direct you to the topic of realistic, non-extreme yet life-altering resolutions.

Have you thought about increasing the number of live performances you see this year?

Each year, I try to keep track of the live performances I attend and then at year’s end, I look back at the list and reflect upon what those experiences meant to me.  Despite also being an arts administrator and recreational arts practitioner, I consider my role as an audience member to be the one that will have the greatest impact on the arts into the future.  The arts need an audience, and I need to be a part of something alive…on some days, more than I need food or sleep.

Disputably, the first live performance I ever saw was a high school production of The Wizard of Oz.  The memory I have is that after the performance, Glinda the Good Witch came out into the audience—I now understand that it was to greet friends and family.  But there she was…just a few feet from me.  It was amazing; my four-year-old world was changed.

As a seventh grader, my world was changed again.  I learned of a new Broadway musical with a funny French name.  I learned the lyrics backwards and forwards, and had even read all fourteen hundred and ninety-seven pages of the novel before seeing the first national tour at the Fabulous Fox in St. Louis the next year.

As I sat there in the audience of Les Miserables that first time, and indeed each subsequent time, I was changed.  I was so self-prepared to be in the audience, and the magic of it resonated beyond what I could have possibly imagined. I continue to be mesmerized by the way the musical’s creators have crafted each theatrical choice to support this story of the human condition.

But preparation is not always required for a life-changing audience experience.  During high school, while attending an arts summer program, I saw a presentation by the Chicago Moving Company.  I remember color and light, flowing fabric, and a strong engagement with the story the dance was telling.

In my work at Sangamon Auditorium, UIS, I am in the business of developing audiences.  This means getting people into the building for the first time.  It means getting them to come back again.  It means developing future audiences in order to sustain high quality performing arts programming for years to come.

In this field, we labor and labor over counteracting these statements:  “Audiences are dying.”  “Nobody’s going to the theater/the symphony/the ballet anymore.”  We will continue to hear these woes. But about a year ago, I heard Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center, speak at an event and he acknowledged that over the last one hundred years in this country, there has always been fearful talk about audiences dying.

Kaiser acknowledged that people do get busy for a period of time in their early adulthood, but stated that there is evidence that if a strong foundation in the arts was laid between birth and age fifteen, then when these adults get through that busy period and find themselves with time to pursue hobbies, there’s a strong chance they’ll come back to the arts.

In a program funded by PNC Bank, I have the awesome opportunity to visit with Springfield Urban League Head Start students before they come to watch a children’s play at the Auditorium.  The most significant part of the visit is to help them understand their role as a live audience member.  I do teach them to applaud when actors bow, but mostly I teach them to be themselves and drink it all in.

I can’t know if my three-year-old son, who is named for a rock band, will take to any particular art form vocationally.  There are only two things I know about his future experiences with the arts:

1) He will take piano lessons for as long as he lives in my house, because I have never heard anyone say, “I’m so glad my mother let me quit taking piano lessons.”

And

2) of course, he will be an audience member.

How about you?

Give the gift of live entertainment this season

Give the gift of live entertainment this holiday season! 

As you consider your holiday gift lists this week, remember Sangamon Auditorium and our fantastic lineup for spring 2014.  Gift certificates of any dollar amount are always available for purchase.  Stocking stuffer tickets for our January 24 Family Series event, Junie B. Jones are a great choice for families with elementary school-aged students.  And don't forget our seven performances of Jersey Boys, coming up March 4-8, 2014!

For Jersey Boys, we are pleased to be able to offer sales of a holiday voucher, redeemable for any performance of Jersey Boys.  This option permits the giver the flexibility to not need to check the personal schedule of the recipient in order to give this gift.  Consider this option for all those hard-to-buy-for folks on your list; Jersey Boys is just "too good to be true," after all!

To purchase tickets or gift certificates, visit our website or call the Ticket Office at 217.206.6160.  All purchases made prior to 2 p.m. on Friday, December 20 will be delivered in time for Christmas.  The Ticket Office will be closed from December 21 through January 1, but online purchases can still be made during this time.

Happy Holidays!

Return of holiday favorites

In the next few days, Sangamon Auditorium is bursting with holiday cheer!  You can come visit us for a family favorite this weekend, the Springfield Ballet Company's annual production of The Nutcracker.  Performances are Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas

On Monday evening, December 16 at 7:30 p.m., we will welcome back Mannheim Steamroller Christmas to our Visiting Artist series.  Tickets are selling fast, so be sure to secure yours today by calling 217.206.6160 or visiting our website.

Just prior to the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concert, we will host a reception for Friends of Sangamon Auditorium.  If you are a Friend and have not received an invitation to the reception, please call the ticket office for details.  If you would like to become a Friend, you may call the ticket office to do so and join us for the reception.  We are so grateful for the donor support of this membership program that enables our community to enjoy a wide range of quality performing arts programming.  Thank you for your support in 2013 and we look forward to a busy 2014!