Connect with a Composer Tomorrow!

There are lots of things going on this week, and then the first two weeks of April is your chance for a break.

Tomorrow is the next Mid-Columbia Mastersingers' "Connect with the Composer" talk. Reg Unterseher will present a forum on ePublishing and the future of music publishing - I got a preview and it is fascinating!

Wednesday night you can catch the Count Basie Orchestra at Kennewick High School - wow!

And next weekend you have multiple opportunities to see two great productions: "West Side Story" at the Academy of Children's Theatre, and Mid-Columbia Musical Theatre's production of "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella." I have already seen "Cinderella," and highly recommend it. Justin said "West Side Story" is outstanding, and he never says that - I bet it's good.

In Like a Lion

Man, March is busy! It started off with a great Mastersingers concert weekend, then this past weekend we had both the Mid-Columbia Symphony concert AND the anniversary celebration of Joel and Debra Rogo and their Mid-Columbia Ballet. All three of these groups will collaborate on "Carmina Burana" on May 12 - wow!

And there are so many middle school and high school productions going on, I can't even keep track.

Tomorrow night is your last chance to audition for Richland Players' next production, "Trip to Bountiful," and the next two weekends you can see their current show, "Dearly Beloved," - stop by the box office and your chances of seeing me are pretty high.

This weekend Community Concerts of the Tri-Cities will present "Il Voce," which I will miss since I'm house managing for "DB" - let me know how they are!

Then next weekend Mid-Columbia Musical Theatre (formerly Richland Light Opera Company) opens Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" and the Academy of Children's Theatre opens "West Side Story." I hear great things about both, and I am especially looking forward to hearing Mastersinger Ty Wilde as Tony.

At the end of the month Reg Unterseher will present a forum on ePublishing, and the Count Basie Orchestra is coming to Kennewick High School. I guess everyone gave up sleeping for Lent.

Thank goodness for community college

First, because some won't appreciate the paragraph below: go see Hanford Drama's production of "The Music Man" this weekend! They put on consistently excellent shows and you will be glad you went.

I'm so grateful that we have Columbia Basin College in our community, which is able to produce theatre that doesn't have to be sugar-coated. They don't have to be as concerned about ticket sales as community theatre groups, so they have the freedom to do shows that are more challenging to the audience, and we don't need to worry that the language has been tampered with to make it more palatable to the sensibilities of this community. I'm sorry there isn't another weekend of their production of "The Maiden's Prayer." More people should have the chance to see this well-done drama that deals with some ugly and painful issues, but human issues and not Disney issues.

Sleuth

Be sure to go see Sleuth at Richland Players this weekend or next. It is definitely one of the best-acted shows I've seen there.

We should be hearing soon about the casting for Dearly Beloved, and ACT is holding auditions for West Side Story (age 13 and up) next week.

Catch the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers singing the National Anthem at the Tri-Cities Americans hockey game this Saturday!

Happy New Year

There is no waiting around for arts activities around here: the Richland School District music teachers are doing a concert to showcase their own considerable talents, Thursday night at 7:00pm at the Hanford High School auditorium. Also, auditions are coming up at ACT and Richland Players, so get your courage up and do it!

The news from Mid-Columbia Musical Theatre is that this Spring's production of Camelot has been replaced by Cinderella, casting from the auditions that have already taken place.

Be sure to listen to Jeff and Stevie on AM610 Saturday morning at 10am to hear more info about upcoming arts events in our area.

Hallelujah!

If you missed the CUP Oratorio Chorus' "farewell performance" of Handel's Messiah last weekend, well too bad for you. The soprano soloist was especially fine. But you have one more chance to hear this Christmas staple when the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers join the Walla Walla Symphony, conductor Yaakov Bergman, and the WWU I Cantori for what will be one of the best performances of Messiah in our area this season.

And be sure to support the Mastersingers at their Barnes & Noble Book Fair tomorrow. We'll be at the Columbia Center Barnes & Noble all day, performing carols and music from our upcoming concert. Noon will be a GREAT time to show up.

And Mid-Columbia Musical Theatre is offering one last chance to audition for Camelot on December 14. I'm refraining from any RenFaire-esque comments. I just won't do it.

Looking for family-friendly things to do this weekend? You have your pick of multiple showings of The Nutcracker, Beauty and the Beast and A Little Princess. Go crazy. It's the thing to do during the holidays.

Break a Leg

The Tri-Cities has dinner theatre - did you know? This time around it's dessert theatre, but in my opinion that's even better. Broken Leg Entertainment opened their 4th production at the Kennewick Red Lion this weekend: Neil Simon's California Suite. The great ensemble cast not only nails the comedy, but Katrina Carlson and Steve Montgomery are amazing in the scenes that dig deeper. Go see this show so Broken Leg can keep going - can't wait to see what they will do next!

Shows are this weekend and next: July 9, 14, 15 and 16 at 7:30pm, July 10 and 17 at 2pm. Tickets are $25 and include a great dessert buffet and coffee - there is also a cash bar.