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BCA Season Series
Fall 2012
Mojo and the Bayou Gypsies are powerfully talented musicians and entertainers who immerse the audience in all original Cajun and Zydeco music. No one will be able to sit still with the unique dancing in the Southwest Louisiana tradition!
Mojo's innovative music truly makes a once in a life time experience for audience members. Mojo's music is infectiously happy and will be enjoyed by all ages. His shows are wild, but completely natural and positive, appealing to everyone!
If you loved the comedic show "Whose Line is it Anyway" then don't miss out on "Whose Live Anyway". This 90 minute improvised comedy and song show is all based on audience suggestions. Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Chip Esten and Jeff B. Davis leave their audiences gasping with the very hilarious scenes they invent before your eyes. Everyone is amazed at how quickly they improvise and crowds of all ages are astounded at the incredible improvised song lyrics Chip Esten and Jeff Davis improvise and sing. Their combined musical range is hard to believe!
"Whose Live Anyway" performs some of the games made famous from the Emmy Nominated TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway plus some new ones. It will be a night of unforgettably funny interactive comedy!!
Newcomer, Katie Armiger's powerful vocals and performance skills have captivated her audiences, leaving them wanting more. At the ripe age of 20, Katie's vocal abilities have been compared to the likes of seasoned country artists Martina McBride, Shania Twain, and Sara Evans. Katie does not hold back and has an inspiring combination of determination and passion that shines through in her music. Her new album, Confessions of a Nice Girl not only gets a peek into her psyche, but a good long look at the mind of a woman who has encountered love, heartbreak and resentment. "Kiss Me Now", "Cry, Cry, Cry", and "Can't Keep Myself From Loving You", are just a taste of the groundbreaking selections that will rock the house.
Over 5000 years ago, from the dry stretches of the not-so-fertile crescent, wandered a well-endowed, if foul smelling tribe, Expleticus Deleticus. They played upon musical instruments that, although crude, were nevertheless vessels of seeming infinite funkiness. For years, scholars of the ancient world wondered what became of this lost nomadic tribe. Then, In 1922, Professor Dumblucke unearthed the ruins of an ancient nightclub to find a dozen undead Egyptian mummies astoundingly still in the act of performing! From these, who called themselves HERE COME THE MUMMIES, Professor Dumblucke learned of the powerful curse that doomed them to wander the earth, seeking the ultimate riff, the one that may allow their souls to rest after eons of "banging out solid fly grooves".
Now, more undead than Dick Clark (but without the Lego snap-on hair), and cursed with a funk so strong, you'll never want to wash again, here comes... HERE COME THE MUMMIES.
Spring 2013
This inter-galactic phenomenon is like no other show around! Voca People are friendly aliens from a planet where music is life and life is music. Amazing vocal sounds, accapella singing, and beat boxing create an incredible range of sounds and instruments. After a millennium of travel, Voca People's spacecraft, which runs on musical energy, completely empties. With the help of the audience, and the music of Earth, their spacecraft gets musically energized. The Voca People will be an evening of total excitement, music of all times, comedy and audience participation.
Starting off his career as a blackjack dealer in Atlantic City, Sal the Hit Man displayed tremendous knowledge and talent of Game Protection. Sal has worked in the gaming industry for 16 years, yet spent most of his time as a casino fraud investigator. Now, Sal is on a new mission to share his knowledge around the country. By demonstrating cheating methods and flash memory techniques, combined with his sense of humor, audience members will leave entertained and enlightened.
In their new show, Gravity Attacks!, Jon and Owen invite the audience to join them in their fight against the world's most destructive evil force - gravity. Gravity has been keeping us all down for far too long, and finally someone is doing something about it. The Passing Zone puts gravity in its place, overpowering it with seemingly effortless dexterity. Objects fly through the air, like chainsaws, torches, and knives. You'll even see three people from the audience floating through space, orbiting planets, narrowly escaping dangerous collisions. The Passing Zone's performance is the closest thing to a world without gravity, but with plenty of levity.
Chipper has been presenting his unique brand of infectiously amusing mayhem to literally thousands of groups and organizations in theaters, comedy clubs, convention halls, ballrooms, campuses, and casino showrooms across the United States and beyond. His original brand of clean comedy includes magic, juggling, and audience participation into his high energy performance. And has been an audience favorite ever since! His clean comedy is an important factor for his many clients and special event planners, because all of Chipper's shows are suitable for everyone, and every occasion.
By using audience's suggestions, The Improvised Shakespeare Co. creates a fully improvised play in Elizabethan style. Each of the players uses the language and themes of William Shakespeare to create a one of a kind performance. Any hour could be filled with power struggles, star-crossed lovers, sprites, kings, queens, princesses, sword-play, rhyming couplets, asides, insults, persons in disguise and could reveal a tragedy, comedy, or history. Nothing is planned-out, rehearsed, or written. Each play is completely improvised, so each play is entirely new!
Jeri Sager is a veteran to Broadway and numerous national tours. She is best known for her role as "Grizabella" in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tony award winning musical " CATS ." She has released three CDs which include: Swing it Like Sammy, Regards…Jeri, and Memory- A Special Live Performance. Jeri’s golden voice and communicable stage presence gives her a broad audience appeal. This performance is perfect for musical theatre lovers who are looking to hear extraordinary selections of musical classics. Accompanying Jeri for this performance will be the Western Illinois University Jazz Studio Orchestra, under the baton of Dr. John Cooper.
Eisenhower Dance Ensemble is one of the Midwest's premier contemporary dance companies. Since founded by Laurie Eisenhower in 1991, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble has been dedicated to the performance of a diverse of contemporary dance works. EDE features the highly acclaimed choreography of Ms. Eisenhower, and also features the works of talented young artists along with other seasoned choreographers. Eisenhower Dance Ensemble has received overwhelming critical acclaim along with enthusiastic audience support.
Masters of Chamber Music Series
Fall 2012
The Amernet String Quartet, Ensemble-in-Residence at Florida International University, is one of the most acclaimed ensembles of its generation and has been praised for its intelligence, ravishing sound, and commitment since its inception. Though the ensemble resides in Florida, the founding members were students at Julliard School and rose to international attention just after their first season. The Amernet has always been committed to the music of our time and has commissioned works from many of today's leading composers, including Anthony Brandt, John Corigliano, and Morton Subotnick. The Amernet also actively promotes for neglected works of the past and aims to enliven the concert experience through its groundbreaking programming.
"A Little Lesson...in Brazilian Portuguese" is the story of an American music producer from Chicago who comes to Brazil to find the "Ritmo or Rhythm of Brazil" and ends up discovering much more than he ever imagined. It is the classic "boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy loses girl, boy finds himself after losing girl and in the end, boy gets girl back" with a bit of a "fish out of water" storyline blended in because the lead character is transported from the US to exotic Brazil with little advance preparation.
In addition to the Concert Performance of "A Little Lesson...in Brazilian Portuguese", there will be a Festival of Brazilian Culture, Lifestyle and Innovation which includes Artist-in-Residence Workshops and Master Classes discussing Brazilian music, composition, dance, culture, health, lifestyle, cuisine, and innovations from various sectors of the Brazilian economy.
Renowned composer, musician, conductor, and arranger, Wycliffe Gordon puts on a vibrant jazz-filled performance. Wycliffe Gordon experiences an extraordinary career touring the world performing hard-swinging, straight ahead jazz receiving great acclaim from audiences and critics alike. His unmatched modern mastery of the plunger mute and his prodigious technique and signature sound has solidified Gordon a place in musical history known as one of the top trombonists of his generation.
Often referred to as the "Jewish roots band," The Klezmatics have led a revival of this old-age, nearly forgotten art form. The Klezmatics have raised the bar for Eastern European Jewish music and helped to change the face of contemporary Yiddish culture. Since it is not strictly of the kelzmer genre it appeals equally to those who have had no previous exposure to the music. Their set features a cross-set of music throughout the history of the Klezmatics' history. The repertoire draws from the group's earliest days and material, as recent as their Guthrie adaptations.
Spring 2013
Chestnut Brass, a Grammy winning ensemble, is internationally acclaimed for their brilliant performances on modern and historical brass instruments. As curators of the sounds of ancient and antique brasses, the Chestnut Brass Company have been at the forefront of the period-instrument revival with performances on cornetti, sacbuts, keyed bugles and saxhorns. The quintet continues to collect antique brass instruments and to research the literature and performance practice of these instruments. Chestnut Brass Company offers a variety of exciting, entertaining, and innovative program.
Trio Solari is one of the most dynamic chamber ensembles touring today. All three members of the trio have held significant academic positions, and are firmly committed to educational outreach as well as audience development through lecture-performances. Trio Solari has developed innovative programming to engage and educate audiences in the artistic process. Trio Solari has commissioned works from numerous contemporary composers, including a new trio by American Composer Edward Knight which they premiered in fall 2011. Trio Solari Speaks with one multi-colored voice rather than as three individuals; but as individuals each is a master of his/her own instrument.
