Interlude - January 14
January 14, 2021
MLK Day, local rock, Broadway Q&A, behind the board and more
Welcome back to Interlude, your unimpeachable guide to upcoming arts, entertainment and enrichment opportunities offered by the Center and its friends.
Celebrating a civil rights legacy
For the third year running, the Center will host the City of Carmel’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration, though understandably the format is a bit different for 2021.
Mayor Jim Brainard and Dee Thornton of the Mayor’s Advisory Commission on Human Relations will lead the virtual program, which features performances and other contributions from Actors Theatre of Indiana, Carmel Interfaith Alliance, KJI Institute for the Arts and other community groups. Streaming from the Palladium at 6 p.m. Monday, the free event can be viewed on the city’s Facebook and YouTube channels as well as local cable TV. Check here for details and updates.
Where does an 800 lb. Gorilla play?
Wherever it wants, of course, and we’re so glad one of the area’s top funky, jazzy, danceable jam bands will finally make its Center debut next week.
Indy-based 800 lb. Gorilla had been scheduled to perform in our local-music Studio Series last April, but then a pandemic happened. Fortunately, we were able to book them again for our Live at the Center webcast series, and you can catch that live set in HD video and glorious stereo sound on Jan. 23, a week from Saturday.
For now, you can check out their latest album on SoundCloud, watch some videos here, and then register here for updates and viewing options. Did we mention it’s free?
Go behind the Broadway curtain
Jane Pfitsch has seen the arts and entertainment industry from many sides, as a musician, singer, narrator and, perhaps most notably, as an actor in film, TV, and on and off Broadway. Most recently she appeared in the touring and Broadway cast of Dear Evan Hansen.
As you can imagine, she has some insights of great interest to young people considering careers in showbiz, as well as other folks who just enjoy a peek behind the curtain. If that includes you or someone you know, don’t miss Pfitsch’s Jan. 25 online Q&A session, part of the Center’s KAR Front Seat series. Learn more and register for the session here.
What do all these knobs and buttons do?
The unsung heroes of any concert are the audio engineers who craft the sound mix for both the audience and the performers onstage. In fact, the Palladium has multiple locations where these wizards can sit at their intimidating consoles and flashing monitors, twiddling and clicking the entire hall into audio nirvana.
In the latest installment of our Places, Please! video series, VP of Operations Jeff Steeg takes us on a little tour of those hallowed spaces where the unseen magic happens. Watch the clip right here and now.
Songbook pen pals: signed, sealed, delivered
One goal of the Great American Songbook Foundation is to show the human side of great artists from the golden age of popular music. Archivists, such as the Foundation’s Lisa Lobdell, love to discover personal letters in archives because they offer a view into the personalities and intentions of the writer. To celebrate Universal Letter Writing Week (yes, it’s real), the Songbook Foundation is sharing some favorites from the Songbook Archives, many of which come from one of the largest collections, the papers of Meredith Willson.
Here's a peek at a featured letter from the collection. Bing Crosby, a great admirer of Willson, wrote this on April 6, 1976: "I wish I could be there to join your many friends and admirers in the Tribute that is being paid to you this evening. It's certainly a tribute that is richly deserved. I don't know anybody who has done so much for popular American music, and who has so many friends in this field, as you do.”
Follow the Songbook Foundation (@songbookfoundation) on Facebook and Instagram to see more letters from the Archives!
This week in performing arts history
Cyndi Lauper sings amid the audience at the Palladium in 2011.
January 10: On this date in 1984, Cyndi Lauper became the first female recording artist since Bobbie Gentry in 1967 to be nominated for five Grammy Awards in a single year. Lauper performed at the Palladium in October 2011.
January 11: On this date in 1952, jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour was born in Los Angeles. Ritenour performed at the Palladium in March 2012.
January 13: On this date in 1962, country singer Trace Adkins was born in Sarepta, Louisiana. Adkins has charted more than 20 singles on the Billboard country music charts, including “Arlington,” “Ladies Love Country Boys” and, of course, “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” He has performed on the Palladium stage twice, in 2013 and 2014.
January 14: On this date in 1690, the woodwind instrument known as the clarinet was invented in Nurnberg, Germany. One of history’s most renowned clarinet players, Benny Goodman, was celebrated in a February 2019 tribute concert at the Palladium by the Julian Bliss Septet.
January 15: On this date in 1895, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia. The ballet has been performed twice at the Center’s Tarkington theater, once in 2014 by the Moscow Festival Ballet and again in 2017 by the Grand Russian Ballet.
January 16: On this date in 1964, Hello, Dolly! starring Carol Channing opened on Broadway and ran for 2,844 performances, which at that time was the longest-running musical on Broadway. The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra performed the music of the show in January 2012 at the Palladium.
