Guess who’s coming to the Niswonger?

So many have been awaiting the announcement of who is coming to the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio this year.  Well, your wait is about to end.  Today (Wednesday) at noon, we are unveiling the full season of performers and attractions.  Watch your news outlets tomorrow for the complete listing.

We already know six of the attractions, which include the Annie Moses Band and Hal Linden and Barbara Eden, as well as four other exciting and entertaining performances as part of the Community Concert Series. We now are going to announce 19 additional concert artists, bands, shows, and events that will have your head spinning.

It has taken nearly seven full months to finalize the upcoming season.  There are many challenges that face us when trying to put a full season together in a timely manner.  For many performances, routing is a major endeavor to comply with and sometimes overcome.  One of the major jobs an agency has to accomplish on behalf of their artists, is to put together a tour that makes geographic and, ultimately, financial sense.  You can imagine, I’m sure, that no one wants to perform in California and then jump to Ohio and then back to Colorado.  So, if they are traveling by bus, certain mileage requirements are in place.  Add to this the challenges each of us presenters have, working around other schedules and commitments, and you can see that it becomes a nightmare of a situation from time to time.

Sometimes, when dealing with big stars or up and coming stars, they want to wait and see if TV, movie or perhaps music award shows want them to appear.  One of the big stars we have coming this year was just on the morning TV circuit of talk shows.  Another recently sang the National Anthem at a Major League Ballpark.  Well, obviously they want to take these “gigs” because of the huge exposure they receive.

So, the bottom line is that after more than a half year, numerous committee meetings, hundreds if not thousands of phone calls and emails, works and re-works of a schedule, we are about to announce the season.  I believe we have some very surprising shows no one would have ever dreamed of witnessing in the Niswonger; and we have some big name artists everyone will know as well as some we feel will be very much enjoyed for the quality of performance experience they offer.  Kids will love a couple shows in particular and youth will find some concerts they will think are “pretty cool”, if that’s not an outdated term!

Broadway, dance, music, drama, invigorating speakers, and legendary artists will find out what Van Wert, Ohio, is all about as they visit the Niswonger this year.  If you are reading this Wednesday morning, I invite you to the First Federal Lecture Hall at noon today for the exciting news of our upcoming season. You will enjoy lunch and learn about the when and how you can start getting seats for the performances.  I look forward to seeing some of you and talking with you about the upcoming season, brought to you by our season sponsors, StateWide Ford and Van Wert Federal Savings Bank.

What a weekend we had this past week for the Peony and ArtRageous Festivals!  The opening of our Fountain Park Summer Music couldn’t have been better received.  After the winter we had, I guess we are due a beautiful start to the summer.  Next up in Fountain Park is an electric fiddle player who, with his band from San Francisco, will once again electrify the activity pavilion stage (as I was told to properly call it) with their fiery renditions of New Orleans style music.  Tom Rigney and Flambeau will be in the park on June 20.  This Friday night, we take the night off because of the WBL/NWC-MAC All-Star football game in Eggerss Stadium.

I will look forward to seeing you at the Niswonger today or in the park in a couple weeks as we resume our summer music fun in Fountain Park!

FINÉ.