'The greatest, most handsome, generous leading man a girl could ever dream of,' says Chita Rivera, who joins Carol Burnett, Garth Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Irving Azoff, Nathan Lane and many more in sharing Dick Van Dyke memories with The News-Gazette.
The best swim team in these parts also boasts serious musical talent.
Fourth-grader Sabrina Patel is back to play the national anthem on her violin before tonight's Illini-Ohio State game.
The Sunday, Jan. 15, concert of the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra (ECIYO), led by music director Kevin Kelly, was for me the first concert of 2023. Smith Memorial Hall was host to a very large audience. The balcony, where I sat, had more people there than on any occasion in my memory.
By May 9, school is almost out for the summer. Perfect timing for rock icon Alice Cooper to make his first-ever State Farm Center appearance.
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Auditions are coming up in the next few days — Thursday and Monday — in the basement at City Hall.
Rodney Atkins — of “Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)” and “If You’re Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Knows)” fame — will headline July’s Georgetown Fair.
“No form of media advertising ... or promotional material, including but not limited to programs, posters, flyers, stickers, decals, keychains, balloons, inflatables, pens, pins, flying discs, hot or cold drink ‘coolies,’ glasses, cups, T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, caps, visors, sunglasses, signs, tickets, billboards or marquees shall contain the word ‘OLDIES.'"
Local band — with the help of several well-known guest singers — to pay tribute to Bruce Springstreen at Urbana's Rose Bowl.
The holiday time of the year is a time for traditional pleasures, and the COVID-19 pandemic was a breaker of traditions.
"The Ashley & Brad Show" — hosted by Ashley Paige and Brad Abrell — will join the WKIO's on-air lineup from 5 to 9 a.m. weekdays starting Tuesday.
The Jupiter String Quartet gave a concert Nov. 29 in Foellinger Great Hall at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. It had been originally scheduled for Nov. 8, but that turned out to be Election Day, and it was widely assumed that many music lovers would be home, glued to the TV, as inde…
The concert by the University of Illinois Symphony on Nov. 17 was a long one, with five works, of which four of them were novelties to me.
The beginnings of dance instruction and performance at Illinois can be traced to the first annual May Day celebration of 1898.
Urbana High School is preparing to renovate its band room for the first time in 50 years. The fundraising campaign has reached 75 percent of its goal with two weeks left to donate.
’Twas two weeks before Christmas and all through the house, the creatures were stirring like crazy searching for appropriate holiday gifts. Big-screen TVs overfill a stocking, and we already recommended headphones.
The Sinfonia da Camera, led by Ian Hobson, gave a concert on Nov. 12 in Foellinger Great Hall, featuring a demanding yet compelling Piano Concerto by George Walker, with University of Illinois Professor Rochelle Sennet at the keyboard.
After a two-year absence because of COVID-19, the Philo Country Music Show returned to the stage Sunday afternoon. A crowd of 229 attended at the R.E. Franks Meeting Center.
Also on Styx's wish list: a kettle full of homemade chicken noodle soup, Uncle Jerry's sourdough pretzels, a box of Gorilla Munch cereal and two bottles of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc Matua or Nobilo.
CU Ballet Executive Director Kay Greene has been around for 10 of the years “The Nutcracker” has been performed, and this year she is part of the cast for the first time. Her role: The Dutch Dairy Queen.
The Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana’s Nov. 6 concert at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Urbana built a musical bridge from a masterwork of the Baroque period by Dietrich Buxtehude to a recent work by Caroline Shaw.
All Chicago Symphony Orchestra performances in the Foellinger Great hall are festive occasions, and so was the concert of Oct. 29.
The catering staff is free to stray from the band’s standard breakfast menu — French toast, pancakes or local favorites are welcome substitutes — so long as it doesn’t mess with REO’s one must-have: The day’s first meal “should always include scrambled eggs,” management notes.
The setlist – and setting - should make for an entertaining program Tuesday at Danville Area Community College.
The famous musical, “A Little Night Music,” with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, opened at 7:30 p.m. in the Tryon Festival Theatre on Oct. 25. It was later performed on Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 29 at 2 p.m.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture, which puts on the State Fair, nixed the band's request for Bud and Coors Light, noting: "All references to alcoholic beverages contained in contractor’s rider will be stricken. Department will not purchase alcoholic beverages, nor will any of its employees.”
Urbana Bands’ “Room to Grow” campaign is more than halfway to its $100,000 fundraising goal, with “50,000-something” already committed, Karen DeBauche reported to the school board. COVID funds and local sales tax revenue will fund the rest of a project with an early estimate of $600,000.
“Quite honestly, for a number of these kids, that’s the only significant meal they get in a day,” Roegge said.
The Sunday salon concert in Foellinger Great Hall on Oct. 22 featured Vision Duo, a title which comprises two young musicians, violinist Ariel Horowitz and percussionist Britton-Rene Collins, who played the marimba.
'I grew up in a household of love, communication and understanding. I was birthed and raised in a cocoon of life. I want to share this to others.'
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