New outdoor performance center launched with concert series
By Joanne Fox Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, June 06, 2008
Morningside College's new Buhler Outdoor Performance Center will be the site of "Randy Peters and Friends" as its debut concert on June 13. (Submitted photo)
Morningside College's newly-constructed Buhler Outdoor Performance Center illustrates the beauty of an outdoor center, with its lush green space, two-tier fountain and pergola.
It will be the site of the inaugural season of the Betty Ling Tsang Summer Fine Arts Series on the Morningside campus, which begins with a Broadway revue of songs by Siouxland performers at 7 p.m. on June 13.
The free concert -- the first of four productions scheduled this summer for Morningside's new amphitheater-style performance center -- features "Randy Peters and Friends" performing songs from Broadway musicals that range from "Kiss Me Kate" and "Fiddler on the Roof" to "Rent" and "The Civil War." The vocalists will be accompanied by a traditional pit orchestra under the direction of Jean Busker, director of Western Iowa Tech Community College's music programs.
Peters is artistic director for the Betty Ling Tsang Summer Fine Arts Series. The Morningside adjunct instructor in vocal music was chosen from a field of applicants earlier this year.
"I was very excited about being a part of this series because when I was attending Morningside in the early 80s, I was part of a summer stock crew that produced shows, built sets, did costumes and ran the box office," Peters said. "I had always hoped that would return to Morningside."
The series is named for the late Betty Ling Tsang, a 1940 Morningside College music graduate, whose daughter, Mila Tsang McDermott established the Betty Ling Tsang Music Scholarship at Morningside.
"My mother wanted to return the favor to Morningside and help other Chinese-born students study music," McDermott said in an interview for the alumni magazine, the Morningsider. "That was very important to her."
"The series is designed to bring quality music and theater performances to residents of the Sioux City area," Peters said. "We can do that by utilizing the very talented pool of people we have in this area."
For this first presentation, Peters held a cattle-call audition and confessed that was the most difficult aspect of his job as artistic director.
"I couldn't cast everyone and there were many of them that were very, very good," he acknowledged. "It's my hope that as the series grows, we can include more and more people in the performances."
For this first performance, a troupe of 12 will sing show tunes from the golden era of Broadway and contemporary hits. In addition to Peters, other singers include Brenda Ashley, Wendy Bryce, Gail Dooley, Denise Heiman, Steve Lundberg, Josh Phipps, Brandon Shostak, Bette Skewis-Arnett, Nolly Vereen, Nancy Walker, and Tim Watson.
Beyond featuring strong talent from Siouxland, Peters said another benefit was doing performances that would be free for the audience.
"I know there are families in Siouxland who just cannot afford to attend theater or musical presentations," he said. "We don't want to compete with the others; we just want to provide an opportunity for kids, in particular, to experience and hear new things."
An added bonus is the college's beautiful new Buhler Outdoor Performance Center, Peters said.
"The audience can relax on benches or bring a blanket or lawn chair to enjoy concerts on the lawn in front of the performance center," he said.
The Buhler Outdoor Performance Center anchors the south end of the new Hilker Campus Mall that runs through the heart of Morningside's campus. Hilker Campus Mall was made possible by a gift from Dr. Robert R.J. Hilker, a 1938 graduate and his wife, Mary, of Vero Beach, Calif.
Lucy Buhler of Edmonds, Wash., a 1956 Morningside music education grad, helped fund construction of the Buhler Outdoor Performance Center through a gift from the Walter A. Buhler Educational Trust.
The Rev. Lyle and Betty Lieder of Rochester, Minn., made the naming gift for the two-tier Lieder Fountain. Francis Kline of Naples, Fla., a 1995 Morningside grad, and her late husband, Marvin, donated funding for the construction of the Kline Family Pergola.
Summer season
Performances in the Betty Ling Tsang Summer Fine Arts Series at the Buhler Outdoor Performance Center, 3625 Garretson Ave., are free and open to the public. In the event of rain, the concert will be moved to Klinger-Neal Theatre, 3700 Peters Ave., on the Morningside campus. Parking is available in Eppley Auditorium and in the lot adjacent to Grace United Methodist Church.
The next shows are:
-- Tony-nominated Broadway musical "Side Show," July 19
-- "The Emperor’s New Clothes," Aug. 8 and 9
-- "Symphony in Sneeze," a family concert of symphonic music, Aug. 23.
It will be the site of the inaugural season of the Betty Ling Tsang Summer Fine Arts Series on the Morningside campus, which begins with a Broadway revue of songs by Siouxland performers at 7 p.m. on June 13.
The free concert -- the first of four productions scheduled this summer for Morningside's new amphitheater-style performance center -- features "Randy Peters and Friends" performing songs from Broadway musicals that range from "Kiss Me Kate" and "Fiddler on the Roof" to "Rent" and "The Civil War." The vocalists will be accompanied by a traditional pit orchestra under the direction of Jean Busker, director of Western Iowa Tech Community College's music programs.
Peters is artistic director for the Betty Ling Tsang Summer Fine Arts Series. The Morningside adjunct instructor in vocal music was chosen from a field of applicants earlier this year.
"I was very excited about being a part of this series because when I was attending Morningside in the early 80s, I was part of a summer stock crew that produced shows, built sets, did costumes and ran the box office," Peters said. "I had always hoped that would return to Morningside."
The series is named for the late Betty Ling Tsang, a 1940 Morningside College music graduate, whose daughter, Mila Tsang McDermott established the Betty Ling Tsang Music Scholarship at Morningside.
"My mother wanted to return the favor to Morningside and help other Chinese-born students study music," McDermott said in an interview for the alumni magazine, the Morningsider. "That was very important to her."
"The series is designed to bring quality music and theater performances to residents of the Sioux City area," Peters said. "We can do that by utilizing the very talented pool of people we have in this area."
For this first presentation, Peters held a cattle-call audition and confessed that was the most difficult aspect of his job as artistic director.
"I couldn't cast everyone and there were many of them that were very, very good," he acknowledged. "It's my hope that as the series grows, we can include more and more people in the performances."
For this first performance, a troupe of 12 will sing show tunes from the golden era of Broadway and contemporary hits. In addition to Peters, other singers include Brenda Ashley, Wendy Bryce, Gail Dooley, Denise Heiman, Steve Lundberg, Josh Phipps, Brandon Shostak, Bette Skewis-Arnett, Nolly Vereen, Nancy Walker, and Tim Watson.
Beyond featuring strong talent from Siouxland, Peters said another benefit was doing performances that would be free for the audience.
"I know there are families in Siouxland who just cannot afford to attend theater or musical presentations," he said. "We don't want to compete with the others; we just want to provide an opportunity for kids, in particular, to experience and hear new things."
An added bonus is the college's beautiful new Buhler Outdoor Performance Center, Peters said.
"The audience can relax on benches or bring a blanket or lawn chair to enjoy concerts on the lawn in front of the performance center," he said.
The Buhler Outdoor Performance Center anchors the south end of the new Hilker Campus Mall that runs through the heart of Morningside's campus. Hilker Campus Mall was made possible by a gift from Dr. Robert R.J. Hilker, a 1938 graduate and his wife, Mary, of Vero Beach, Calif.
Lucy Buhler of Edmonds, Wash., a 1956 Morningside music education grad, helped fund construction of the Buhler Outdoor Performance Center through a gift from the Walter A. Buhler Educational Trust.
The Rev. Lyle and Betty Lieder of Rochester, Minn., made the naming gift for the two-tier Lieder Fountain. Francis Kline of Naples, Fla., a 1995 Morningside grad, and her late husband, Marvin, donated funding for the construction of the Kline Family Pergola.
Summer season
Performances in the Betty Ling Tsang Summer Fine Arts Series at the Buhler Outdoor Performance Center, 3625 Garretson Ave., are free and open to the public. In the event of rain, the concert will be moved to Klinger-Neal Theatre, 3700 Peters Ave., on the Morningside campus. Parking is available in Eppley Auditorium and in the lot adjacent to Grace United Methodist Church.
The next shows are:
-- Tony-nominated Broadway musical "Side Show," July 19
-- "The Emperor’s New Clothes," Aug. 8 and 9
-- "Symphony in Sneeze," a family concert of symphonic music, Aug. 23.
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helen ryan wrote on Jan 25, 2009 9:33 PM:
how many seats are there? "