Archives for April 2009

Trop Rock in Michigan!  Join Living Soul and Don Middlebrook in the Black Box for an evening of tropical music that will feed your soul!  Known for their feel good, warm weather Caribbean soul sound with a kick, their music parallels to Jimmy Buffet’s style. 
Middlebrook, dubbed the “Grandfather of Trop Rock”, has two of his compositions on the Showtime Original Series “Opposite Sex” and in 1998 Middlebrook’s CD, “I Can’t Spell Caribbean”, was voted the ‘Best Boater CD of the Year’ by The Oakland County Press.
Their current CD “Beach Bar Serenade” definitely brings home a tropical feel.  Songs like “Open Blue Waters” and “Luckyville” inspire us all into that t-shirt and sandals kind of mood!
Over the years, Middlebrook and his band have recorded and toured with Greg “Fingers” Taylor, Jimmy Buffet’s harmonica player of 27 years.  The band has shared the stage over the years with The Doobie Brothers, Hall and Oates, The Beach Boys, Meatloaf, Starship and Reba McIntyre.
Tickets $10.  7:30 p.m. Black Box.
The Dogwood Center Box Office is open Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and one hour prior to an event.  For information, phone 231.924.8885.

Greensky Bluegrass brings its award winning, genre-bending music to the Dogwood Center!  Greensky Bluegrass is one of the most exciting bands in today’s music scene.  Like a breath of fresh air, this five piece band plays traditional bluegrass instruments and create original sounds and soundscapes that are unique and new.   
Based out of Kalamazoo, Greensky has developed great versatility in the performance arena, earning audiences nationwide.  The mixing of original compositions with traditional bluegrass numbers gives the band a broad spectrum in which to display their driving technical chops, vocal abilities, and lyrical insight.
Greensky Bluegrass band members are Dave Bruzza (guitar), Anders Beck (dobro), Mike Devol (upright bass), and Paul Hoffman (mandolin).  Since winning the 2006 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Contest, Greensky has been touring constantly.  This September alone, they will be playing in Kentucky, California, Nevada, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, and of course, right here at the Dogwood Center!!
Main Stage.  Tickets $15. 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 19 is also the day of Newaygo County’s first annual “Equinox” event, a day long event that will feature a range of outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, paddling, high ropes, and geochaching.  Participants choose from a variety of events taking place throughout the county all day long the day day concludes with the Greensky Bluegrass concert at the Dogwood!  To learn more about Equinox 2009 go to www.newaygocountytourism.com or call 231.652.9298.
The Dogwood Center Box Office is open Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and one hour prior to an event.  For information, phone 231.924.8885.
www.greenskybluegrass.com

Led by guitarist/vocalist Vincent Hayes, and packing one of the tightest rhythm sections in Michigan, The Vincent Hayes Project is a high energy, experimental blues band on the rise. 
In addition to being veterans of the Michigan Blues Festival circuit, the band was one of John Sinclair’s backing bands of  “Blues Scholars” on his tour of Michigan in ’07.  In both 2006 and 2007 they traveled to Memphis when they were chosen as 1 out of 100 blues bands in the world in the prestigious Annual International Blues Challenge on Beale Street, sponsored by The Blues Foundation in Memphis.
Vincent Hayes – Guitar and Lead Vocals, David Alves – Bass Guitar and Vocals, and Donny Hugley – Percussion.
A favorite at the Dogwood Center! 
Black Box.  Tickets $10. 7:30 p.m.
The Dogwood Center Box Office is open Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and one hour prior to an event.  For information, phone 231.924.8885.

Dogwood Community Theater presents “The Dining Room” by A. R. Gurney.  Evening performances on August 7 and 8 are at 7:30 p.m. with an afternoon performance on Sunday, August 9 at 3:00 p.m. 
The play, directed by Michael Coon, is set in the dining room of a typical well-to-do household, the place where the family assembled daily for breakfast and dinner and for any and all special occasions.  The action is comprised of a mosaic of interrelated scenes…some funny, some touching, some rueful….which, taken together, create an in-depth portrait of a vanishing species:  the upper-class White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.
The actors change roles, personalities and ages as they portray a wide variety of characters, from little boys to stern grandfathers, and from giggling teenage girls to Irish housemaids.  Each vignette introduces a new set of people and events that dovetail swiftly and smoothly.
Tickets $15. Main Stage.  Evening performances on August 7 and 8 are at 7:30 p.m. with an afternoon performance on Sunday, August 9 at 3:00 p.m.
The Dogwood Center Box Office is open Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and one hour prior to an event.  For information, phone 231.924.8885.

Act! Sing! Dance!  Perform!  Children ages 5 through 12 will love being introduced to the wonderful world of theater by the staff of Muskegon Civic Theater’s Education Division!  Play fun theater games, learn a dance routine, sing songs, create your own skits, design a special T-shirt costume and perform for you family and friends! 
Limited to the first 50 registrants.  This a FREE workshop but pre-registration is required!  Please contact NCCA – Artsplace at 231.924.4022 to register. 
Participants meet each day from 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. at the Dogwood Center for Performing Arts.
This program is made available through funding from a Summer Youth Initiative Grant from the Fremont Area Community Foundation.

Dogwood Community Theater will be holding open auditions on July 13 for an August performance of “The Dining Room”.  Director Mike Coon will be auditioning everyone together at 7:00 p.m. at the Dogwood Center.  Anyone unable to arrive by 7:00 p.m. is to contact the Dogwood Center for Performing Arts at 231.924.8885.

Free Admission!  Dogwood Summer Youth Theater presents “The Sting”! 
Set in the 1930’s, the story line begins when a mutual friend is killed by a mob boss.   Two con men, one experienced and one young, try to get even by pulling off the biggest con ever on the mob boss.  The play unfolds with several twists, surprises and last minute alterations.
The Summer Youth Theater is comprised of area middle school through college age students and is directed by Chelsea Webb.  Dogwood Summer Youth Theater is funded through a Summer Youth Initiative Grant through the Fremont Area Community Foundation.
Show times are July 10 at 7:30 p.m., July 11 at 7:30 p.m., and July 12 at 3:00 p.m.  Admission is free.

The Dogwood Summer Youth Theater will present “The Sting” in July.  Auditions for “The Sting” will be held on May 11 and May 12 at the Dogwood Center.  Middle school through college age students are encouraged to audition.  Audition times are 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.

Muskegon’s Dutch Henry is an alternative/roots/pop/rock band that is refreshing and trend-setting.  Band members include Greg Miller, Mitch Wood, John Merchant, and Todd Long.   
The band has two albums to their credit.  The current release “All That Space” highlights the great writing and musicality they have become known for.  Their single “On a Dime” from their first CD, “1973”, is featured in the TV show Getting Close on the Outdoor Channel.
Their sophomore album project “All That Space” has received favorable reviews in Vintage Guitar Magazine and USA Today.  Join us in the Black Box for a great night with Dutch Henry!
Tickets $10.  7:30 p.m.  Black Box.
The Dogwood Center Box Office is open Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and one hour prior to an event.  For information, phone 231.924.8885.
www.myspace.com/dutchhenry

Dogwood Center and NCCA – Artsplace invite you to join in on the fun and kick off the 2009 Baby Food Festival by watching this animated feature that involves a diminutive mouse who stives to make a mammoth change in his troubled kingdom.  The film is an adaption of author Kate DiCamillo’s Newbery Medal-winning children’s book.  The film is rated G and runs 93 minutes.  Free admission, donations accepted at the door to help support the programs of NCCA – Artsplace and the Dogwood Center.