Author Archives: ZAAC

Gravitone, The Musical — April 14

We are proud to bring you "What's The Matter With Captain Gravitone?" featuring the music of String Theory on Sunday, April 14, at 2 p.m. We have been selected as one of six venues for this original production funded in part by the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council.

General Idiocy and Siren Seductress Leather Alice are teaming up to make the world "more stupider." It's up to Captain Gravitone to use his super powers to make people pick the best choices, save the world and gather the courage to ask his long time love, Emma, out on a date. Featuring the music of String Theory http://elihoehn.com/stringtheory/ and poetry of John Rezmerski, it's a family-friendly comic-book farce that will have you laughing and dancing.

Advance tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for children 12 and under and are available at Crossings and Wild Ginger in Zumbrota. You may also purchase them online at http://gravitone.wix.com/gravitone. Doors open at 1:15 p.m. Tickets at the door are $7 for adults, $5 for children under 12 and ZAAC members.

The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4th Street in Zumbrota.

(Above) Captain Gravitone dukes it out with the evil General Idiocy. It's up to Gravitone to stop Idiocy's plan to make the world "more stupider."

Photo by: Wayne Schmidt photography

Movie: Les Miserables — April 13

Winner of three Academy Awards, this 2012 film stars Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe and Amanda Seyfried in the proclaimed adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel. Set in 19th-century revolutionary France, Jean Valjean is a burly French peasant imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread. Released after serving 19 years, he is then hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert for breaking his parole to start a better life. Valjean's new path crosses that of Fantine, a poor factory worker. His decision to care for her daughter Cosette changes their lives forever.

Rated PG-13. Showtime is 7 pm. Doors open at 6:15.

Admission $5.

The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4th Street in Zumbrota.

Michael Perry & The Long Beds — April 12

Crossings brings Michael Perry and the Long Beds to Zumbrota's State Theatre at 7:30 on Friday, April 12. Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 the day of the show. To purchase tickets call 732-7616. Doors open at 6:30.

Appearing onstage with his band the Long Beds, Michael Perry will weave stories and humor (including material from The Clodhopper Monologues) throughout a lively concert of original songs, including those on his albums and a couple of tunes fresh out of the pen.

The music of the Long Beds has been called everything from country folk to roughneck folk and folk-twang to good old Americana. The band prefers the description given by an audience member after a benefit concert in Perry’s old high school gym: “You sound just like Gordon Lightfoot… only zippier!”

Perry's songs are a direct reflection of his life growing up in small town Wisconsin. Ranging from straight-up twang to churchly harmonies and populated by characters drawn straight from rural and small town America, they launch from places like the overpass outside Perry’s beloved hometown of New Auburn, Wisconsin (population currently 562), a gospel service in a granary, and the kitchen floor of a woman about to drop a world of hurt on her drunken husband. “I was raised by farmers and preachers and tough country women, and I suppose my songs reflect that,” says Perry. “Then again, certain wisdoms are available only from whistlers, frauds, and sinners, so I try to slide them a line or two as well.”

Band members include backup vocalists and musicians Billy Krause on guitar and banjo, Chuck Roll on bass guitar and autoharp, and Christopher Ramey on guitar and keyboard, and special guests.

Perry is the author of bestselling memoirs "Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time," "Truck: A Love Story," "Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting," and "Visiting Tom: A Man, A Highway, and the Road To Roughneck Grace," as well as the essay collection "Off Main Street." He will give a lecture the day after the concert entitled Writing from the Middle of Nowhere. Perry will discuss his book and magazine writing techniques, how to survive the freelance life and the publishing world, and most importantly, how "the middle of nowhere" can be the most powerful writing element of all. The lecture is $35 and takes place at Crossings on Saturday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Read more about it here!

The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4th Street in Zumbrota.

Collective Unconscious Presents “The Last Waltz” — April 6

Collective Unconscious returns to Zumbrota's State Theatre at 7:30 pm on Saturday, April 6, for their latest concert, The Last Waltz. This tribute to The Band is brought to you by Crossings. Tickets are $32 in advance, $35 the day of the show and can be purchased by calling 732-7616. Doors open at 6:30.

The band that set the bar in magnificent album shows brings to life one of the greatest rock concerts of all time, The Last Waltz. Collective Unconscious is renowned for staging such mega-hits as The Beatles' Abbey Road, The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, CSNY’s Déjà vu, and most recently as half of the super group that performed Takin’ It To The Limit, a Tribute to The Eagles. For The Last Waltz, the stage will once again be filled with special guests as they bring to life one of the greatest evenings of music ever performed.

Collective Unconscious will be joined by special guests Stacy Bauer, Leon Laudenbach, Mark Hazzy Hasbrouck, Grant Haake, Jeff Lee, and Dan Barth. Collective Unconscious is Nathan Nature Nesje, Jeff Engholm, Muggsy Lauer, George Maurer, and Andy Deckard.

The program includes the hits "Up on Cripple Creek," "The Shape I'm In," "Who Do You Love," and "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down." Before it was a three-disc album, The Last Waltz was a 1976 farewell concert by The Band, filmed by director Martin Scorsese and made into a documentary of the same name. The concert itself was on Thanksgiving in San Francisco, and The Band was joined on stage by more than a dozen special guests, including Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, and Neil Young.

The Band, which continued to tour in the '80s without guitarist Robbie Robertson, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked them No. 50 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and in 2008 The Band received the Grammy's Lifetime Achievement Award.

The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4th Street in Zumbrota.