Category Archives: State Theatre

Fascinating Rhythm: A Gershwin Tribute — January 12

“Fascinating Rhythm: A Tribute to the Gershwin Brothers” is Sunday, January 12 at 2 pm at Zumbrota’s historic State Theatre. Doors open at 1:15 pm.

Admission is FREE thanks to a grant from the Zumbrota Community Trust.

"Fascinating Rhythm" is a narrated musical tribute to George and Ira Gershwin, the 20th century composer-lyricist brothers who changed, shaped and defined American music more than any other musical team in America's history. Their work was featured in more than 20 films including “Porgy and Bess,” “An American in Paris,” and “A Star is Born.” They had dozens of Broadway shows to their credit, including the 1992 Tony Winner “Crazy For You.”

The hour-long show will have five short sets featuring patriotic tunes like "Strike Up the Band"; swing tunes like "Nice Work if You Can Get It"; folk opera tunes from "Porgy and Bess" like "Summertime"; jazz tunes like "Fascinating Rhythm"; and love songs like "Someone to Watch Over Me." In addition, an excerpt from the beloved piano concerto "Rhapsody in Blue" will be played. Musical selections will be performed by an outstanding group of highly regarded artists from southeast Minnesota. The music will be intertwined with a narration of interesting facts and anecdotes about the Gershwins' personal and professional lives. The program is written to be both educational and entertaining for audience members of all ages and backgrounds.

Originally performed last winter at the Mayo Clinic as part of the Harmony for Mayo concert series, most of the original artists are appearing for this presentation. Vocals will be provided by Laurie Helmers and Tom Overlie. Laurie is a private voice and piano teacher in Stewartville. She has a long resume as a soloist, writer, director and stage performer throughout the Upper Midwest. She is a familiar face on the Rochester stage with recent roles in “Chicago” and “Young Frankenstein.” Tom Overlie is well known as the Emmy-Award winning news anchor for KTTC-TV in Rochester. Music is a large part of his life with many guest appearances as a soloist for Rochester Civic Music concerts. He is also the co-host of the KTTC Eagles Cancer Telethon. Jan Matson is a professional pianist and accompanist in the Rochester area. She has been involved in more than 75 theater productions in southeast Minnesota, most recently with “Les Mis” at the Rochester Civic Theatre. Narration for the program will be provided by John Helmers, who also has extensive behind the scenes and onstage experience in the Rochester area. In his professional life, he is a respected presenter at national conferences and a spokesperson to the media.

The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4^th Street in Zumbrota. 507-732-5210.

The Music and Magic of Patsy Cline — January 11

Crossings brings Cassie & the Bobs to Zumbrota's State Theatre on Saturday, January 11, at 7:30 pm. Fans of that early Nashville sound won’t want to miss “The Music and Magic of Patsy Cline,” back by popular demand. You won't just hear Patsy's music–you'll swear she's there in person!

Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door, and can be purchased online or by calling 507-732-7616. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

Cassie Wiesner’s powerful portrayal of Patsy Cline takes audiences on a trip down memory lane as she sings “Crazy,” “Walkin’ After Midnight,” “I Fall To Pieces,” and many more of the songs that made Cline famous and admired. No one comes closer to sounding like Cline than Wiesner, and the Bobs are a full group of accomplished musicians, dedicated to sounding as true-to-the-spirit of the original recordings as possible.

Cline was a pioneer of the 1960s Nashville sound and as a female headline performer. She had attained great success by age 30, when she died in a private plane crash. She remains a major influence for many singers and is one of the most acclaimed female vocalists of the 20th Century. She was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame – the first female soloist to receive that honor.

In addition to Wiesner, the Bobs feature many talented musicians, including current or former members of bands like Silverado, Oh Aces, The Salty Dogs, Skilly and Duff, Patty and the Pinetones, The Waybacks and Little Henry.

Cassie and the Bobs have been touring Minnesota and the Dakotas for more than five years and have gathered rave reviews wherever they play. The group continues to draw hundreds of people to their performances, a testimony to the quality of their show and the enduring popularity of Patsy Cline, 50 years after her death.

Cassie and The Bobs

The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4th Street in Zumbrota. For more information call 507-732-5210.

Hometown Holiday Show — December 21

The Hometown Holiday Show is back! Join us on Saturday, December 21, at 7:30 PM for another delightful evening of music and storytelling. Adult tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. Student tickets for ages 18 and under are $5. Add $4 per ticket and you can reserve your seat! Tickets can be purchased at Crossings, as well as online or by calling 507-732-7616. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

Pianist/accordionist Dan Chouinard and fiddle/mandolin player Peter Ostroushko headline a performance that also features a multitude of talented local performers.

This community-wide variety show and sing-along will feature performances by the Zumbrota-Mazeppa High School Jazz Band, a flute and cello duet, Irish soft shoe dancers from the Zumbrota Dance Studio, Rochester's Choral Arts Ensemble, and other fabulous acts by your neighbors! Concert goers will be greeted by carolers from Our Saviour's Lutheran Church.

This concert is a joint production between Crossings at Carnegie and the Zumbrota Area Arts Council to raise funds for improvements to the historic State Theatre. The theatre is an intimate venue whose vintage atmosphere is praised by audiences and performers alike. Planned renovations include weatherizing the exterior, restoration of interior finishes, upgrades in sound and lighting equipment, seating improvements, and an addition to the building for handicapped accessible restrooms, a larger lobby and dressing rooms.

Chouinard turns up regularly in Zumbrota playing a supporting role for performers like Ostroushko, Prudence Johnson, Ann Reed and others. Both he and Ostroushko are regular contributors to Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion radio show.

Chouinard has hosted similar community-based holiday shows in Lanesboro every year since 2007, drawing on local talent to fill most of the show's roster of musicians and storytellers and always featuring a performer friend from the Twin Cities as a special guest. He regularly creates special programs which blend storytelling, interview and music, many of these for Minnesota Public Radio. He has dubbed Crossings “my favorite SE Minnesota haunt.”

Ostroushko, one of the finest mandolin and fiddle players in acoustic music, plays a rich ethnic mix of music, at the heart of which is his Ukrainian heritage. It’s a mixture of musical styles he calls “sluz duz,” a phrase roughly meaning “over the edge” or “off his rocker.” He has earned an international reputation as a versatile and dazzling musician and composer.

Dan Chouinard

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

www.crossingsatcarnegie.com

SimpleGifts with Billy McLaughlin — December 13

Crossings brings SimpleGifts with Billy McLaughlin to Zumbrota's State Theatre on Friday, December 13, at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $25 in advance, $28 at the door, and can be purchased online or by calling 507-732-7616. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

SimpleGifts with Billy McLaughlin combines violin, celtic whistle, piano, acoustic guitar and percussion with angelic three-part female vocals to deliver a “modern Old World” sound in Christmas carols and hymns.

SimpleGifts, the six-member ensemble led by award-winning musician Billy McLaughlin, stays close to the heart of Christmas by avoiding commercial and pop holiday repertoire and instead balances sacred Christmas songs with warm, sentimental favorites. Children will enjoy hearing holiday classics, while adults are taken back to a quieter, simpler time with traditional songs and hymns.

With a new album, “WinterGrace,” the group continues to prove there is nothing ordinary about the arrangements they deliver both in the studio and in concert. Seen by more than 20,000 live audience members last season, SimpleGifts continues to grow in popularity throughout the Upper Midwest and has successfully transitioned from their early days in coffeehouses and small listening rooms to prestigious performing art centers and larger churches.

Familiar classics on the new CD include “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” and “Little Drummer Boy,” while the lesser-known title track provides a fresh but timeless melody from the hills of Appalachia.

New members Ashleigh Still, Torie Redpath and Amy Courts join returning members Heather Garborg, Billy O., Laura MacKenzie and Billy McLaughlin in a rotating sextet line-up for the 2013 “WinterGrace” Tour.

“SimpleGifts … has that special celestial sound that captures the magic, spirit and meditation of the Christmas season. Think of a Courier and Ives holiday setting: the music you hear playing is SimpleGifts with its richly woven tapestry of vocal harmonies and perfect instrumentation,” said McLaughlin.

SimpleGifts

The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4th Street in Zumbrota. For more information call 507-732-5210.

Alison Scott’s Soulful Christmas — December 7

Crossings brings Alison Scott and her six-piece band to Zumbrota to perform, “A Soulful Christmas,” at the State Theatre on Saturday, December 7 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $18 in advance, $22 at the door, and can be purchased online or by calling 507-732-7616. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

Special guests include the Zumbrota-Mazeppa High School Choir, Tommy Barbarella and Andy Dee. Scott aims to raise awareness and funding for local choirs during her Christmas tour.

Scott, who has sold out the Dakota Jazz Club more than a dozen shows in a row, has a soulful sound that perfectly suits the seasonal music – some traditional, some original. Audiences also will hear a few of the band’s favorite all-year-round songs.

It’s not just a concert series though: Fans are finally getting the Christmas CD they’ve been asking for.

Even though she’s been preparing for this since May, Scott hasn’t lost her holiday spirit. “Christmas is my favorite holiday. Give me an apron, some flour and sugar, and I’ll be baking for weeks, only coming up for air to listen to my favorite Christmas tunes and buy way too many stocking stuffers,” she said.

Involving young choirs is her way of reaching out to those who want a future in music.

The goal is to reach out to some up and coming musicians and spend time sharing the experience of being a professional musician, hopefully inspiring some of them to pursue a career in music while bringing awareness to the importance of youth music programs.

As far as the show goes, the band’s got everything from Charlie Brown’s “Christmas Time is Here” and “Oh Holy Night,” both of which will feature the choirs. Then Scott and her band will branch out to some holiday originals, a few more well known faves, and a rendition of “Little Drummer Boy” gone funky, that may or may not include a rap section because if Dessa can sing, Ali can rap. It's only fair.

This concert series is sponsored by 96.3 K-TWIN, McNally Smith College of Music, PeopleNet and Vusion, and people like you.

Alison Scott

The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4th Street in Zumbrota. For more information call 507-732-5210.

Pet Sounds — November 23

Crossings brings Collective Unconscious back to Zumbrota's State Theatre on Saturday, November 23, at 7:30 pm for a repeat performance of their wildly popular tribute to the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" album. Tickets are $32 in advance, $35 at the door, and can be purchased online or by calling 507-732-7616. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

The Central-Minnesota band delivers an album concert, faithfully reproducing each "Pet Sounds" song. To create that authentic experience, Collective Unconscious will bring along an 18-piece orchestra, plus guest performers. There’s even a Theremin involved – a Russian-invented electronic musical instrument played without physical contact. It’s used on “Good Vibrations.”

While the Beach Boys started out as a lighthearted surfer rock band, their 1966 album, largely composed by Brian Wilson, was groundbreaking at the time and now is considered a classic. “Pet Sounds” includes songs such as “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “God Only Knows” and “Sloop John B,” and features a complex, intricate and multi-layered sound. Unconventional instruments, experimentation, and layers of vocal harmonies permeate the music. The album represented a move to a psychedelic sound for the band, and marked the emergence of psychedelic rock as a musical style.

The Beach Boys have had more than 80 songs chart worldwide; 36 of them were Top 40 hits in the United States, and four of those reached number one on Billboard’s Hot 100.

Collective Unconscious is a group of musicians who have a history of making incredible music together, whether it's their own originals or cover songs. Over the past decade, they have stunned audiences throughout Minnesota with their productions of The Beatles’ “Abbey Road,” Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young’s “Déjà vu,” and Simon & Garfunkel’s "Bridge Over Troubled Water."

Fronted by singer-songwriters Jeff Engholm, Nathan Nesje, and Muggsy Lauer, the band will be joined by jazz pianist George Maurer, vocal quartet The Half Steps, and The Vees.

Collective Unconscious

The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4th Street in Zumbrota. For more information call 507-732-5210.

Oblivion — November 15

It's Sci-Fi Friday with Tom Cruise and

Oblivion

Where Earth is a memory worth fighting for….

Tom Cruise plays a veteran assigned to extract the last remaining resources from the planet Earth. When he discovers the contents of a crashed spacecraft, he begins to question what he believes about his mission and himself. This visually stunning film with a thumping soundtrack is best seen on a cinema screen.

7 pm Showtime. Doors open at 6:30. Rated PG-13

Tickets:

$5 Adults

$4 Students (18 and under)

We have the best popcorn around and all our treats are at family friendly prices!

The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4th Street in Zumbrota. (507) 732-5210.

The Daisy Dillman Band — November 2

Crossings brings The Daisy Dillman Band to Zumbrota's State Theatre on Saturday, November 2, at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $22 in advance, $25 at the door, and can be purchased online or by calling 507-732-7616. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

The Daisy Dillman Band holds a well deserved seat at the table in Minnesota music history, with their original blend of driving country-rock and soaring vocals. The band will perform for the first time in Zumbrota.

The band that began to form in 1976 quickly grew in popularity, garnering Minnesota Music Awards in three categories in 1978 with their curious blend of country, full-on rock and electric fiddle. The Daisy Dillman Band recorded their first national release that same year, charting in the Billboard Hot 100 with releases for both United Artists Records and RCA Records.

The original band reunited in 2003 for a series of concerts, and in 2006 were inducted into the Minnesota Rock & Country Hall of Fame. The band performed this year at the Minnesota State Fair to enthusiastic crowds, and just released a new album. This performance brings the full band: Rick Leibold, Pat Frederick, Feagan Solmonson, Stymie Seamans, with Craig Anderson on keyboards.

The Daisy Dillman Band

The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4th Street in Zumbrota. For more information call 507-732-5210.

Ghostbusters — October 27

Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!

Spend Sunday afternoon before Halloween with us! Give those Halloween costumes a preview run at the State Theatre — cuz we're giving PRIZES for the best costumes!

2 PM Showing

Tickets:

$5 Adults

$4 Students 18 and under

Rated PG

Doors open at 1:30 PM.

The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4th Street in Zumbrota. (507) 732-5210

The Rocky Horror Picture Show — October 25

It's True–We're showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show in Zumbrota! Dig out your Rocky Horror costume, grab your friends and have some fun at Zumbrota's State Theatre!

This 1975 British musical comedy horror film is a cult classic with millions of fans around the world. A comic tribute to mid-twentieth century science fiction and B horror movies, the film has been elected by the Library of Congress to the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

The story involves newly engaged couple Brad and Janet who have a car breakdown on a dark and stormy night. While searching for help, they find themselves in the bizarre castle of transvestite Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

Although traditionally shown at midnight, our local screening is at 7 PM.

We welcome your participation with props, HOWEVER, we will not allow you to bring food into the theatre (i.e. toast, hot dogs, rice) and you may NOT throw anything at the movie screen. Open flames are also not permitted.

Wondering what props to bring? We suggest party hats, toilet paper, playing cards, newspapers, small squirtguns, flashlights, rubber gloves, noisemakers, confetti, and a bell.

Rated R–people under age 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Tickets for all ages: $8

Doors open at 6:30. Wine and beer bar, popcorn, soda and candy are available.

The State Theatre is located at 96 East 4th Street in Zumbrota. (507) 732-5210.