Pianist/accordionist Dan Chouinard and singer Prudence Johnson will headline the Hometown Holiday Show at Zumbrota's State Theatre on Saturday, December 15, at 7:30 pm. This community-wide variety show and sing-along will feature performances by the Zumbrota-Mazeppa High School Jazz Band, members of the Rochester Male Chorus, Heroes Choir, Zumbrota Dance Studio students, The Plaids, and other local musicians. Attendees will be greeted by carolers and may be surprised by a visit from Santa Claus.
This concert is a joint production between Crossings 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 eventual 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 Johnson, Peter Ostroushko, Ann Reed and others. Both he and Johnson are regular contributors to Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion radio show and had a part in the making of the film A Prairie Home Companion by Robert Altman. Johnson is a seasoned jazz and folk vocalist and inductee into the MN Rock and Country Hall of Fame. She also appeared in Robert Redford’s film, A River Runs Through It. Johnson will join Chouinard in performing traditional holiday music as well as some Swedish/Scandinavian, French, and Italian songs.
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 recently dubbed Crossings “my favorite SE Minnesota haunt.”
Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Student tickets for ages 18 and under are $5. To reserve tickets, call 507-732-7616 or stop in to Crossings at 320 East Avenue in Zumbrota. For more information, visit www.crossingsatcarnegie.com