The Illinois Central College Performing Arts Center is shining its spotlight on community organizations.
As part of its 2011-12 Guest Artists Series schedule of shows, the ICC Performing Arts Center is instituting a Community Partners program to highlight local organizations which have some sort of tie-in with each particular act.
“Since opening in 1978, the community has supported the ICC Performing Arts Center through its attendance at plays, concerts and other events,” said Chris Gray, dean of the arts and communication department at ICC. “This is our way of being a good citizen in the community by partnering with these organizations to promote the work they do.”
Each community partner will receive four complimentary tickets for the show, be listed in publicity materials for the event and present information about the organization at their selected performance.
The Guest Artists Series opens August 20 with Doug James, “the King of Diamonds,” who performs a two-act tribute to music legends Neil Diamond and Elvis Presley. The community partner for that performance is LifeLine Pilots, a group facilitating free air transportation through volunteer pilots for financially distressed passengers with medical and humanitarian needs. The connection between the King of Diamonds and LifeLine Pilots is that Neil Diamond wrote and performed the soundtrack to the 1973 movie adaptation of Richard Bach’s book, “Jonathan Livingston Seagull,” in which a young seagull learns about life and flight.
Other shows in the series, the community partners for those performances and the connections include:
- October 8 – Golden Dragon Acrobats (performances at 2 pm and 7:30 pm) – Peoria Chinese Association. The Peoria Chinese Association celebrates and promotes Chinese culture and diversity in the greater Peoria area, and the Golden Dragon Acrobats are recognized throughout the United States and abroad as the premiere Chinese acrobatic touring company of today.
- January 20 – Incognito by Michael Fosberg (performance at 7:30 pm) – Peoria Branch NAACP. “Incognito” touches on the issues of race, identity and diversity; the NAACP has been a leading advocate for social justice and equality for people of color.
- March 9 – The Hunt Family (performance at 7:30 pm) – Children’s Hospital of Illinois. The Hunts are a nine-member family of music performers and stepdancers, including the seven healthy, talented children and the Hunt parents; not all families are fortunate enough to have healthy children, and Children’s Hospital of Illinois is the only full service tertiary hospital for kids in downstate Illinois to provide support for families of children dealing with health issues.
- April 21 – Mitch Seekins Sings Tony Bennett (performance at 7:30 pm) – ArtsPartners. As a big proponent of the arts, Tony Bennett opened the Frank Sinatra School for the Arts in New York, offering high school diplomas in six arts majors and increasing awareness about the arts. While there is no such school in Peoria, ArtsPartners serves to increase awareness and education about the arts in the Peoria area.
- May 19 – The Second City (performance at 7:30 pm) – the Penguin Project. The cast members of Second City must utilize solid communication skills and creativity while improvising and performing sketches on stage. The Penguin Project gives children with disabilities an opportunity to participate in the performing arts.
Standard season ticket packages for the ICC 2011-12 Guest Artists Series cost $85 and include all shows except the January 20 performance. Bonus season ticket packages cost $95 and include all six shows.
Individual tickets to each performance cost $24 for adults and $19 for students and senior citizens.
For more information on the events, call the Performing Arts Center box office at (309) 694-5136.