Academy Award winner, 'The Voice' winner among shows playing at Door Community Auditorium
FISH CREEK - Plenty of Grammy Award winners have graced the stage at Door Community Auditorium over its 32 years of presenting shows, and several more will appear during its 2023 season. And to go with them this summer, they're joined on the schedule by an Academy Award winner and the winner of a TV music competition.
The auditorium announced its 2023 Main Stage season Friday morning, and it features its trademark mix of popular bands and singers in a variety of genres, a number of returning DCA and local favorites, up-and-coming music stars, and variety like contemporary dance, vaudeville, children's entertainment and a singalong among its 25 shows.
“The concerts we’re presenting this season are very eclectic. I think they’ll appeal to a wide spectrum of musical tastes," DCA executive director Cari Lewis said in a news release. "We selected this year’s shows with two main goals in mind: first, being inclusive; and second, hosting artistically excellent, fun, and healing experiences for our community. I feel that this season is especially deep in its quality. There are so many well-loved names."
While the schedule does include the aforementioned Oscar winner, he'll be on stage to play music, not to act. Billy Bob Thornton, the actor/director/writer who won his Oscar for his adapted screenplay for "Sling Blade," is appearing July 13 as frontman for The Boxmasters, the rockabilly/straight rock band he formed with J.D. Andrew in 2007.
A band on the schedule that's had some recent notoriety on TV is Girl Named Tom, a sibling folk trio out of Ohio that won Season 21 of NBC's music competition "The Voice" in late 2021 and will perform at DCA on July 30. During their audition for the show, all four judges turned their chairs for the trio, meaning each judge wanted to be chosen to coach them, and Kelly Clarkson ended up coaching them to become the first trio ever to win on the show.
One of the bigger shows of the season brings six popular pop and rock bands and performers from the late 1950s to the late '60s together in the "Happy Together Tour." Scheduled for Aug. 29, the show will feature The Turtles (best known for their smash 1967 hit "Happy Together"), Little Anthony ("Tears on My Pillow" with his group The Imperials), Gary Puckett & The Union Gap ("Young Girl"), The Vogues ("My Special Angel"), The Classics and The Cowsills ("Hair").
Among the past DCA favorites making a return to its stage is the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, which will make its fourth appearance June 20 after previous shows in 2000, 2012 and 2016. Back for a second go-around are Wisconsin rock icons the BoDeans, July 7; Southern rockers The Marshall Tucker Band, July 15; and back by popular demand after last year's show, country traditionalist Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, Sept. 28.
Also back after appearing in 2022 is Choir! Choir! Choir!, a free singalong choral concert Sept. 22. The organizers put out an open call for community members who want to join the show, teach the arrangements and lead the performances, which are themed singalongs to artists like Queen, George Harrison, ABBA and Fleetwood Mac and have been held in venues ranging from pubs to Carnegie Hall. This year's event will be an "Epic '80s Singalong."
Well-known acts making their DCA debuts are Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter KT Tunstall on July 1, legendary soul singer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Gladys Knight (July 20) and blues singer and guitarist Robert Cray (Sept. 10).
Variety comes in the form of acts such as alt-bluegrass singer Sierra Ferrell on July 10, the hip-hoppy New Orleans sounds of the Rebirth Brass Band on July 25 and high-energy Celtic music and stepdance group Tartan Terrors on Oct. 15.
This season's dance program features Hiplet, a Chicago-based company that combines traditional ballet with hip-hop and other contemporary styles (which is how their mashup of a name, pronounced "hip-lay," came to be).
The auditorium also hosts a handful of shows featuring local performers for special events, including the annual "Play It Forward" celebration of local musicians on June 10 and the June 20 performance of a Night of Pride Anthems with special guest Owen Alabado, president of Northern Door Pride. A variety of other community concerts are offered by DCA throughout the season.
Tickets go on sale to the general public May 16, with presales for DCA VIPs beginning May 9. Season subscriptions with discounts are available for those who plan to attend multiple shows. The auditorium also continues to seek sponsors and volunteers for the season. For concert times, tickets, prices or more information, go to the DCA box office, 3926 State 42, Fish Creek; call 920-868-2728; or visit dcauditorium.org.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.
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FYI
The Door Community Auditorium 2023 Main Stage schedule:
June 10: Play It Forward, DCA's annual community music celebration with an array of local musicians, this year held in the Stabbur Beer Garden at Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant in Sister Bay.
June 20: Legendary country-rock band Nitty Gritty Dirt Band ("Mr. Bojangles," "Fishing in the Dark").
June 23: A Night of Pride Anthems with special guest Owen Alabado, president of Northern Door Pride.
June 26: A blend of hip-hop and folk-pop with songwriter Mat Kearney.
July 1: Singer-songwriter and Grammy Award nominee KT Tunstall ("Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," "Suddenly I See") with soulful Americana artist Martin Sexton.
July 7: Roots-rock with Wisconsin's own BoDeans.
July 10: Alt-bluegrass and honky-tonk from West Virginia with Sierra Ferrell.
July 13: The Boxmasters, straight-up rock and rockabilly from actor/director/playwright and lead vocalist Billy Bob Thornton ("Sling Blade") and musical partner J.D. Andrew.
July 15: Seminal Southern rock group The Marshall Tucker Band ("Heard It in a Love Song," "Can't You See").
July 20: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member and seven-time Grammy Award winner, the "Empress of Soul" Gladys Knight.
July 25: Traditional New Orleans sounds meet funk and R&B with the Rebirth Brass Band.
July 30: Young folk trio and "The Voice" winner Girl Named Tom.
Aug. 13: Popular children's musician Laurie Berkner.
Aug. 29: "Happy Together Tour" with 1960s sensations The Turtles, Little Anthony, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, The Vogues, The Classics and The Cowsills.
Sept. 10: Blues guitarist/vocalist and five-time Grammy Award winner Robert Cray ("Smoking Gun").
Sept. 16: Chicago tribute band Alive Again.
Sept. 22: "Epic '80s Singalong" with Choir! Choir! Choir!
Sept. 28: Country music traditionalist and five-time Grammy Award winner Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives.
Oct. 6: Hiplet, a contemporary, innovative dance company mixing ballet, hip-hop and jazz styles.
Oct. 15: High-energy Celtic music and dance with Tartan Terrors.
Oct. 22: “When You Wish Upon a Star: A Jazz Tribute to 100 Years of Disney.”
Nov. 25: Ugly Christmas Sweater Party with local R&B favorite Big Mouth and guests.
Jan. 30: Dinosaur World Live, an interactive kids' puppet show.
Feb. 9: Vaudevillian variety show for all ages with The Fourth Wall.
March 1: Learn what a cake can reveal about history in “Makin’ Cake with Dasha Kelly Hamilton.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Oscar winner, 'The Voice' winner will play Door Community Auditorium in 2023
