Northwood Performing Arts Center to host 'Rainy Days and Mondays: The Music of The Carpenters'
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Jul. 16—NORTHWOOD, N.D. — "Rainy Days and Mondays," a Broadway-caliber show featuring the music of The Carpenters, is set for 7:30 p.m. July 23 at the Performing Arts Center in Northwood, N.D.
Aimee Lee and the Superstars, a group of 13 musicians based in Minneapolis, will perform the hits of the brother-sister duo Karen and Richard Carpenter.
Sponsored by the Northwood Performing Arts Council, the performance is part of Northwood's annual Old Fashioned Saturday event and will take place in the arts center, which is connected to Northwood Public School, 420 Trojan Road.
Tickets, $55 each for reserved seating, can be purchased at
; you can select your seats online. The venue is wheelchair accessible. Doors open at 7 p.m.
"It will be a very special evening. We are very excited," said Judy Engen, a member of the arts council. "(The musicians) have perfected the sound of The Carpenters, and Aimee Lee sounds like Karen Carpenter, which is amazing."
Karen Carpenter was acclaimed for her three-octave contralto vocal range. Along with her older brother, the pair achieved enormous commercial and critical success throughout the 1970s. In 1983, she died of heart failure, at age 32, due to complications from anorexia nervosa, a little-known eating disorder at that time.
Concert-goers can expect to hear favorite Carpenters hits such as "Kind of a Hush," "Ticket to Ride," "Mr. Postman," "Close to You," "We've Only Just Begun," and "For All We Know."
The auditorium in the Performing Arts Center boasts "good sound and good sight-lines," Engen said. "Every seat is a good seat."
"We are extremely fortunate to work with (Aimee Lee and the Superstars) in scheduling their stellar show," she said. "They truly recreate the distinctive sound of the hottest-selling group of the '70s, The Carpenters."
The group has never performed in the Greater Grand Forks area, she said, "so we have scheduled something truly special."
This is the second year the 400-seat Performing Arts Center has been open, Engen said. Last year, Robby Vee and his Rock and Roll Caravan was the first major show at the center.
The Performing Arts Council had contracted with the Medora Musical group to perform in December, but the sold-out performance had to be canceled one week before the show date due to a COVID outbreak, she said. "It was a big disappointment."
Engen and other council members "knew we needed to bring in a Broadway-caliber group this summer to help build back the confidence and support of our community," she said.
A few council members who had seen — and were impressed by — the Aimee Lee and the Superstars show in Chanhassen, Minnesota, suggested they be invited to perform in Northwood.
The group does not tour, but gives resident shows on special weekends at the Chanhassen Dinner Theaters, among other venues, Engen said.
The managers of the musical group were convinced by council members to come to Northwood and perform for this special event, she said.
Northwood's Old Fashioned Saturday is a community-wide occasion that has been going on for many years, Engen said. Various businesses and nonprofit organizations sponsor events, such as a demolition derby and parade.
"It's become almost a Wednesday to Sunday event," she said.
