Weekend Spotlight: Memorial Auditorium and Wake N Bake are top draws for final weekend in April

Baby, it's cold outside, but the music is hot this weekend in Southeast Iowa.

Burlington Civic Music closes its 2021-22 season with the return of Six Appeal and the George Maurer Group in Memorial Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Burlington.

The two groups helped local citizens survive the onslaught of COVID-19 at Civic Music’s first outdoor concert in September 2020.

BCM's original 2020-21 program was shredded by pandemic as musicians dropped out of touring mode due to virus shutdowns.

The two ensembles — one a live band with jazz piano, the other a pop vocal group — combined in 2019 to bring a multi-talented, multi-genre approach to their concerts.

Six Appeal began as a hobby in 2006 at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN and developed into a professional ensemble based in Minneapolis in 2010. They won the National Harmony Sweepstakes Championships in 2012 and competed in Moscow in 2018 and 2019, winning the grand prize both years at the world’s largest a cappella competition.

The term "a cappella" is Italian for “church style” and generally refers to the performance of unaccompanied singing voices.

Maurer arranges music for orchestras and plays piano for the Midtown Men — original members of the Broadway hit "Jersey Boys" — and starred as the original lead of that Tony award-winning show, and performs with major orchestras including the Boston Pops.

Maurer also interviews and accompanies fellow musicians in front of live audiences in his intimate “Stripped Down” series and is a member of the rock tribute band Collective Unconscious.

"How lucky can we be?" BCM program director Barbara McRoberts asked. "We're doing a happy dance as one of the country's noted pianists and jazz gurus returns to Burlington."

McRoberts said the success of the riverside show in 2020 compelled BCM to bring the two groups back.

"Whether we enjoyed the jazz group, the vocal band or the two together, the enthralled audience wanted them back," she said.

We're betting they'll do "Fly Me to the Moon" just for the joy of it.

And next year? Traditionally, BCM announces their upcoming season at the close of the current one. We can only tell you that in September, the always popular Texas Tenors are first in the 2022-23 lineup of "live music on the river."

Parking for Civic Music

BCM president Kay Conrad said the city is again providing free shuttle service from downtown parking lots to the Auditorium for the concert.

"Harmony Bible Church is allowing us to use their lot for this concert, and the shuttle will stop there as well," Conrad said. That lot is at 550 Division St.

Patrons are encouraged to reserve their seats early by calling (319) 752-0336. Single-show tickets are $35 adults, $10 students available at the Memorial Auditorium box office 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and the night of the show.

Drag N' Paint at Wake N Bake

Saturday night at Wake N Bake Breakfast Company will be wild and carefree.

Join dragsters Candi Addiction, Ashlynn Rose, Muuvi Premiere and Cokeena Addiction as artist Megan Couri guides you and your friends while you create your own unique masterpieces.

This is the Jefferson Street west end's answer to the "Battle of the Brushes" which returns to the Art Center of Burlington next Saturday on Jefferson's east end.

No art experience or skill is required. And there will not be a test afterwards.

The event is a night of painting, drag and drinks co-hosted by Couri and Miss Flo NoMo', whose glamorous friends will thrill you as you paint the night away.

"We have a lot of different people who come to the drag show," Wake N Bake employee Tyler Lambert said. "It's a super-fun time."

Indeed it is: The paintflingers don't always hit the canvas.

"Don't be afraid to get dirty," Lambert suggested. "There's going to be paint everywhere."

Parking for Wake N Bake

Don't let the street work on Jefferson dissuade you from this event: free parking is available behind the restaurant in the lot on Valley Street between 7th and 8th.

Admission to Drag N' Paint is $40 for 21-and-over and includes all paint supplies and a take-home canvas so you can hang your magnum opus in your living room.

Showtime is 7:00 p.m. at 713 Jefferson St. in Burlington.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Live performances you won't want to miss in Burlington this weekend