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Free Veterans Day Concert

10/19/2017

Tecumseh Center for the Arts (TCA) is celebrating Veterans Day by holding a free concert for the community in honor of local veterans and their families. The event is sponsored by the Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation and will take place Saturday, November 11 at 7:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public.
Music will be provided by the Peace Jubilee Brass Band. In the spirit of the great American Peace Jubilee of 1869, under the direction of the noted musician and composer Patrick S. Gilmore, comes the Peace Jubilee Brass Band.
This band presents the latest and the most favorite tunes of the late 19th and early 20th century using historic over-the-shoulder brass instruments that were commonly used by community brass bands across America after the Civil War. To add to the occasion, the band will appear in appropriate dress to add to the authenticity of the event.
To learn more about our free Veterans Day Concert, which is open to the public, please call the TCA at 517.423.6617 or visit www.TheTCA.org.

GET YOUR FREE TICKET HERE!

Pianist and Songwriter Matt Beilis

10/11/2017

New Yorker Matt Beilis was born with a distinct voice. Some would say it's unconventional, which would fit the personality of this singer/songwriter/pianist. Matt traded in his Ivy League education along with a lucrative finance career for a gig in a piano store, betting that his artistic talents would propel him beyond the comfort that his academic achievements all but guaranteed.

As a graduate of Columbia University, one might expect to rub elbows with pop culture icons like Ashton Kutcher and Bruno Mars at some point in life, but for Matt it all happened organically online. Like many young singers, he set up a YouTube page and started covering his favorite songs - just him and a piano. He quickly found an audience of adoring fans and famous folks who loved his take on Top 40 hits. But what Matt also found was a real career, a booking agent, well-paid tours at colleges across the country, spins on top 40 radio stations, and gigs at notable NYC venues like the Canal Room, Sullivan Hall, The National Underground, and The Bitter End.

There's no doubt Matt is one of the most talented up and coming singer-songwriters in NYC, but singing other peoples' songs only gets you so far. So he wrote and wrote and co-wrote with musician and producer friends as well as professional pop writers like Kinetics & One Love, who penned the chorus to B.o.B's Airplanes. Ironically, it is from those sessions that Matt found his voice. Now, instead of covering songs, the unique singer--identifiable before the end of the first verse--was creating them. Matt's wide-ranging appeal as a singer, performer and writer, has garnered him support slots, as well as writing and production credits for a mixtape of artists including Daddy Yankee, Secondhand Serenade, Javier Colon, Consequence, Smokey Robinson, and even legendary Wu-tang Clan member Inspectah Deck. Matt’s music has been featured in national film and TV spots for Mastercard, Taco Bell, MTV, VH1, Jeep, Honda, GoPro and many more.

Matt Beilis jump starts Tecumseh Center for the Arts’ National Touring Season on Saturday, November 4 at 7:30 pm. Sponsored in part by WLEN 103.9 fm, tickets are $25 for adults and $23 for seniors, youth and military members. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 517-423-6617, at the box office located at 400 N. Maumee Street, Tecumseh, Michigan, or on-line at www.thetca.org.

Just in Time for Halloween!

10/4/2017

The Tecumseh Center for the Arts, in collaboration with Tecumseh Youth Theatre, The Tecumseh Players, and the TCA Big Band & VocalAires is proud to present the WTCA Radio Show - Fright Night at the TCA, on October 20 and 21, 2017. Based on the 1940’s era live radio shows, patrons will see and hear “The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow,” a story based on the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” performed live on stage. Adapted for radio from Washington Irving’s short story by Anthony E. Palermo, this drama is sure to delight fans of all ages, just in time for Halloween!

The show is directed by long-time Tecumseh Players member Heather Harris, with musical direction by Dr. Marty Marks, Adrian College Director of Bands and TCA Big Band & VocalAIres’ Director and Lead Alto Sax player. With a full complement of onstage sound effects technicians providing everything from the sound of horse’s hooves clomping to sword fights and thunder, combined with backup, incidental music by the TCA Big Band, this will surely be a night to remember.

Sponsors for the WTCA Radio Show include “sister station” WLEN 103.9fm, Gillin Eye Care, Tuckey Family Restaurant, Hacker Jewelers, and Lancaster Insurance. Watch as live commercials for each of our sponsors, “news of the day,” and items of interest are shared, ‘40’s style. As in years past, patrons will also enjoy music from the TCA Big Band & VocalAires as they perform such songs as, Old Devil Moon, Bewitched, Witchcraft, Spooky, and more. Come enjoy the night and you may just get a treat in the end!

The WTCA Radio Show – Fright Night at the TCA is a family, friendly event that is sure to bring smiles to patrons of all ages. Tickets are on sale now for $12 for adults and $10 for seniors, youth and military. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 517-423-6617, at the box office located at 400 N. Maumee Street, Tecumseh, Michigan, or on-line at www.thetca.org. If you love spooky adventures with a dash of mystery and a whole lot of fun mixed in, you’ll love this year’s WTCA Radio Show!

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Nutcracker Ballet Auditions 9/17/2017

9/13/2017

Come be part of the 2017 Nutcracker Ballet taking place December 7-9, 2017. Auditions for ballet dancers will take place Sunday, September 17.

All dancers must enter through the Green Room located in the back of the south parking lot of Tecumseh Center for the Arts. Auditions are broken down into age groups as follows:

Ages 8 - 10 .............................. 1:00 pm
Ages 11- 13 .............................. 2:15 pm
Ages 14 and over .....................3:30 pm

All dancers must report 1 hour prior to audition time for fitting and cast photo.

Female dancers must wear pink tights, black or blue leotard, ballet shoes or pointe shoes, hair in a bun and absolutely no jewelry. Male dancers must wear tights, leotard, ballet shoes, absolutely no jewelry and long hair pulled back.

All dancers must currently be enrolled in a ballet or pointe class at any dance studio. For more information, call Tecumseh Center for the Arts at 517-423-6617 or see the nutcracker_auditions.jpgaudition flyer.

Spirit Week at the TCA

9/8/2017

In celebration of Tecumseh Center for the Arts (TCA) and its upcoming Season Preview event taking place Saturday, September 23, the TCA is hosting Spirit Week -- where everyone who participates wins free tickets. The TCA Spirit Week campaign takes place the week of September 18-22, 2017. During each day of Spirit Week anyone who dresses-up in the daily theme will win show tickets.

DAILY THEMES:

• Monday, September 18:
Wear neon colors to support Musician Matt Beilis as he performs his Soul of Pop concert on November 4, 2017, sponsored by WLEN 103.9 fm.

• Tuesday, September 19:
Dress up in the funniest outfit you own as we get ready for The Second City on January 20, 2018, sponsored by Carpet on Wheels.

• Wednesday, September 20:
Make sure you wear a music themed outfit or have your picture taken with an instrument for Dueling Pianos coming to the TCA on February, 17, 2018, sponsored by Robert Fox, Howard Hanna Realtor.

• Thursday, September 21:
This is your chance to don your country clothes including a cowboy hat and boots for Country Music Singer John King on March 17, 2018, sponsored by Handler Funeral Home.

• Friday, September 22:
Join us as we dress up in black and magic themed attire for Master Illusionist Mike Super on April 21, 2018, sponsored by Tecumseh Big Boy.

Every person who stops by the TCA dressed in the daily theme or posts a picture on social media while tagging Tecumseh Center of the Arts will receive one ticket to each of our 2018 TCA Summer Series performances taking place June, July and August 2018! Those using social media can also use the hashtag #IlovetheTCA.

In addition, TCA staff will pick one winner who went above and beyond in the daily theme and that person will win one ticket to the affiliated touring show.

For more information, contact the TCA!

Comedy Showcase on August 25

8/16/2017

Small town, Big laughs Comedy Showcase brings eight (8) top comics from around the area to Tecumseh Center for the Arts for a night of laughter you will never forget on Friday, August 25 at 7:30 pm.

Hosted by Tecumseh's own Dustin Burwell as a send off before he heads on tour with the “Make me laugh Comedy Tour 2017” where he will perform with comedians featured on ABC, BET, and Comedy Central in cities throughout the east coast. Dustin has been a comedian in the Detroit circuit for nearly 2 years. He is a reoccurring headliner for the Maidstone Theatre Comedy Showcase in Ypsilanti. He uses both his everyday life as a husband, father of two and daily observations to bring relatable laughs.

The featuring comedians for the night are a group of diverse and experienced talents. John Campbell is the host of the “BFE Comedy Showcase” in Milan, MI. He has been featured in a number of showcases, along with a commercial for the Ford Motor Company. Christian Royce is a rising star in the Detroit comedy scene. He's a regular at one of Michigan's top comedy clubs (Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase). Christopher Burlew has been featured in the “Big Little City Comedy Festival” in Cleveland, Ohio, and his comedy has been featured on ESPN. Andrew Yang is a talented new comer, with a stage presence that rivals comedy veterans.

Our headliners are three heavyweights who've opened for well known comedians, world renowned comedy festivals, and television. Samantha Rager has opened for Rhea Butcher and Cameron Esposito. Her set is relatable yet twisted in the best way possible. Diego Annistasio has been featured in the “Memphis City Comedy Festival” and plans to record an album in the next year. Mike Geeter has been well known in the Detroit area for years, and is gaining national recognition including his upcoming appearance on “Hart of the City 2 hosted by Kevin Hart” on Comedy Central. He is currently recording a comedy special “But you know I'm right!” in Windsor, Ontario.

Tickets on sale now for $10! The lobby opens at 6:30 pm with a variety of refreshments including beer and wine. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 517-423-6617, at the box office located at 400 N. Maumee Street, Tecumseh, Michigan, or on-line at www.thetca.org.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS

Boogie Woogie Kid on Stage at the TCA

8/9/2017

Tecumseh Center for the Arts (TCA) will close out their Black Box Summer Series on Thursday, August 24 at 7 pm with pianist and songwriter Matthew Ball. A world class talent, Matthew Ball is already described as “Michigan’s leading boogie-woogie pianist!” by The Farmington Patch, "A boogie-woogie master!" by The Romeo Observer, and “A rising giant in the field!” by Metroland. A graduate of Oakland University and The University of Detroit, Matthew holds degrees in Music, History and Law. He trained classically at Oakland University with the internationally renowned classical pianist Flavio Varani, a graduate of The Paris Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music, who traced his own pedigree of study back to Chopin himself!

Recently welcomed twice on Fox 2 News Detroit's 'The Nine Show' and also on Channel 20 News Detroit's 'Concert on the Qube,' Matthew Ball has established himself as one of the leading entertainers around Detroit. Just this year, he performed his children's program with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra! Featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition as well as Michigan Public Radio’s Ann Delisi's and Rob Reinhart's Essential Music Programs, The Craig Fahle Show and WMUK’s The Art & More Show, Matthew performs a fast-paced program of Boogie-n-Blues, Jazz & Ragtime piano favorites from the Swing-dancin' era of the 20’s 30’s & 40’s, with arrangements of American classics like Ain't Misbehavin, When the Saints Go Marchin In, Over the Rainbow, Basin Street Blues, Bumble Boogie, The Entertainer, Glory of Love, and more!

Remarkably Ball's start in Jazz only began in 2001. A former attorney, Matthew left the practice after he attended a hometown boogie-woogie festival. He was so awestruck by the performances he saw that night, he left his career as an attorney to become a blues & boogie-woogie performing artist. With a lot of time, work, and effort over the next few years Ball would reach a breakthrough in 2005 with a career launching performance at the exclusive Arches Piano Stage in Cincinnati where he shared the stage with some of the same musicians that first inspired him to play back in 2001. Now with over 3.7 million YOUTUBE views of past performance footage he has distinguished himself as an internationally recognized practitioner and authority on these treasured American art-forms.

Boogie Woogie Kid is the final show for TCA’s Black Box Summer Series. The lobby opens at 6:00 pm with a variety of refreshments including beer and wine. Tickets are $10 each. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 517-423-6617, at the box office located at 400 N. Maumee Street, Tecumseh, Michigan, or on-line at www.thetca.org. Like the TCA on Facebook and keep up to date on the cultural entertainment and live performances scheduled this summer and beyond!

This year’s Black Box Summer Series part of the TCA Michigan Homegrown Project and is sponsored in part by Flatlanders Sculpture Supply and Art Gallery, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Looking for Business Sponsors!

7/26/2017

It’s been an exciting 12 months at Tecumseh Center for the Arts. In addition to record breaking ticket sales last season, we’ve also been making important upgrades at the theater to keep it in tip top shape for many years to come. Some of the upgrades include:

New auditorium and lobby roofs (Replacing the original ones from 1981).
A new ticketing program (A new single system cloud platform).
Wi-Fi and cabling upgrade (Helping us keep up with the technological needs of our performers).
Installing Koala Care changing stations in both men and women’s bathrooms.
Booking an entire new season with even more shows!

To say exciting things are happening at the TCA would be an understatement. The TCA staff and volunteers have been hard at work over the last 12 months to make these things a reality. However, we cannot accomplish the updates and upgrades without the financial support of local businesses and individual donors.

To keep the theater thriving and moving forward, we have set a couple of hefty goals this year and we’re looking for support from local businesses to help us reach our business sponsorship goal of $20,000.

The money raised from Business Sponsorships help us book amazing talent at Tecumseh Center for the Arts through our National Touring Season. It also helps fund our homegrown events like The TCA Nutcracker Ballet, WTCA Radio Show, Princess Day, Cabin Fever Film Fest and Junk to Funk that keeps money right here in our community.

Business Sponsors help us reach our annual goals and in turn we gladly promote them to the thousands of people that visit the theater each year. Business Sponsors are promoted in our playbills, in our lobby, through our website and social media channels. Business Sponsors who support us at the highest levels are also promoted through our radio and television commercials throughout the year as well.

Throughout August and September, TCA Director Kelly Jo Gilmore will be out promoting the theater and looking for local businesses to partner with us this year. If you're interested in sponsoring the theater as a business, please call 517-423-6617 or email kgilmore@thetca.org.

To review our sponsorship packages this year, please click here.

Birds of Prey Take Flight at the TCA

7/19/2017

Tecumseh Center for the Arts (TCA) is bringing Michigan Avian Experience to the theater as part of their Black Box Summer Series on Thursday, July 27 at 7 pm.

Michigan Avian Experience is a family- friendly event that aims to educate and entertain guests with birds of prey. Created to capture our innate fascination with birds and flight, Michigan Avian Experience uses non-releasable, wild native Michigan raptors (owls, eagles, hawks) as teaching partners. The non-profit organization will give an educational and entertaining show to patrons. Some of the birds will actually fly above patrons’ heads through the auditorium.

Michigan Avian Experience is the second of three shows for the TCA’s Black Box Summer Series. Don’t miss your chance to celebrate the summer months with the TCA while experiencing amazing events in a cool atmosphere. The lobby opens at 6:00 pm with a variety of refreshments including beer and wine. Tickets are $10 each.

Tickets can be purchased by phone at 517-423-6617, at the box office located at 400 N. Maumee Street, Tecumseh, Michigan, or on-line at www.thetca.org. Like the TCA on Facebook and keep up to date on the cultural entertainment and live performances scheduled this summer and beyond!

This year’s Black Box Summer Series part of the TCA Michigan Homegrown Project and is sponsored in part by Flatlanders Sculpture Supply and Art Gallery, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts.

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Calling all High School and College Students

7/13/2017

An Intensive Workshop is all new this year at the TCA. Tecumseh Center for the Arts (TCA) and Tecumseh Youth Theatre (TYT) wanted to offer a more challenging and rewarding format to our older youth. The Workshop will incorporate classes on audition techniques, casting, character development, choreography and theater production. Rudy Gauna-Belleau will be instructing the high school and college aged Intensive Workshop for TCA and TYT this summer.

Rudy returns to the TCA after having the opportunity to work in a wide range of venues across the United States. He is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy of New York and a former student of the Goodman Theater of Chicago. Rudy’s training and education has afforded him the opportunity to tour with national production companies like Troika, American Family Theater Company, The Road Company in shows such as The Will Rogers Follies, West Side Story, Starlight Express, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Grease, Fosse and Aladdin. He has been featured in national and regional commercials ranging from Frito Lays, Head and Shoulders and a Guess commercial with the late Anna Nicole Smith. Rudy has a background in theater education and has taught across the state of Michigan. He is a resident company member of the What A Do Theatre in Springfield, Michigan where his has appeared in multiple productions from Sweeney Todd to The Laramie Project. There he served as the director of volunteers and education.

Attendees will leave the workshop with a certificate of completion for their professional resume plus updated biography, new acquired skills and a more comprehensive understanding of live theater.

The Workshop begins Sunday, July 23 at 4 pm with a live audition at the TCA. Anyone currently enrolled in high school or a college who registers for the workshop and auditions is automatically enrolled in the Workshop. The audition will provide the instructor with the opportunity to see each participant and cast them accordingly before Monday morning. Participants should prepare 16 measures of two songs including one up tempo song choice and one ballad. An accompanist will be on hand for all auditions.

This year’s workshop is themed “Don’t Stop Believin’!” and will incorporate songs from Journey, Jon Bon Jovi, Survivor, Police, Queen, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Madonna and so much more! The storyline will take place in an inner city setting with characters overcoming obstacles and relationship struggles while finding their individual strength and courage all while rocking out to some upbeat rock-n-roll music.

The cost for the workshop is $120 per person. ($100 for each additional student in the same immediate family.) Workshop attendees should wear comfortable clothes and bring dance shoes each day along with lunch.

The intensive Workshop will take place Monday, July 24 – Friday, July 28 from 9 am – 4 pm with a final performance on Friday, July 28 at 7 pm. The final performance is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Tecumseh Center for the Arts or visit their website at www.theTCA.org to download the registration form.