Overboard

Wednesday, Sept. 12, co-sponsored by the Student Activities Council

Tickets: Patron donors – Aug. 20 | General public – Aug. 27

Having elevated itself far beyond its humble street performing roots, the Boston-based professional male a cappella group Overboard can be heard serving up its high-powered, soul-infused vocal rock from Maine to California. The group's tight harmonies and intricate arrangements arouse even the most discerning audiences, while its dynamic, energetic performance guarantees to get them on their feet. Since 2009, Overboard's albums and “Free Track Tuesday” single of the week program have taken the a cappella community by storm, landing the group numerous accolades and awards. In 2011, Overboard won the overall prize at the Boston Regional Harmony Sweepstakes Festival and was voted Audience Favorite.

The Water Coolers

Thursday, Oct. 18

Tickets: Patron donors – Sept. 10 | General public – Sept. 17

The Water Coolers offer a clean musical comedy that’s been called “one of the hottest tickets in town” by E! Entertainment TV. This award-winning musical comedy is a funny, smart, authentic take on work and life full of original songs, sketch comedy and pop parodies. Conceived by one of the creators of the long-running New York hit “Tony n' Tina's Wedding,” The Water Coolers is a “laugh-out-loud” show about the things we share around the water coolers of America every day – life, work, kids, husbands, wives, travel, technology – and trying to balance it all. From pretending to understand what the IT guy is saying to having a second job as a gift wrap salesperson to trying to figure out exactly what that one guy does all day, The Water Coolers will make audiences howl at the things we all face from 9 to 5. 

Cirque Mechanics

Monday, Nov. 19, co-sponsored by the Student Activities Council

Tickets: Patron donors – Oct. 15 | General public – Oct. 22

Enter the most unlikely setting for a circus, a factory – where the workers are acrobats and the machines are circus props. A place where spectators will watch a contortionist perform on a turntable powered by unicyclists, they will be captivated by the trapeze artist flying high thanks to the spins of an acrobat inside a giant gear-like wheel and they will be stunned when the trampoline wall artists defy the laws of physics by virtually flying and walking on air. All the while they will be giggling at the antics of the comedic characters, impressed by the acro-dancing and enchanted by the story of laughter, love, flight and birdhouses. Birdhouse Factory was hailed by Spectacle Magazine as “The most important contribution to the American Circus since Cirque du Soleil.” 

For more information, visit www.cirquemechanics.com.

Step Afrika!

Monday, Feb. 18, co-sponsored by the Student Activities Council

Tickets: Patron donors – Jan. 15 | General public – Jan. 21

Step Afrika! is the only professional dance company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping. Founded in December 1994, the company is critically acclaimed for its efforts to promote an understanding of and appreciation for stepping and the tradition’s use as an educational tool for young people worldwide. Step Afrika! reaches tens of thousands of Americans each year and has performed on prestigious stages in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

The Parker Quartet with Shai Wosner

Monday, March 11

Tickets: Patron donors – Feb. 4 | General public – Feb. 11

Hailed by The New York Times as “something extraordinary,” the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet has rapidly distinguished itself as one of the preeminent ensembles of its generation. The quartet began its professional touring career in 2002 and garnered international acclaim in 2005, winning the Concert Artists Guild Competition as well as the Grand Prix and Mozart Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in France. In 2009, Chamber Music America awarded the quartet the prestigious biennial Cleveland Quartet Award for the 2009-2011 seasons.

Pianist Shai Wosner has attracted international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity, and creative insight. His performances of a broad-range of repertoire from Beethoven and Mozart to Schoenberg and Ligeti, as well as music by his contemporaries, communicates his imaginative programming and his intellectual curiosity. Wosner’s virtuosity and perceptiveness have made him a favorite among audiences and critics, who have praised him for his “keen musical mind and deep musical soul” (NPR’s “All Things Considered”) and for exemplifying a “remarkable blend of the intellectual, physical and even devilish sides of performance” (Chicago Sun Times).

Dr. Bill Trowbridge & Mr. Bob Walkenhorst

Thursday, April 11

 Tickets: Patron donors – March 4 | General public – March 11

William Trowbridge, the poet laureate of the state of Missouri and former distinguished university professor at Northwest, teams up with Bob Walkenhorst, lead singer of the Rainmakers and 1979 Northwest graduate, for a unique poetry and music performance. Trowbridge reads selected poems from his 2011 collection “Ship of Fool,” which consists of poems about “The Fool,” a literary arctype that dates back to the beginning of storytelling, and is embodied in the characters of Keaton, Chaplin, Woody Allan and Steve Martin.

Trowbridge's Fool is a bungler, a goofball angel, part Job, part you and me.  Sometimes Fool is human, sometimes he's immortal, and the violence done to him by his fellow humans is only outdone by the violence done to him by the Creator himself. The poems are humorous, accessible, and sometimes heartbreaking.

Walkenhorst orchestrates this “musical” with snippets of a strange assortment of sound effects and songs, some originals and some covers. It comes off as a sort of joyful radio-play, with Trowbridge and Walkenhorst volleying poems and songs to illustrate the Grand Cosmic Joke.