Marion Palace Theatre 2024-2025 Season Announcement

Palace Executive Director Kirk Detweiler and Marketing Director Morgan Schwartz announce the 2024-2025 Season schedule.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Even though we're at the middle ofthe year, just about this is the
beginning of the new Palace season,almost the beginning of the New Palace season,
and here today to talk about thatas executive director Kirk debt Weiler and
marketing director Morgan Schwartz for the MaryonPalace Theater. Kirk, we're all excited
to find out about Oliver. Oh, yeah, we have Oliver. Oliver

(00:23):
might be the most important person here. Oliver's Morgan's son. That was the
one stipulation that Morgan was going todo the interview. She had to bring
Oliver. Oliver. Yeah, he'sjust going to give the thumbs up.
Good, he said, good.Awesome. But we are excited to hear
about the newest season coming up forthe Marrying Palace Theater. And I know

(00:45):
you've been working hard. It almoststarts as soon as you announce the season,
you start almost planning for the nextseason. Yeah, because I still
have people, I have agents.I get about maybe five to ten emails
every day, different agents, differentpromoters sending me emails with with the acts
and well we still have spots availablein twenty four twenty five, and I'm

(01:07):
like, I booked everything. Youknow, I finalized everything like two months
ago, so I said, callme in September. That's when I start.
So for right now, I fileevery all the ones that look good
into a special file, and thenin September we start looking at the following
season. Yeah, and it's it'snot an easy joby by any means.
I think people maybe in their mindsthink, oh, he gets to make

(01:32):
the shows and make things. Butit's a lot of work goes into just
when these shows and when people areavailable to even come to Marion, And
it's a lot of a lot ofwork, a really hard job at times.
Well, yeah, and we haveto have our season all set by
the time we go to print.Sometimes there are last minute changes. But
if I start booking in September,there's a lot of acts, especially the

(01:52):
big names. You know, it'slike, hey, are you available in
maybe twenty twenty seven, and they'relike, what, I don't even know
if I'm going to be alive intwenty twenty seven, you know, So
it's really hard sometimes to commit.You know, if you're looking at May
in June, a year and ahalf in advance, you know, sometimes
it's hard to commit. Absolutely.Well, let's not wait any longer,

(02:13):
Kirk, take it away. Letus know what is coming to the Palace
this next season. Well, let'slet Morgan talk a little bit. Why
don't you talk about the two summermusicals. Okay, So we are,
as I think people might already know. We're kicking off our ninety sixth season,
which we're dubbing Catch the Magic withDisney's The Little Mermaid. I think
this is going to be an incredibleshow. I think it's one everyone is

(02:34):
familiar with, So make sure thatyou come out to the Palace in July
to see that. And then weare very excited to once again do another
summer musical. Last year we didNext to Normal, and this year we
are doing Rent, which is anotherone that I think a lot of people
are incredibly familiar with. I knowwhen I was in high school, this
was like on repeat in my car, So I am so excited for that
show. Yeah. Rent is oneof those that you know. Last year

(02:59):
with Next to Normal, it wasjust doing something that was a little bit
different and nobody really knew how itwas going to go, and it was
a huge success. Now you're takinga musical that people do know, but
still kind of in that same veinthat it's not something that would normally be
done at the Palace. No,it's right at PG. Thirteen, just
for content and language, but it'sYeah, like Morgan says, she played

(03:23):
had it on auto play when shewas in high school, which makes me
feel old because I was already inmy thirties. But it was my Hamilton.
It was my Hamilton of the nineties. I played that NonStop, and
I'm just probably forty years too oldto be in the cast. But yeah,
that's the way I feel, too. And I think about you know,

(03:43):
Next Normal in Rent, our secondarysecond summer musicals. They're both Pulitzer
Prize winning and on Broadway they aredirected by the same guy. Oh okay,
yeah, so Dustin Rowlands knows howto pick them absolutely, and Dustin
is directing this one again as well, and he, like we said,
had a really great hit last seasonwith Next to Normal and now directing Rent.

(04:06):
So something to look forward to.If maybe there may be people out
there that Little Mermaid just isn't reallysomething they would feel comfortable auditioning for.
This could be the other one exactly, And we can't forget Dustin Rollins's directing
rent But the famous in legendary ClaireCook is doing Little Mermaid with Christy Wink,

(04:32):
her daughter choreographing. So okay,you know she's tried and true.
She always puts on a great show. Yes she does. She is amazing.
Then that will be an amazing musical. I know that there's going to
be some wonderful sets. If youwent and saw Beauty and the Beast last
year, kind of think in thatvein, it's going to be magnificent sets,

(04:54):
magnificent costumes. Yeah. Well,we rented the sets from the same
company that we rented the sets forBeauty and the Beast rented the costumes.
Actually, if anybody saw the WillRogers Follies, which I think maybe four
people out there did two summers ago, they Kansas City Costumes were getting the
costumes from them, and they areflawless. They're just fantastic. Well there
was there was six people because mywife and I went and watched it too.

(05:15):
So well, let's let's go on. What else do you guys have
to show us this year? Well, we've got a lot of what do
I call local legends. We wantedto I wanted to get a you know,
local bands, and people from Ohio, not only because they're a good
draw, but also because the OhioArts Council will give you a grant if

(05:39):
you hire people from Ohio artists fromOhio. So we got a lot of
those coming up in May of twentytwenty five. We've got Ryan Ratliffe and
Sarah Grodi. They're both doing showswhen I was at OSUM. This is
dating me. McGuffey Lane band outof Columbus, Big huge. They're coming

(05:59):
to the Palace. Oh awesome thisNovember. Yes, we're real excited about
that. And who else do wehave this local Well, they'll have the
gas Pump Jockeys with them, Yeah, the gas Pump Jockeys Pavilion in the
past. Yeah, that will bea great show. Of course. Another
local group the Shovel City Improv,which you were a part of. Yes,
yes, and we always the Palaceis our home. I mean we

(06:20):
really feel like the Palace is wherewe all started, not just with improv.
So anytime we get to do ashow at the Palace we are excited.
But also Rogue Theatrics. They're movingtheir Fright Night Cabaret to the May
Pavilion the last weekend of October,which is going to be fantastic. It's
just again another example of how thePalace likes to focus on local talent as

(06:44):
well as touring acts. And youcan go to the Palace and see so
many different things and support local allthe way around. Well, let's I
want to move to the rest ofour in house season. We're doing six
shows. We already mentioned Little Mermaidand Rent, but in October we are
doing Disney's Lion King Junior as ourjunior musical this year, and that's directed

(07:05):
by Christy Christy Wink. Yes,that's always going to be a great show.
Uh, there's so many talented kidsout there, including Oliver. Are
you going to try for it thisyear? Oliver? You could have been
a great Simba. Dude. Ithink you you missed your calling because you
you played Freddy and the Will RogersFollies. You got the biggest laugh of

(07:29):
the whole show with your one line, and his friends still call him Freddy.
He played Freddie Rogers. So youneed to rethink that you've got time.
You've got time. So we gotLittle we got Lion King Junior in
October, and of course we're doingChristmas at the Palace the first weekend of
December, which is become a traditionthe last it'll be the forty second year.

(07:50):
Unreal, Yeah, but it's itbrings so many people from the Marion
area on stage. Last year wehad two hundred and seventy five p people
in the show. Wow, thatis unbelievable. And then we still have
some more once you get to thebeginning of the year, some more stage
shows. Yes, we do well. We got our junior play and I'm

(08:11):
gonna let Morgan talk about that onebecause she is directing it this year.
Oh my goodness. So this iscalled The Girl with the Golden Locks,
and it is just kind of atwist on Goldilocks. She's working for the
Fairytale Bureau of Investigation, the FBI. The Free Bears are up to no
good and she's out to figure outwhat's going on. So I'm very intimidated
and nervous to be directing a showfor the first time. But I think

(08:33):
that Emily Acseik has kind of builtthis junior play program so well that it
should be fairly easy to do.I've had her direction last I've worked with
her many times, and she letme shadow her last year. So I'm
feeling nervous but excited. I'm goingI'm glad we're recording this because I'm going

(08:54):
to bring this up at the endwhere you said it will be fairly easy
to do. Oh, I know, I know, check in with me
in February of twenty twenty five.But no, I love that because I
shouldn't have said easy. Well,it's it's I'm I like the enthusiasm,
and I love the fact that youknow, obviously Emily turned the the children's
play the kids play into something ofan annual thing as well, and to

(09:18):
have you be able to step inand take over for that another local person
is just amazing. I commend youfor that. She's left Big Shoeston.
Well, yeah, and I shouldclarify by easy, I just mean that
she has kind of instructed these kidsthat they are they know what they're doing.
She's done a great job. Ithink she had done it for eight
years now. So a lot ofthose kids started with her the first year

(09:43):
they could and they've been with herthat whole time, so I know that
she has really put a lot ofwork in with them, which should hopefully
make it easier for me. Thereyou go there. You go, well,
that's that's going to be a funshow. But we still have more
stage shows, Yes we do.We've got our There's a musical in April
of twenty twenty five. This yearwe did lend me a tenor in the

(10:05):
Big Theater, but we are goingback to the May Pavilion. It's right
in the middle of April with Nonsensetwo, the second Coming. It's the
sequel to the original Nonsense. No. We did Nonsense Allmen a couple of
years ago. You were in it. Mm hmm, yeah, you can't.
Well, I think there are acouple of men's parts in this.
Well, and here's the background.This was going to be performed in twenty

(10:28):
twenty. Morgan and I were bothcast in this, and then the dreaded
COVID COVID nineteen hit. Yeah,and this had been the only show that
wasn't rescheduled. Yep. So wewere looking for like a spring play for
adults. And it's a great,great play musical, I mean it is.

(10:50):
It is so much fun. Ifyou went and saw Nonsense, amen,
that is great. But this iswhat it was supposed to be.
This is what it was originally writtenfor, was for the women and and
all that, and you will beamazed at just how funny it is,
how the music just kind of catchesyou and you'll be humming those songs continuously.

(11:11):
I cannot wait for that show,and that will be directed by our
very own Mark Neville. Mark Nevillehis first Palace production right as a direct,
got a lot of theatrical experience.He's from Marysville, but he lives
in uh Westerville and uh he isour financial manager. He's been with us
about a year and a half now. I have to say he's the life

(11:31):
of the of the office. Ifexciting. If Mark isn't in, Mark
and Kitty are both not in theoffice, is like you hear crickets?
Yeah, because Morgan and I andMark mcginni's actually work. They just I'm
just kidding. They're fabulous anyway,So Mark, but he's got a lot
of theatrical experience. He's directed highschool, He's done a lot of technical

(11:54):
Uh. But he he jumped in. And the reason he even jumped in
is because Emily usually puts in fora play. CHRISTI wink sometimes puts in
for an adult play. They didn'tsubmit this year. So I'm like,
Mark. He's like, well,i'll do it, I'll do it,
and he's real excited and we're allexcited to have him. Yeah, that's
going to be a great opportunity thatwill be in April. And any other

(12:16):
stage shows, I know there's acouple of concerts and things, but anything
else you want to talk about whenit comes to the stage shows, maybe
set the stage. We have ourannual Summer Kids Theater Camp that will be
following The Little Mermaid. The firstweek is July twenty second through twenty sixth,
and then the second week is Julytwenty ninth through August second, and
that is Emily Accic does that withthe help of Christi Wink and Jamie Rollins.

(12:37):
And that is kids ages seven tofourteen. Yeah, seven to fourteen,
and they come in learn a littlebit about everything, acting, dancing,
singing, everything. They put ashow on the Friday of and we
recommend the parents sign them up earlybecause they always fill up. Yeah,
and we've got the registration formus inthe brochure of this year, so when
you get that you can cut itout and send it right back. Wonderful

(12:58):
And my daughter was a part ofthat for many years. It's such a
great program, and it introduces thekids to the stage at the Palace,
which I think is a great It'sit's there's not a lot of pressure for
them there. They're actually learning,and by the end of the week,
those kids that maybe have never doneit before end up falling in love with
with the Palace and with performing.So it's a great time. That's a

(13:20):
lot already, but wait, there'smore. Gosh, we're actually doing five
more shows this season next season thanwe're doing this season because coming out of
COVID, we kind of like keptadding year after year because you know,
people, you know, right duringCOVID, of course, the theater shut
down for a while, and thencoming out of COVID, we had to
limit the number of people in youknow, a social distancing. This this

(13:45):
year we were very conservative with ourprogramming. But now we're going back to
normal schedule. We're doing at leasttwo big shows every month, so it's
going to be exciting, awesome.We kind of our bread and Butter is
tribute shows. You know, ifyou can't afford Michael Jackson, you get

(14:05):
a Michael Jackson tribute well, andI would think that he'd be pretty expensive
right now hard. Yeah, hehasn't been answering my calls for a few
years. Anyway. In November,we've got it's a it's a traveling production,
it's a full on It's got likeeleven piece band, twelve dancers,
and this guy that does Michael Jackson'she's got the look, he's got the

(14:26):
moves, he's got the voice,and it's called Invincible. And that'll be
in November. Michael Jackson tribute.We've got a Taylor Swift tribute. We're
trying to write on her coattails,and we're doing that the Sunday after the
day after the Pop Pork Festival ends. So we're gonna have big banners down
downtown and get all this. Everygirl between the ages of five and thirty

(14:50):
seven will be there. You thinkit's not the forty year old women.
Well I don't know. Well they'llbe there. I'll be there with my
daughter there. I'm not forty.Let's just say yeah, no matter what
Kirk said, no matter what Ipost. But we've got a Pink Floyd
tribute there called Whish We Were Here. They played Columbus a lot and actually
had four or five people over thepast three years, say you've got to

(15:13):
get this band. So I finallysqueezed him in. We've got Oh you
know, if you're a fan ofFamily Ties or Seinfeld. We got two
people that had recurring characters on thoseshows, Mike Heitner and Steve No Steve
Heidner and Mark Price. Mark Pricewas Skippy Skippy, and then Steve Heidner

(15:33):
played uh yeah, he played arecurring role on Seinfeld. So they'll be
coming. We've got One Night inMemphis, which played The Palace maybe six
years ago. Yeah, it's agood show, which has Elvis Presley,
Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis,and Johnny Cash. Wow. Now it's
kind of very similar to the Broadwayshow Million Dollar Quartets, But it's all

(15:56):
kind of a recreation of one nightin nineteen fifty six when everybody got together
and kind of had a jam session. It was quite accidental. I've read
the history of the whole thing.They but the guy in the booth was
smart enough to push record. Wow, so's amazing. Yeah, that'll be
in January. Oh, we gota Patsy Cline tribute. I fell in

(16:18):
love with Patsy Klein when that moviecame out in the eighties starring Jessica Lang
Sweet Dreams, Sweet Dreams. Yeah, and I've been trying to get a
Patsy Cline show there, so finallywe got one of those in. We've
got we've got a huge, veryfamous country band coming, but we can't
say who it is yet, whichis fine. You just have to know
that it's a famous country band,so so be excited about that. Yeah,

(16:41):
that's one. Yeah, they're playingin Columbus in August, so we
have to wait till their concert isover there before we announced it. So
stay tuned August twelfth. I thinkwe're gonna announce that, Okay, and
what else Jimmy Buffett Tribune, Ohyeah, Jimmy Buffett. I'm really excited
about that as well. That's calledchanges in Latitudes. And I see that
you have of the Shanghai Circus coming, which we've had. Has it been

(17:03):
to them or we've had Acrobatic Yeah, it's a different company, but this
is Shanghai Circus or Chinese Acrobats,and they do amazing things, wow,
contortionists and all kinds of things,and kind of the impetus of calling is
Catch the Magic. The very lastshow of the season We've got an illusionist
slash magician named Michael Grandinetti, sothat's going to be a great show too.

(17:26):
He's amazing. I mean, Ithink that it can't be argued that
if you are interested in many differentforms of entertainment music, theater, comedy,
whatever, the Palace really caters tojust about everybody's taste. Wouldn't you
say there's something for everyone this season? Yeah? Absolutely absolutely, And we

(17:48):
can't forget about one thing I didnot mention and I just had it on
my oh dueling piano. That's itat the Moon, Yes, and that's
always done well oh yeah, yeah, that was like a sellout a few
years ago. It was a greattime. They're great. So so that
is next season. But there's stilla couple shows left in this season that
we need to talk about. Actually, we have still a four shows.

(18:11):
Yeah, I'm gonna let Morgan talkabout the first one because she's in it.
Okay, Yeah, So we aredoing Next to Normal again on May
seventeenth, Friday, May seventeenth atseven thirty. This is an extremely powerful
show. You know, when wetalked about Rent earlier, we said it's
not maybe what you would normally seeon the Palace stage. It's not Disney.
This is also rated PG thirteen justfor content and language. But it

(18:33):
tackles family issues, mental health thatit is so powerful. It is a
show that you will feel seen,you will feel like you've been you've seen
something of yourself on that stage.I think there is something in that show
that everyone can relate to. Yeah, it's powerful. Yeah, and even
if they don't have like a schizophrenicmother, you know, just the dynamic

(18:56):
between the parents and the kids.That's what I've said, because I play
this schizophrenic mother and it's not somethingI deal with. However, her relationship
with her children is something that mykids are little now. But I'm like,
oh my goodness, this is thiskid. This is real, this
is real life. This is thefamily dynamic and it's yeah. And I
got to give props to bev Young. She is a marquee member at the

(19:18):
Palace, but she's also a retiredcounselor and she was a co sponsor of
Next Normal Winning. We did itlast August, and it was her who
went to Dustin Rollins and said,you have to do this again. We're
doing it May seventeenth. May ismental health month, so She rounded up

(19:38):
the Center Street Health Center, Adamh Ohio Health and herself along with Fahi
Bank. So she rounded up thesponsors for it, and she is the
real impetus of us doing it again. So anybody who did not see it
the first time around and heard aboutit, this is your chance to see

(19:59):
it. And we're putting it onthe big stage. We're doing one show
only on the main stage. Wehad it in the May Pavilion before,
and it's it's not something that thePalace has done in the past where a
show has come back, and thatjust shows the demand that people shows like
every ten years. We do allof our absolutely, but this is this
is not just Bev Young but peoplein general. I've heard so much about

(20:22):
it from everyone. Yeah, itwas amazed when we were kind of worried
because it was the language and thecontent is like, you know, not
one negative comment and after the showis over, just brave reviews. Absolutely
so jumped at the opportunity to doit again. We just kind of said,
tell us where to be and whento be there because we absolutely so.

(20:44):
That is May seventeenth, May seventeenth, and you can get your tickets
now at the Palace box office oronline at Marrinpalace dot org. What else
do we have coming up? Well, the day after that, have a
busy weekend. That weekend we've gotShovel City and Prov on May eighteenth,
which is Saturday. Also that Saturdaywe're doing the Little Mermaid Auditions one to
four in the main theater. Soyeah, really busy weekend. It is

(21:07):
a busy weekend. Twelven up forLittle Mermaid Auditions, not twelve and up
for Shovel City Improv. I justwant to make sure you might be like
sixteen enough for that, but that'sa lot of fun. You can get
your tickets at the door for ChevelCity Improv. But it's always better to
get them ahead of time. Numberone, the Palace wants to know exactly
how much to set up for.But also we've seen people wait and end

(21:33):
up being a big show and notbe able to get in, So don't
take a chance. Go ahead andget your tickets now. And then after
that, what do we have June? First, we've got a tribute to
the Everly Brothers. This is actuallya band out of Columbus. They're called
Lightning Express, so they'll be doingtribute to the Everly Brothers on June first,
and then we've got the last weekendof June, the Friday and Saturday,

(21:56):
we've got the Rogue Theatrics doing SummerWhola. And it's been in the
making since Rogue Theatrics. I guessformed is when can we try to partner
with the Palace And we've got thisset up. I'm honored to be able
to be one of the ones tohelp plan this whole thing out. And
it's the big thing to really takeaway from it. It is a fundraiser

(22:19):
that we are doing for the Palace. So if you come, you are
literally supporting the Palace Theater with thatshow attendance. And it's going to be
a carnival atmosphere. We're going tohave cotton candy and Taste of Memphis is
catering it. It's going to bea great, great time, So please

(22:40):
get your tickets for that. Now. Those tickets, I believe, can
you buy them in both I knowyou can get them on Rogue Theatricslive dot
com. No, that's the onlyplace you can get tickets. That's Chip
Gregory is the brainchild of Rogue Theatricsand we've been talking since he came back
to Marion about doing I mean,he's he was always very active when he

(23:02):
lived here. He lived in thenColumbus for a while, came back,
but he was in nonsense with you, ah man. He was in Beauty
and the Beast last summer. Yep. So he's been very that he's been
dying to get to the Palace.Yes, and this will be in the
pavilion. It will be a wholelot of fun. So Rogue theatricslive dot
com that's where you can buy thetickets for that. Again, it's a
fundraiser for the Palace Theater because allof us that are involved in it in

(23:26):
one way or another has been apart of the Palace as well, and
we want that to continue. Thisis just, I mean everything. I
couldn't be prouder to be able tosay that I love and support this theater
because of everything that's going on andeverything you guys are doing. So thank
you so much for everything that youdo. And just to let everybody know,

(23:49):
each of our shows, we area nonprofit theater, so we need
help. So every show in ourseason is sponsored either by a family,
an individual person or a company.So We're very lucky. We have seventy
percent of our sponsorships taken up already. But if there's anybody out there who
wants to do extra support for thePalace, they can be a sponsor.

(24:12):
They can contact me at the Palaceand it's not hard to contact him.
What's the phone number for the Palaceseven four zero three eight three twenty one
oh one or email me directly atdirector at Marionpalace dot org. Awesome,
Well guys, thanks for coming in. I think we also should mention that
you can also renew your membership yestime. I think we feel silly if

(24:33):
we didn't mention that. I wouldtell you to do it as we're for
the next season. That is alsoin the season brochure. You can rip
that out, fill it out,send it in. You can do it
online. You can call the boxoffice or stop in. They start as
low as twenty five dollars in thesky is the limit from there. So
I'd love to have you as amember and a lot of fun perks that
come with membership, anything from freepopcorn to all the way up to preferred

(24:55):
tickets for different different shows. It'sa really worth it again to support the
Palace in a much more substantial waythan just going to a show. You're
actually helping the Palace stay open andoperate. So is there anything else?
I just want to make sure Icould go on all day here. Okay,
well, guys, thank you forcoming in. Kirk debt Weiler,
Morgan Schwartz with the Maryon Palace Theater. Check out this upcoming season, but

(25:19):
please go online Marrionnpalace dot org lookat the shows they're coming up in the
next month, month and a halfthey're still planning to do at the Palace Theater.