March 17, 2025 • 8 mins
We welcome the Grand Rapids Civic Theater in for a talk of the town as they announce their upcoming 2025-26 season!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Talk of the Town on news radio with
thirteen hundred and one oh six nine FM. Steve Kelly
Brett Pikita from West Michigan's Morning News. The director of
Marketing and Communications for Grand Rapid Civic Theater back in studio,
Nadia Skidmore, thanks for doing this today.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Oh my gosh, thank you for having me. It's a
pretty exciting time.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
So fresh after last night's big celebration to announce the
news season.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes, and it looks he's in ninety nine.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Season ninety nine in this font looks just so hot.
Season ninety nine, ninety nine years isn't it cool? The
Grand Rapid Civic Theater. That What an accomplishment we have
to start there.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
It's pretty exciting listen to me saying thank you, as
though I've done it all by myself for ninety nine years.
Earlier today, someone said where were you ninety nine years ago?
And I said, not here, but somehow destined to be
a theater person eventually. But yeah, it's a pretty extraordinary situation,
right to be an arts organization in these times and
(00:56):
to thrive right almost one hundred years here in this community.
It's just a very, very cool thing, and we're so excited.
You know, we still have plenty of season left right now,
but at the same time, we are so delighted to
have just announced the ninety nine season that will kick
off in September, and it's just it's jam packed full
(01:18):
of really exciting titles.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Can I put in a request since we just went
through our one hundredth anniversary, Yes, and maybe you're already
doing this, so I don't want to jump the gun.
Speaker 5 (01:25):
You guys need to put an alumni list together.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Absolute actors, directors, I mean, because I always say this
little West Michigan Grand Rapids community, no matter what you pick, sports,
whatever the case might be, the people that have come
out of this area and gone on to greatness, it's
incredible for sure.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
For sure, the number of people that we have just
working professionally out in the wild, whether it's on stage, backstage, lighting,
sound design, right just up, scenic design and even you know,
prop parties, design, educators, it's pretty it's pretty incredible.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
We just saw the Oscars on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
I look at all those different categories and just keep
expanding me because of digital and everything that's that's added
to that.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Certain for certain, well, and speaking of the Oscars on Sunday,
I don't know if you knew this, but one of
the women on stage when Anura won Best Picture she's
a Grand Valley Theater grad.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
And there it is. Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, absolutely, So.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Let's just dig right into it. I'll do a show
and a date you give me. This is like word association.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Let's do it. Okay, okay. I feel like we're playing
like mad Libs or something.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
September twelfth through October five, the season kicks off with
Rock of Age.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yes, yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
One of my favorite things about Rock of Ages is
I have had someone say to me before Rock of
Ages was my spouse's gateway into musical theater because they
didn't know that they would be a theater person. They
didn't know that they would enjoy on stage storytelling. But
they love the music of the eighties. And so here
you go, and you show up for all of this
nineteen eighties nostalgia. It's a great show. It is so
(03:00):
oh so much fun. It definitely intended for mature and
adult audiences.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Lots of adults like listen, listen.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
You probably remember them better than I do, but for
very different reasons.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
I was a kid or not for a very different reason.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Let me go next then, because the next two we
compare together. And this is why it's a great family
experience because you can be a kid again if you're
an adult, or take your kids.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
Pete the Cat and Frozen Yes.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yes, okay, So for Pete the Cat, we're doing an
entirely pick your price run theater for young audiences. It's
an opportunity for families to bring their kids to the theater,
perhaps maybe for the first time ever, at a price
that they can pick themselves, right, And so we're just
making theater accessible for as many people as possible to
experience the magic of live theater inside of our historic theater,
which I think is very cool. And then the holiday show,
(03:47):
You guys, this is huge, Disney's Frozen Wow on the
Holiday stage. One of our ambassadors for our theater. His
name is ken Holda. He lives in Kalamazoo, and he
is such a champion of theater all around the country
and in the Midwest, and in fact, he was just
on a panel at Broadway con in New York, so
(04:08):
he very much knows theater. And it made me so
proud because last night I was looking through everyone's stories,
everyone that was tagging Civic Theater in their Instagram stories,
and he said, Grand Rapid Civic Theater is the first
community theater in the nation that I have seen announce
Frozen as a part of their season. Wow, and that's huge,
(04:28):
Like we knew that we were very much like at
the forefront of being one of the chosen ones to
be able to produce this before it has a wider
release to theaters across the country. Right now, you can
really only see it in regional theaters, right So that's
kind of how things usually go, as you see things
on Broadway, then on a tour, then regional, then community
and so we're just so lucky to be among the
(04:49):
first to do this. And as you know, the holiday
show is such a tradition here in West Michigan, and
so the idea of it being frozen, a show that
is so beloved to so many families, it's just really
really exciting.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Grct dot org for tickets and all the information. Okay,
January sixteenth through February first, Ain't Misbehaving?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
So eight Misbehavin is the Fat Swaller Musical review, a
legendary jazz great and this is a musical review that
is made up of a small cast of all black
performers from here in West Michigan that are volunteers. It's
going to be such an exciting opportunity to experience this music,
whether it be your returning to it. There's going to
(05:31):
be a lot of songs that are going to be
familiar in this show.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
But also a lot of.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Times when you sit in the audience for something that
is a musical review, you go, oh, I didn't realize
that I already knew that song. Now, I didn't know
why that was familiar to me. And so that's one
of my favorite things about this particular show, and I
think it is just it's a little saucy, It's sultry
and also very funny as well.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
February twenty seventh through March fifteenth, This is really cool
The Lightning Thief.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
If you know the Percy Jackson chronic.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Right absolutely, whether you're watching Percy Jackson and the Olympians
on Disney Plus or if you've grown up with the
Percy Jackson books, this is a really exciting show. We've
heard people describe this show as this feels like Harry
Potter meets Dear Evan Hanson and the way that this
the way that this works, and it's just a really
thrilling rock score.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
It's so much fun.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
April seventeenth through May third, dial M for Murder.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yes, So dial M for Murder is a repeat title
for Civic. This will actually be the third time that
we've produced this title. However, it is a brand new
script and what's super cool about this is that it
is still set in the nineteen fifties. It's still the
same story line, but there are some very cool new
modern contemporary takes on some of the context of the show.
(06:46):
And so this is the same story that you know
from the Hitchcock film and it's Race Kelly. It was
it was say it Again, sake Race Kelly Again. But
just a very cool play for us to be able
to produce a smaller, like, more intimate cast. But I
(07:08):
think that it's just it's a really neat show because
it's a thriller murder mystery, but.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
It's not a who done it? You know who does it?
Speaker 3 (07:17):
And so the object is kind of figuring out the
why throughout and really kind of unpacking so what was
the motive, what was the motive?
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Why did this happen? So pretty cool for sure.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
And then lastly to wrap up in June, legally Blonde,
the musical.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Yes, legally Blonde.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
So this is a show that we have done before.
It's been over ten years now since we've produced it,
and it's one of the ones that people keep saying,
when are you bringing legally Blonde back? There's so many
great themes throughout legally Blonde about empowerment and standing up
for what's right and for what you believe in, and
you know, just kind of writing your own story. And
(07:53):
Elle Woods is such you know, she's a champion for
all of us, right, So it's it's a pretty cool
way to end out this ray for sure.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
You may find out more information at GRCT dot org.
Director of Marketing and Communications with the Grand Rapid Civic Theater,
Nadia Skidmore great stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
As always, thank you, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
This is Talk of the Town on news Radio with
thirteen hundred and one oh six nine FM.
This is Talk of the Town on news radio with
thirteen hundred and one oh six nine FM. Steve Kelly
Brett Pikita from West Michigan's Morning News. The director of
Marketing and Communications for Grand Rapid Civic Theater back in studio,
Nadia Skidmore, thanks for doing this today.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Oh my gosh, thank you for having me. It's a
pretty exciting time.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
So fresh after last night's big celebration to announce the
news season.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes, and it looks he's in ninety nine.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Season ninety nine in this font looks just so hot.
Season ninety nine, ninety nine years isn't it cool? The
Grand Rapid Civic Theater. That What an accomplishment we have
to start there.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
It's pretty exciting listen to me saying thank you, as
though I've done it all by myself for ninety nine years.
Earlier today, someone said where were you ninety nine years ago?
And I said, not here, but somehow destined to be
a theater person eventually. But yeah, it's a pretty extraordinary situation,
right to be an arts organization in these times and
(00:56):
to thrive right almost one hundred years here in this community.
It's just a very, very cool thing, and we're so excited.
You know, we still have plenty of season left right now,
but at the same time, we are so delighted to
have just announced the ninety nine season that will kick
off in September, and it's just it's jam packed full
(01:18):
of really exciting titles.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Can I put in a request since we just went
through our one hundredth anniversary, Yes, and maybe you're already
doing this, so I don't want to jump the gun.
Speaker 5 (01:25):
You guys need to put an alumni list together.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Absolute actors, directors, I mean, because I always say this
little West Michigan Grand Rapids community, no matter what you pick, sports,
whatever the case might be, the people that have come
out of this area and gone on to greatness, it's
incredible for sure.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
For sure, the number of people that we have just
working professionally out in the wild, whether it's on stage, backstage, lighting,
sound design, right just up, scenic design and even you know,
prop parties, design, educators, it's pretty it's pretty incredible.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
We just saw the Oscars on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
I look at all those different categories and just keep
expanding me because of digital and everything that's that's added
to that.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Certain for certain, well, and speaking of the Oscars on Sunday,
I don't know if you knew this, but one of
the women on stage when Anura won Best Picture she's
a Grand Valley Theater grad.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
And there it is. Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, absolutely, So.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Let's just dig right into it. I'll do a show
and a date you give me. This is like word association.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Let's do it. Okay, okay. I feel like we're playing
like mad Libs or something.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
September twelfth through October five, the season kicks off with
Rock of Age.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yes, yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
One of my favorite things about Rock of Ages is
I have had someone say to me before Rock of
Ages was my spouse's gateway into musical theater because they
didn't know that they would be a theater person. They
didn't know that they would enjoy on stage storytelling. But
they love the music of the eighties. And so here
you go, and you show up for all of this
nineteen eighties nostalgia. It's a great show. It is so
(03:00):
oh so much fun. It definitely intended for mature and
adult audiences.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Lots of adults like listen, listen.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
You probably remember them better than I do, but for
very different reasons.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
I was a kid or not for a very different reason.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Let me go next then, because the next two we
compare together. And this is why it's a great family
experience because you can be a kid again if you're
an adult, or take your kids.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
Pete the Cat and Frozen Yes.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yes, okay, So for Pete the Cat, we're doing an
entirely pick your price run theater for young audiences. It's
an opportunity for families to bring their kids to the theater,
perhaps maybe for the first time ever, at a price
that they can pick themselves, right, And so we're just
making theater accessible for as many people as possible to
experience the magic of live theater inside of our historic theater,
which I think is very cool. And then the holiday show,
(03:47):
You guys, this is huge, Disney's Frozen Wow on the
Holiday stage. One of our ambassadors for our theater. His
name is ken Holda. He lives in Kalamazoo, and he
is such a champion of theater all around the country
and in the Midwest, and in fact, he was just
on a panel at Broadway con in New York, so
(04:08):
he very much knows theater. And it made me so
proud because last night I was looking through everyone's stories,
everyone that was tagging Civic Theater in their Instagram stories,
and he said, Grand Rapid Civic Theater is the first
community theater in the nation that I have seen announce
Frozen as a part of their season. Wow, and that's huge,
(04:28):
Like we knew that we were very much like at
the forefront of being one of the chosen ones to
be able to produce this before it has a wider
release to theaters across the country. Right now, you can
really only see it in regional theaters, right So that's
kind of how things usually go, as you see things
on Broadway, then on a tour, then regional, then community
and so we're just so lucky to be among the
(04:49):
first to do this. And as you know, the holiday
show is such a tradition here in West Michigan, and
so the idea of it being frozen, a show that
is so beloved to so many families, it's just really
really exciting.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Grct dot org for tickets and all the information. Okay,
January sixteenth through February first, Ain't Misbehaving?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
So eight Misbehavin is the Fat Swaller Musical review, a
legendary jazz great and this is a musical review that
is made up of a small cast of all black
performers from here in West Michigan that are volunteers. It's
going to be such an exciting opportunity to experience this music,
whether it be your returning to it. There's going to
(05:31):
be a lot of songs that are going to be
familiar in this show.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
But also a lot of.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Times when you sit in the audience for something that
is a musical review, you go, oh, I didn't realize
that I already knew that song. Now, I didn't know
why that was familiar to me. And so that's one
of my favorite things about this particular show, and I
think it is just it's a little saucy, It's sultry
and also very funny as well.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
February twenty seventh through March fifteenth, This is really cool
The Lightning Thief.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
If you know the Percy Jackson chronic.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Right absolutely, whether you're watching Percy Jackson and the Olympians
on Disney Plus or if you've grown up with the
Percy Jackson books, this is a really exciting show. We've
heard people describe this show as this feels like Harry
Potter meets Dear Evan Hanson and the way that this
the way that this works, and it's just a really
thrilling rock score.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
It's so much fun.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
April seventeenth through May third, dial M for Murder.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yes, So dial M for Murder is a repeat title
for Civic. This will actually be the third time that
we've produced this title. However, it is a brand new
script and what's super cool about this is that it
is still set in the nineteen fifties. It's still the
same story line, but there are some very cool new
modern contemporary takes on some of the context of the show.
(06:46):
And so this is the same story that you know
from the Hitchcock film and it's Race Kelly. It was
it was say it Again, sake Race Kelly Again. But
just a very cool play for us to be able
to produce a smaller, like, more intimate cast. But I
(07:08):
think that it's just it's a really neat show because
it's a thriller murder mystery, but.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
It's not a who done it? You know who does it?
Speaker 3 (07:17):
And so the object is kind of figuring out the
why throughout and really kind of unpacking so what was
the motive, what was the motive?
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Why did this happen? So pretty cool for sure.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
And then lastly to wrap up in June, legally Blonde,
the musical.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Yes, legally Blonde.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
So this is a show that we have done before.
It's been over ten years now since we've produced it,
and it's one of the ones that people keep saying,
when are you bringing legally Blonde back? There's so many
great themes throughout legally Blonde about empowerment and standing up
for what's right and for what you believe in, and
you know, just kind of writing your own story. And
(07:53):
Elle Woods is such you know, she's a champion for
all of us, right, So it's it's a pretty cool
way to end out this ray for sure.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
You may find out more information at GRCT dot org.
Director of Marketing and Communications with the Grand Rapid Civic Theater,
Nadia Skidmore great stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
As always, thank you, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
This is Talk of the Town on news Radio with
thirteen hundred and one oh six nine FM.
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