December 10, 2024 • 15 mins
Leona Knobloch and Shaun Tanner from The Bend Theater in downtown West Bend, Wisconsin, join me to discuss their exciting holiday programming. The episode highlights the theater's diverse lineup of holiday events, including classic movie screenings, live performances, and special activities for families. Listeners will learn about the nostalgic holiday movie lineup featuring favorites like "Elf," "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," and a special screening of "Polar Express" with a visit from Santa. The conversation also covers the theater's community impact, with an emphasis on supporting local businesses during the holiday season. Tune in to discover how The Bend Theater is creating a festive atmosphere in downtown West Bend and making it a must-visit destination this holiday season.
Links referenced in this episode:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Fuzz Martin (00:08):
Happy holidays, everyone, and thank you for listening
to Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
My name is Fuzz Martin, and thisis a show where we feature the good
stuff happening in our community.
You want the gripes?
You know where to findthem, but it's not here.
You know what you can find, though?
Positive people, events, and organizationsright here in Washington County.
(00:28):
And this week, I have the trifecta.
I've got people, I've got peopletalking about events, and those
people are from an organization.
Crazy how that works.
This week, Leona Knobloch, the ExecutiveDirector at The Bend, and Shaun Tanner,
the Marketing and Communications Directorat The Bend, are coming to talk about
their holiday events at The Bend.
(00:49):
Which is a great organization.
There we go.
See the trifecta.
With that, here are 15 minutes onthe 2024 holiday events happening
at the Bend Theater with LeonaKnobloch and Shaun Tanner right
here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
(01:12):
Leona, Shaun, I would venture tosay that most people in Washington
County are familiar with the Bend.
Uh, it's obviously has a rich historyhere in downtown West Bend, but can
you share a bit about the theater?
the journey it took to get here andhow it's evolved into what it is today.
Shaun Tanner (01:28):
Yeah, we, we kind of give a curtain speech before
every show, and, kind of give thehistory of how it was built in 1929,
the renovation happened in 2020.
Uh, we kind of tell the little notso funny joke about how we opened
March 14th of, 20 and, closed March15th of 20, but Yeah, but it's, you
know, again, it's kind of the centerof, of downtown, in my opinion.
(01:48):
We have the, the cityname on the blade, so.
Fuzz Martin (01:50):
Yeah, that was an unfortunate timing during the pandemic, but we're
here now, four almost five years later,and Things have seemed to be going in a
much more positive direction for the Bend.
It's holiday season right now.
It's time for the Bend to shine.
You guys do a great jobduring the holiday season.
What makes this time of year special forthe Bend Theater and for your guests?
Leona Knobloch (02:14):
Well, we kick it off with, holiday events, starting from the
lighting of the Christmas tree downtown,offering the movie to the community
and sing alongs, all the way throughthe end of the season to our final New
Year's Eve event, so we have a lot goingon, we're decorated for the season.
And, um, people love to come and enjoy.
And
Fuzz Martin (02:34):
it's excellent, obviously having that right
there in downtown West Bend.
Uh, you have an awesome mix ofholiday, classic Christmas movies.
You have live performances,things like that.
What goes into pulling together your.
Thanks for joining us.
What's your role in
Shaun Tanner (02:49):
creating
Fuzz Martin (02:49):
this holiday
Shaun Tanner (02:50):
programming every year?
We actually have a team thatgets together and talks about
what we think would do well here.
Um, but, you know, history haskind of shown that, they, that
shows actually sell themselves.
We're bringing a lot of likethe classic movies and people
Fuzz Martin (03:03):
just eat those up.
Yeah, it's fun when you see some ofthe movies up on the marquee that
you're, you know, everybody loves.
So, let's talk about that onthe movie side, first of all.
So, you have a A holidaymovie lineup full of classics.
You got Elf, National Lampoons, DieHard, so we can put an end to whether
or not that's a Christmas movie.
How do you decide which movies to feature?
(03:24):
What makes them resonate withyour audiences each year?
What's, what's the criteria for that?
Shaun Tanner (03:28):
Again, like the classics, much, you know, mentioned like Elf and,
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, wehad, two sellout shows, two years in a row
for, Christmas Vacation, and, people comedressed up, they, you know, have a lot of
fun with it, obviously we worked and diehard, due to the, uh, big debate, but,
uh, a lot of the stuff almost just kindof seems, you know, straightforward, and,
and people really want to see, like yousaid, see those on the, on the big screen.
Fuzz Martin (03:52):
You also have some for the kids as well, you know, have a special
screening of the Polar Express coming up.
Can you talk about that?
I know there's a special guest coming up,so What can families expect from that?
Shaun Tanner (04:03):
There is, yeah, that's another special event.
That one's actually sponsored by TimmersResort this year, as it was last year.
And, again, it's, it's, you know, thePolar Express, again, magical movie.
And, at the very end, for thosewho have never been to our, movie
screenings, our screen raises, andwe will have Santa Claus on stage,
in the sleigh, with a special elf.
(04:25):
And, for a meet and greet, then thekids can walk up a ramp, get a candy
cane and a Polar Express bell, and,tell them what they, what they want.
So we do ask the parents tokeep that, kind of quiet.
I'm actually the one to raise the screenbehind, and just the collaborative
gasp from all the kids is that, Imean, it really is a magical time.
Fuzz Martin (04:42):
And so that is on Sunday the 15th, is that right?
So how much, how much is that forfamilies if they're looking to come?
Shaun Tanner (04:50):
That is just a $10 ticket.
I really don't, feel like parents shouldhave to pay, any extra to see Santa.
So that is our standard movie rate.
Excellent.
Fuzz Martin (04:57):
Alright, very good.
And so you have something calledthe Christmas Showcase coming up.
What can you tell us about that?
Leona Knobloch (05:03):
The Christmas showcase is on December 14th
and it's a very special day.
Sponsored the whole day is sponsoredby We Energies and we have.
Three movies, we have Home Alone 1and Home Alone 2, and those are only
4 each for adults, kids under 12 free.
Awesome.
And during that, we're gonna have, duringthe intermission between the two movies,
(05:24):
we're gonna have a special project.
We have some snacks, and that'ssponsored by The Antidote.
And we are also going to bedoing Project Linus blankets.
And we're, the kids and their familiescan put the blankets together.
We're doing that so that we canprovide blankets for children.
We're working with groups likethe Youth and Family Project so
(05:44):
that, we can provide them somethingspecial for the holiday season.
At the end of that day, we'regonna have love actually.
And love actually is our date nightmovie, and that is actually free.
Oh wow.
We have opened that up to be freeto the community so that, people
can come and just enjoy the evening.
Fuzz Martin (06:00):
Excellent.
That's on the 14th.
Leona Knobloch (06:01):
That is December 14th, yeah.
Fuzz Martin (06:03):
Oh, awesome.
So in addition to the movies, you have alot of great live performances coming up.
How do you select the performancesperformers for these events each year?
They each kind of bring their ownunique vibe to the holiday season.
So how do you go about that?
Leona Knobloch (06:15):
Again, that's a team that gets together and goes through
programming and what would work forthe community, who we can bring in as
far as comedy and music, and, what wewant to do to promote those as well.
How can we, do specialthings for those events?
Fuzz Martin (06:30):
Perfect.
So you have your holidayconcert series coming up.
There's artists like, DanRodriguez and the Whiskey Bells.
Can you tell us about Dan and the WhiskeyBells, what people can expect with those?
Leona Knobloch (06:39):
Sure, Dan, actually Dan's, holiday special is called
All I Want for Christmas is Whiskey,which is great because then we also
have the Whiskey Bells, so we almosthave this little theme going on.
But both of those events are just,they're great for the, The community
to, depending on what your vibeis and what you like, you can have
a different kind of, atmospherefor the different kinds of groups.
(07:00):
We also have, Janet Planet coming in.
Okay.
And she is, doing her specialis All I Want for Christmas
as well, but that's a jazz.
Okay.
And so that's a, a very special,jazz performance from her.
She's actually fairly popular in theMilwaukee and the Fond du Lac area.
She used to be a DJ in theFond du Lac area, so we're very
excited to have Janet Planet in.
Fuzz Martin (07:17):
Awesome.
What are the dates on those events?
? Leona Knobloch: Dan Rodriguez is coming in on December 13th.
Janet Planet is December 20th.
And the Whiskey Bells is on December 21st.
Awesome.
Awesome.
That sounds like it'll be a great time.
And then, you also have the FourCs uh, Four C Notes Holiday Show.
What is that all about?
Shaun Tanner (07:35):
That's actually, they, they perform as a Frankie
Valli in the Four Seasons Tribute.
Okay.
Um, and they're tying in a little, littlebit of a Christmas vibe with that as well.
So it's good classic musicwith, with a Christmas twist.
Fuzz Martin (07:45):
Wonderful.
Bend also brings in some great comediansto the show, and I know before this
airs on Friday the 60th, you had ErikaRhodes, which is always very popular.
But you also have someother comedians coming in.
Who's coming in?
What can you tell us about them?
Shaun Tanner (08:00):
Coming up, we have, in December, we have
Chris Barnes coming back.
He's been here before, and hewas pretty much a heavy hitter.
And, so we've, we opted to bring him back.
And, Chastity Washingtonis opening for, him.
She was here before as well,and she's going to be opening.
She is a, teacher in Milwaukee.
Fuzz Martin (08:17):
And,
Shaun Tanner (08:17):
um, now, now doing the
Fuzz Martin (08:18):
comedy bit.
Perfect.
And you've got, them comingin two nights, right?
Leona Knobloch (08:22):
Yeah, they're coming in on December 27th and December 28th.
Fuzz Martin (08:25):
Awesome.
Awesome.
And I've heard greatthings about Chris Barnes.
Actually the other day I was atthe Taste of Washington County
and somebody was talking about howexcited they were to go see him again.
So then coming up on New Year'sEve, a big day for celebration, you
have the Bend's New Year's Eve bash.
What can you tell us about that event,the theme, and what you guys are
planning to do to ring in the new year?
Leona Knobloch (08:43):
Alright, so yeah, we are wrapping up the season on December 31st
with our bash, in which we're havingfood and the champagne toast at midnight.
The Flatcats are going tobe performing that evening.
We open up the doors at 830,the Flatcats start playing at
930, and we're very excited.
This year we're doing a come as you are.
You can come in, you're formalwear, you're informal wear,
(09:05):
you're PJs, anything goes.
We just want everybody to come andhave fun and celebrate with us.
Fuzz Martin (09:10):
Sure, and that's pretty affordable for all that
you get in that event as well.
Yeah,
Leona Knobloch (09:13):
35 ticket price, so it is a lot for one evening.
Fuzz Martin (09:17):
Yeah, awesome.
Very cool.
So we get in, we get through the new year,and then we start programming right away
for 2025, and right away to start, I thinkthat same week, right, you have, a tribute
to Tom Petty, I know a lot of people loveyour tribute concerts, I've been to a few
my in laws rave about it, uh, we took themto see, I think it was an ABBA tribute
(09:39):
at some point, but tell us about theTom Petty tribute, the date on that, and
what people can, see when they get there.
Shaun Tanner (09:44):
Sold out.
Oh, really?
Oh.
So, that is a January 3rd event,and, we put that show on sale, and
it actually sold out in two weeks.
Oh, wow.
So, it's, it's cool to say, it'sunfortunate for those that didn't
get their tickets, but, Yeah,obviously, you know, Petty is a
huge, huge name in the industry.
Yeah.
Uh, we're talking about this Wallof Fame that we have going on.
So Tom Petty and theHeartbreakers is on that list.
(10:06):
So it's kind of like a nice little tie infor, the, uh, the Wall of Fame thing too.
But, um, yeah, it'sgoing to be a good show.
Fuzz Martin (10:12):
Yeah, that's, that's excellent.
But So on to that though, you have othertribute concerts I'm sure that you'll
have throughout the year coming upin 2025 and people should get on them
early because of that reason, right?
Correct.
Shaun Tanner (10:24):
Yeah, we do have a Separate Ways Journey experience and
we have about two thirds sold for that.
So yes, jump on those.
We highly recommend that everybodytry to get their tickets earlier
as opposed to later because, we,it, it's a little disheartening
when we have to turn people away.
Fuzz Martin (10:37):
Yeah, I mean disheartening for the people turning away, but I'm
sure for the Bend, it's a good thing.
It's fantastic, yes.
Good thing to know that , the peopleare enjoying their time at the Bend
and, and coming back for these concerts.
The Bend, we, you talked about it earlier,Shaun, it's centerpiece of downtown.
You had the big Blade sign.
How do you see the Bendcontributing to the sense of
(10:58):
community here during the holidays?
Leona Knobloch (11:00):
Again, it's the sold out shows.
I I Then November we had three straightweekends of sold out shows, which was
a fantastic We do through that when wehave sold out shows, we contact the bars
and restaurants throughout Tom mm-hmm.
Town and give them a heads upthat that's gonna be the case.
Yeah.
Because they do get swamped.
Mm-hmm . And we wanna make sure that,they know that in addition it's bringing
(11:21):
all those people to the community.
One of our sold out show weekends.
We had a number of peoplewho came in from out of town.
We had a number of people comein from Chicago, which was great.
Yeah.
To know that we were openingthat opportunity up for the
community to be supported through
Fuzz Martin (11:36):
Sure.
What we were offering.
Yeah.
And it really is.
I mean, not the, the restaurants, thehotels, I mean even some of the, you
know, the beat goes on and those otherplaces that people, see a concert and
they, buy some of the, you know, themusic that they heard or, or just did.
Shop around in any of the shops downtown.
It's, it's great to have You there,bringing people into downtown.
(11:58):
It's huge for the economy andfor uh, those small business
owners so that's uh, wonderful.
uh, With that, what does that mean to you?
And you see the businesses succeeding,but also you know, family, friends.
neighbors, people from out of town comingtogether at the Bend during the holidays.
Shaun Tanner (12:16):
Like we said, it's great to see, you know a thriving downtown,
you know, seeing a lot of the kidscome down and, you know, we're a non
profit, we are a community theater,so having that, branch out in the
community is is really a great thing.
Fuzz Martin (12:29):
So if people want to get tickets to some of these events or
get on On to some of these upcomingevents before they're sold out.
How can people, buy tickets, wherecan they find more information?
Shaun Tanner (12:41):
Yep, so they can go to our website at thebendwi.
org and get tickets there.
We highly recommend signing up for ournewsletter, like we said, we will send
an email out, saying that shows aregoing to go on sale or are on sale now.
And, Go from there.
We do also have box office, hours onThursdays and Fridays from 1 to 4.
And, yeah, and you can also buytickets, one hour or, one hour prior
(13:03):
to the show or during any other show.
Fuzz Martin (13:06):
And as a non profit, obviously, this year is a time of, of
giving and, you know, the shows supportso much, but your, your prices are
Pretty affordable and you have a big,beautiful building to, keep repaired and
updated and heated and all those things.
If someone wants to support The Bend,maybe through donations, I know you
guys have your annual appeal goingon right now, how can people do so?
Leona Knobloch (13:29):
Well, they can donate online.
We have a donation portal.
If you go to thebendwi.
org, right on the homepage, there isa donation button that you can push.
As well, they can come in during thebox office hours and make a donation
and or they can donate to our donationjar when they're there at an event.
We also do, have a lot ofopportunities for sponsors and
(13:49):
we are so happy to have so manysupportive sponsors in the community.
Bars, restaurants, a number of different,individuals and companies helping us out.
Fuzz Martin (13:59):
Perfect.
And that, yes, and that, I mean, justfrom the start of getting the, you
know, the Theater back and restoredall the way through now and operations.
It's been great to see that the communitycome together for this and as You pointed
out earlier the importance of havingthis in downtown Really helps everyone.
So Leona, Shaun, I hope you guys havean awesome Rest of your holiday season
(14:20):
at The Bend, and have a Merry Christmasand Happy Holidays to you both.
Thanks, you as well.
Always great to talk to the folksat The Bend, and thank you again to
Leona Knobloch and Shaun Tanner forjoining me on this week's episode
of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
Be sure to make The Bend a partof your holiday plans this year.
And if you ever have an idea for aguest for this show, Make plans to
(14:43):
email me and tell me who that should be.
Fuzz at fuzzmartin.
com is my email address.
That is fuzz at fuzzmartin.
com or you can go to fuzzmartin.
com slash guest.
And there's a form therethat you can fill out.
Give me all the beats.
New episodes coming on Tuesdays,Apple podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
Those are some of theplaces you can find them.
And of course they're alwaysavailable at fuzzmartin.
(15:05):
com.
I appreciate you listening, and Iwill talk to you next Tuesday, right
here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
Happy holidays, everyone, and thank you for listening
to Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
My name is Fuzz Martin, and thisis a show where we feature the good
stuff happening in our community.
You want the gripes?
You know where to findthem, but it's not here.
You know what you can find, though?
Positive people, events, and organizationsright here in Washington County.
(00:28):
And this week, I have the trifecta.
I've got people, I've got peopletalking about events, and those
people are from an organization.
Crazy how that works.
This week, Leona Knobloch, the ExecutiveDirector at The Bend, and Shaun Tanner,
the Marketing and Communications Directorat The Bend, are coming to talk about
their holiday events at The Bend.
(00:49):
Which is a great organization.
There we go.
See the trifecta.
With that, here are 15 minutes onthe 2024 holiday events happening
at the Bend Theater with LeonaKnobloch and Shaun Tanner right
here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
(01:12):
Leona, Shaun, I would venture tosay that most people in Washington
County are familiar with the Bend.
Uh, it's obviously has a rich historyhere in downtown West Bend, but can
you share a bit about the theater?
the journey it took to get here andhow it's evolved into what it is today.
Shaun Tanner (01:28):
Yeah, we, we kind of give a curtain speech before
every show, and, kind of give thehistory of how it was built in 1929,
the renovation happened in 2020.
Uh, we kind of tell the little notso funny joke about how we opened
March 14th of, 20 and, closed March15th of 20, but Yeah, but it's, you
know, again, it's kind of the centerof, of downtown, in my opinion.
(01:48):
We have the, the cityname on the blade, so.
Fuzz Martin (01:50):
Yeah, that was an unfortunate timing during the pandemic, but we're
here now, four almost five years later,and Things have seemed to be going in a
much more positive direction for the Bend.
It's holiday season right now.
It's time for the Bend to shine.
You guys do a great jobduring the holiday season.
What makes this time of year special forthe Bend Theater and for your guests?
Leona Knobloch (02:14):
Well, we kick it off with, holiday events, starting from the
lighting of the Christmas tree downtown,offering the movie to the community
and sing alongs, all the way throughthe end of the season to our final New
Year's Eve event, so we have a lot goingon, we're decorated for the season.
And, um, people love to come and enjoy.
And
Fuzz Martin (02:34):
it's excellent, obviously having that right
there in downtown West Bend.
Uh, you have an awesome mix ofholiday, classic Christmas movies.
You have live performances,things like that.
What goes into pulling together your.
Thanks for joining us.
What's your role in
Shaun Tanner (02:49):
creating
Fuzz Martin (02:49):
this holiday
Shaun Tanner (02:50):
programming every year?
We actually have a team thatgets together and talks about
what we think would do well here.
Um, but, you know, history haskind of shown that, they, that
shows actually sell themselves.
We're bringing a lot of likethe classic movies and people
Fuzz Martin (03:03):
just eat those up.
Yeah, it's fun when you see some ofthe movies up on the marquee that
you're, you know, everybody loves.
So, let's talk about that onthe movie side, first of all.
So, you have a A holidaymovie lineup full of classics.
You got Elf, National Lampoons, DieHard, so we can put an end to whether
or not that's a Christmas movie.
How do you decide which movies to feature?
(03:24):
What makes them resonate withyour audiences each year?
What's, what's the criteria for that?
Shaun Tanner (03:28):
Again, like the classics, much, you know, mentioned like Elf and,
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, wehad, two sellout shows, two years in a row
for, Christmas Vacation, and, people comedressed up, they, you know, have a lot of
fun with it, obviously we worked and diehard, due to the, uh, big debate, but,
uh, a lot of the stuff almost just kindof seems, you know, straightforward, and,
and people really want to see, like yousaid, see those on the, on the big screen.
Fuzz Martin (03:52):
You also have some for the kids as well, you know, have a special
screening of the Polar Express coming up.
Can you talk about that?
I know there's a special guest coming up,so What can families expect from that?
Shaun Tanner (04:03):
There is, yeah, that's another special event.
That one's actually sponsored by TimmersResort this year, as it was last year.
And, again, it's, it's, you know, thePolar Express, again, magical movie.
And, at the very end, for thosewho have never been to our, movie
screenings, our screen raises, andwe will have Santa Claus on stage,
in the sleigh, with a special elf.
(04:25):
And, for a meet and greet, then thekids can walk up a ramp, get a candy
cane and a Polar Express bell, and,tell them what they, what they want.
So we do ask the parents tokeep that, kind of quiet.
I'm actually the one to raise the screenbehind, and just the collaborative
gasp from all the kids is that, Imean, it really is a magical time.
Fuzz Martin (04:42):
And so that is on Sunday the 15th, is that right?
So how much, how much is that forfamilies if they're looking to come?
Shaun Tanner (04:50):
That is just a $10 ticket.
I really don't, feel like parents shouldhave to pay, any extra to see Santa.
So that is our standard movie rate.
Excellent.
Fuzz Martin (04:57):
Alright, very good.
And so you have something calledthe Christmas Showcase coming up.
What can you tell us about that?
Leona Knobloch (05:03):
The Christmas showcase is on December 14th
and it's a very special day.
Sponsored the whole day is sponsoredby We Energies and we have.
Three movies, we have Home Alone 1and Home Alone 2, and those are only
4 each for adults, kids under 12 free.
Awesome.
And during that, we're gonna have, duringthe intermission between the two movies,
(05:24):
we're gonna have a special project.
We have some snacks, and that'ssponsored by The Antidote.
And we are also going to bedoing Project Linus blankets.
And we're, the kids and their familiescan put the blankets together.
We're doing that so that we canprovide blankets for children.
We're working with groups likethe Youth and Family Project so
(05:44):
that, we can provide them somethingspecial for the holiday season.
At the end of that day, we'regonna have love actually.
And love actually is our date nightmovie, and that is actually free.
Oh wow.
We have opened that up to be freeto the community so that, people
can come and just enjoy the evening.
Fuzz Martin (06:00):
Excellent.
That's on the 14th.
Leona Knobloch (06:01):
That is December 14th, yeah.
Fuzz Martin (06:03):
Oh, awesome.
So in addition to the movies, you have alot of great live performances coming up.
How do you select the performancesperformers for these events each year?
They each kind of bring their ownunique vibe to the holiday season.
So how do you go about that?
Leona Knobloch (06:15):
Again, that's a team that gets together and goes through
programming and what would work forthe community, who we can bring in as
far as comedy and music, and, what wewant to do to promote those as well.
How can we, do specialthings for those events?
Fuzz Martin (06:30):
Perfect.
So you have your holidayconcert series coming up.
There's artists like, DanRodriguez and the Whiskey Bells.
Can you tell us about Dan and the WhiskeyBells, what people can expect with those?
Leona Knobloch (06:39):
Sure, Dan, actually Dan's, holiday special is called
All I Want for Christmas is Whiskey,which is great because then we also
have the Whiskey Bells, so we almosthave this little theme going on.
But both of those events are just,they're great for the, The community
to, depending on what your vibeis and what you like, you can have
a different kind of, atmospherefor the different kinds of groups.
(07:00):
We also have, Janet Planet coming in.
Okay.
And she is, doing her specialis All I Want for Christmas
as well, but that's a jazz.
Okay.
And so that's a, a very special,jazz performance from her.
She's actually fairly popular in theMilwaukee and the Fond du Lac area.
She used to be a DJ in theFond du Lac area, so we're very
excited to have Janet Planet in.
Fuzz Martin (07:17):
Awesome.
What are the dates on those events?
? Leona Knobloch: Dan Rodriguez is coming in on December 13th.
Janet Planet is December 20th.
And the Whiskey Bells is on December 21st.
Awesome.
Awesome.
That sounds like it'll be a great time.
And then, you also have the FourCs uh, Four C Notes Holiday Show.
What is that all about?
Shaun Tanner (07:35):
That's actually, they, they perform as a Frankie
Valli in the Four Seasons Tribute.
Okay.
Um, and they're tying in a little, littlebit of a Christmas vibe with that as well.
So it's good classic musicwith, with a Christmas twist.
Fuzz Martin (07:45):
Wonderful.
Bend also brings in some great comediansto the show, and I know before this
airs on Friday the 60th, you had ErikaRhodes, which is always very popular.
But you also have someother comedians coming in.
Who's coming in?
What can you tell us about them?
Shaun Tanner (08:00):
Coming up, we have, in December, we have
Chris Barnes coming back.
He's been here before, and hewas pretty much a heavy hitter.
And, so we've, we opted to bring him back.
And, Chastity Washingtonis opening for, him.
She was here before as well,and she's going to be opening.
She is a, teacher in Milwaukee.
Fuzz Martin (08:17):
And,
Shaun Tanner (08:17):
um, now, now doing the
Fuzz Martin (08:18):
comedy bit.
Perfect.
And you've got, them comingin two nights, right?
Leona Knobloch (08:22):
Yeah, they're coming in on December 27th and December 28th.
Fuzz Martin (08:25):
Awesome.
Awesome.
And I've heard greatthings about Chris Barnes.
Actually the other day I was atthe Taste of Washington County
and somebody was talking about howexcited they were to go see him again.
So then coming up on New Year'sEve, a big day for celebration, you
have the Bend's New Year's Eve bash.
What can you tell us about that event,the theme, and what you guys are
planning to do to ring in the new year?
Leona Knobloch (08:43):
Alright, so yeah, we are wrapping up the season on December 31st
with our bash, in which we're havingfood and the champagne toast at midnight.
The Flatcats are going tobe performing that evening.
We open up the doors at 830,the Flatcats start playing at
930, and we're very excited.
This year we're doing a come as you are.
You can come in, you're formalwear, you're informal wear,
(09:05):
you're PJs, anything goes.
We just want everybody to come andhave fun and celebrate with us.
Fuzz Martin (09:10):
Sure, and that's pretty affordable for all that
you get in that event as well.
Yeah,
Leona Knobloch (09:13):
35 ticket price, so it is a lot for one evening.
Fuzz Martin (09:17):
Yeah, awesome.
Very cool.
So we get in, we get through the new year,and then we start programming right away
for 2025, and right away to start, I thinkthat same week, right, you have, a tribute
to Tom Petty, I know a lot of people loveyour tribute concerts, I've been to a few
my in laws rave about it, uh, we took themto see, I think it was an ABBA tribute
(09:39):
at some point, but tell us about theTom Petty tribute, the date on that, and
what people can, see when they get there.
Shaun Tanner (09:44):
Sold out.
Oh, really?
Oh.
So, that is a January 3rd event,and, we put that show on sale, and
it actually sold out in two weeks.
Oh, wow.
So, it's, it's cool to say, it'sunfortunate for those that didn't
get their tickets, but, Yeah,obviously, you know, Petty is a
huge, huge name in the industry.
Yeah.
Uh, we're talking about this Wallof Fame that we have going on.
So Tom Petty and theHeartbreakers is on that list.
(10:06):
So it's kind of like a nice little tie infor, the, uh, the Wall of Fame thing too.
But, um, yeah, it'sgoing to be a good show.
Fuzz Martin (10:12):
Yeah, that's, that's excellent.
But So on to that though, you have othertribute concerts I'm sure that you'll
have throughout the year coming upin 2025 and people should get on them
early because of that reason, right?
Correct.
Shaun Tanner (10:24):
Yeah, we do have a Separate Ways Journey experience and
we have about two thirds sold for that.
So yes, jump on those.
We highly recommend that everybodytry to get their tickets earlier
as opposed to later because, we,it, it's a little disheartening
when we have to turn people away.
Fuzz Martin (10:37):
Yeah, I mean disheartening for the people turning away, but I'm
sure for the Bend, it's a good thing.
It's fantastic, yes.
Good thing to know that , the peopleare enjoying their time at the Bend
and, and coming back for these concerts.
The Bend, we, you talked about it earlier,Shaun, it's centerpiece of downtown.
You had the big Blade sign.
How do you see the Bendcontributing to the sense of
(10:58):
community here during the holidays?
Leona Knobloch (11:00):
Again, it's the sold out shows.
I I Then November we had three straightweekends of sold out shows, which was
a fantastic We do through that when wehave sold out shows, we contact the bars
and restaurants throughout Tom mm-hmm.
Town and give them a heads upthat that's gonna be the case.
Yeah.
Because they do get swamped.
Mm-hmm . And we wanna make sure that,they know that in addition it's bringing
(11:21):
all those people to the community.
One of our sold out show weekends.
We had a number of peoplewho came in from out of town.
We had a number of people comein from Chicago, which was great.
Yeah.
To know that we were openingthat opportunity up for the
community to be supported through
Fuzz Martin (11:36):
Sure.
What we were offering.
Yeah.
And it really is.
I mean, not the, the restaurants, thehotels, I mean even some of the, you
know, the beat goes on and those otherplaces that people, see a concert and
they, buy some of the, you know, themusic that they heard or, or just did.
Shop around in any of the shops downtown.
It's, it's great to have You there,bringing people into downtown.
(11:58):
It's huge for the economy andfor uh, those small business
owners so that's uh, wonderful.
uh, With that, what does that mean to you?
And you see the businesses succeeding,but also you know, family, friends.
neighbors, people from out of town comingtogether at the Bend during the holidays.
Shaun Tanner (12:16):
Like we said, it's great to see, you know a thriving downtown,
you know, seeing a lot of the kidscome down and, you know, we're a non
profit, we are a community theater,so having that, branch out in the
community is is really a great thing.
Fuzz Martin (12:29):
So if people want to get tickets to some of these events or
get on On to some of these upcomingevents before they're sold out.
How can people, buy tickets, wherecan they find more information?
Shaun Tanner (12:41):
Yep, so they can go to our website at thebendwi.
org and get tickets there.
We highly recommend signing up for ournewsletter, like we said, we will send
an email out, saying that shows aregoing to go on sale or are on sale now.
And, Go from there.
We do also have box office, hours onThursdays and Fridays from 1 to 4.
And, yeah, and you can also buytickets, one hour or, one hour prior
(13:03):
to the show or during any other show.
Fuzz Martin (13:06):
And as a non profit, obviously, this year is a time of, of
giving and, you know, the shows supportso much, but your, your prices are
Pretty affordable and you have a big,beautiful building to, keep repaired and
updated and heated and all those things.
If someone wants to support The Bend,maybe through donations, I know you
guys have your annual appeal goingon right now, how can people do so?
Leona Knobloch (13:29):
Well, they can donate online.
We have a donation portal.
If you go to thebendwi.
org, right on the homepage, there isa donation button that you can push.
As well, they can come in during thebox office hours and make a donation
and or they can donate to our donationjar when they're there at an event.
We also do, have a lot ofopportunities for sponsors and
(13:49):
we are so happy to have so manysupportive sponsors in the community.
Bars, restaurants, a number of different,individuals and companies helping us out.
Fuzz Martin (13:59):
Perfect.
And that, yes, and that, I mean, justfrom the start of getting the, you
know, the Theater back and restoredall the way through now and operations.
It's been great to see that the communitycome together for this and as You pointed
out earlier the importance of havingthis in downtown Really helps everyone.
So Leona, Shaun, I hope you guys havean awesome Rest of your holiday season
(14:20):
at The Bend, and have a Merry Christmasand Happy Holidays to you both.
Thanks, you as well.
Always great to talk to the folksat The Bend, and thank you again to
Leona Knobloch and Shaun Tanner forjoining me on this week's episode
of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
Be sure to make The Bend a partof your holiday plans this year.
And if you ever have an idea for aguest for this show, Make plans to
(14:43):
email me and tell me who that should be.
Fuzz at fuzzmartin.
com is my email address.
That is fuzz at fuzzmartin.
com or you can go to fuzzmartin.
com slash guest.
And there's a form therethat you can fill out.
Give me all the beats.
New episodes coming on Tuesdays,Apple podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
Those are some of theplaces you can find them.
And of course they're alwaysavailable at fuzzmartin.
(15:05):
com.
I appreciate you listening, and Iwill talk to you next Tuesday, right
here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.
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