One, two, three, four.

Get my shoes then out the door.

Five I'm alive, six, seven, eight feelin' great.

Nine, gonna shine, life is good I'm doing fine.

Ten, Gonna do it right then do it again.

Yeah yeah.

I look up to the sky with all the beautiful color but, there's more than just for me so gonna share it with another.

I got to show, to give, let out, I want to sing and shout.

Take a look and see A beautiful morning that turns into beautiful evening.

And together make a beautiful life.

And if you want see, then come along with me.

That's right.

Hello and welcome to experience, Michiana I'm Irish, Dave.

I'm here at the Regis Philbin Theater.

Next week on the show you're going to find out all that's happening at the DeBartolo.

So make sure and tune in for that.

This week Kelly and I were out and about.

Kelly went to the Laporte County Symphony Orchestra.

I was in Goshen at the Ignition Music Garage.

But first Kelly was in Elkhart at the Civic Theater to find out about a performance going on there called Lucky Stiff.

Today at the Elkhart Civic Theater.

And all we can say is get ready for a show filled with murder, mystery diamonds and the dead body.

Okay.

Well, Brock, step in.

And John, thank you so much for being with us today.

And I have to say that this is a musical.

It's lucky stiff.

It's a musical that not many people may have heard of, but it is absolute hilarious.

And Brock, you are the director for the show.

I am.

Well, tell us about well, how did you discover the show and you decided to bring it here to this community?

So we actually did this show in 2000.

These two were both in it then.

John's playing the same part he played 22 years ago and Stephanie is playing a different part.

I was a kid when we did it last time, so I didn't see it.

So he's kind of, you know, shaming you guys.

He's like.

I didn't see it.

It's a little bit more PG 13, so I didn't see this show.

We did it last time, but on the production committee we were talking about shows that we'd want to bring back and everybody said Lucky Stiff Lucky Stiff, Lucky Stiff.

I was like, I don't know it.

And then I read the script and I looked at the video of when we did it last time, and it is absolutely hilarious.

It's a real gem that not enough people know.

Absolutely.

So I'm sure you're pretty excited that people will have an opportunity to see this.

Yes, for sure.

This is definitely a show that I don't think it's been done in the area since we did it last time.

And it is just it's like a farce.

But put to music and there's just not many shows like that where it's just so fast paced and people going in one door and coming out another.

And yeah, it's a lot of fun now.

I did have a chance to see the show and one of the things that really intrigued me was the dead body.

And so as a director, how do you direct the dead body?

Well, Stephanie's husband is actually the dead body, and he just started coming to rehearsals, I think, last week.

And he's got it down pretty pat.

He's he doesn't move.

We do a lot of movement to him, a lot of shtick with him falling over, because the whole conceit is that the nephew knows that he's dead, but nobody else knows that he's dead, so he's passing him off that he's alive.

So Tim's got to be pretty limp and flexible and he is.

He's great.

Okay.

All right.

Well, we'll have to come and see that, but I'm sure I'll take your word for it, though.

Now, Stephanie, you were in it before.

Yes.

And who did you play before?

Before I played Annabel, who is kind of the younger character from the dog home.

And this time I get to play Rita, which is a lot more fun and crazy.

I love I have to say, I absolutely love Rita.

How do you enjoy playing her?

Oh, it's great.

I'm actually Italian.

So the Italian part of the Italian part of the character is great.

So I get to kind of play that crazy, zany, just totally impatient character that is actually pretty, you know, in my background.

So it actually works really well.

So it's a lot of fun.

Absolutely.

And now, John, you were in it as well before I was.

And you're playing the same part.

I am playing the same character, which I never thought I would say.

Yeah, but I am so and I love him.

He's he's first of all, the show is probably one of my favorite shows of all time, but this is probably one of my favorite characters that I've ever played.

So I'm really excited to be able to bring him back on to the stage again.

So your fate, one of your favorite what's his name?

Vincent de Russo.

And tell us.

So what's he's an optometrist.

He's an optometrist.

He's a little bit of a milquetoast.

And his sister gets him into a real mess.

Not Rita.

Oh, no, no.

Yeah.

And they end up having to fly off to Monaco to try and figure out how to fix the situation and and in the process, their plane crashes.

And I don't know, it's just you name it, everything happens to this guy and including a fight with his wife on the telephone.

So it's it's all good.

Oh, my God.

And by the way, one of my favorite scenes.

One of my favorite scenes.

Now, how does it feel to play this same character 20 years later?

What is some of the maybe the pros and what are some of the challenges you might have?

Sure.

Well, 20 years ago, I was definitely more limber, so I wasn't as afraid, for example, in the phone call, which you all have to come see of hurting myself.

But so now at 20 years later, it's like, oh, this could get a little bit challenging, but the idea is just that I'm finding new things.

But at the same time it's really like a glove.

I just it slides right on and it feels so comfortable.

That's great.

Now, how is the relationship with the two of you on stage?

Well, as brothers, I'd say out there on stage, I'd.

Say just a little bit kind of a brother, sister, obviously relationship.

I mean, she.

Carries a gun.

But I.

Carry a gun and I'm a chain smoker.

He has asthma.

So, you know, it's kind of that very challenging relationship of me kind of dragging him into all kinds of things that he doesn't want to be in and him just shaking his head like, Oh, no.

So basically it's your fault.

It's always it's kind of always your fault.

Now, Brock has how has it been directing this ensemble?

I mean, I heard you mentioned that it's not a huge cast, so it's, you know, a little bit closer knit.

Yeah.

So last time we did the show, we expanded the chorus.

I think there was 17 or 18 people in it or something like that.

16, 17 And this time we did it with ten, which is how it was originally done off-Broadway.

It's more of a challenge, I would say, but it's a little it's also really fun because the ensemble of four plays like 35 characters between them.

So they walk off one second and come back on as another character 2 seconds later.

So it's it's been a lot of fun and it's a really, really strong ensemble of all generations of talent here at Elkhart Civic.

So it's it's been a great experience.

Now, the show opens November 11th.

Where are you in the rehearsal process?

About two and a half weeks.

We're about two and a half weeks out.

So the rehearsal process is moving along very smoothly.

We're adding costumes and and working on the set right now, just has one coat on it.

So it's not done yet.

But but we're moving along and we're really excited to share this with our community.

Now, one of the things you just mentioned about the generations, and I think that's one of the most beautiful things about community theater, is that it's people in the community.

And you see that kind of being passed down generation to generation.

Matter of fact, you see shows where the parents and the and their children are in the same show together.

And there's it's really a priceless experience.

It really it really is.

And that's an experience that you really only get with community theater.

In terms of doing theater, it's something really specific to community theater that I, I just love.

I started here when I was 12.

Throwin shade again.

And John and John and Stephanie, I mean, I grew up, they were my mentors and I'm where I am today because of because of these two.

So yeah.

Yeah.

He's been my little brother on the first show we did together, he was 12.

So well as big as being, you know, two of his mentors.

How does it feel to have him in the director's seat?

He does a great job and I love working with him.

So.

Yeah, you know, watching him grow over the years and really define his love for theater has been exciting.

And then we went for a year without an artistic director almost two and it's nice to have him here.

He's got a great eye.

How does it feel passing down the reins?

Oh, the.

Baton.

It's great.

You know, it's it's nice, especially when you know that it's being handled by a good professional.

So.

Absolutely.

So, again, the show starts November 11th.

And what of the days?

November 11th, 12th and 13th and then 18th 19, 20th.

Okay.

And how can people get tickets?

People can get tickets by visiting our website, Elkhart Civic Theatere dot org it's theater with an R E or they can call our box office from Monday, Monday through Friday from 1 to 530.

Our number is 8484116.

All right.

All right.

Well, thank you so much and good luck to the show.

And please come in.

See, Lucky Stiff, you will not be sorry.

You will be rolling down the aisles.

Seriously, it's hilarious.

I'm here at Ignition Music Garage.

Julie, can I just say garage?

That's kind of how I say it is.

Okay, that acceptable Okay.

I'm here with Julie, who's the co-owner and operator of the record store here.

I feel a little bit bad because I come to Goshen every week.

I've been here several times this week, even at the Electric Brew, which is just next door, the cafe.

And I didn't actually know that you guys were here.

Do you hear that quite a bit?

I do, unfortunately.

Well, after today, you know, after this, you're going to be good.

But how long has the store actually been here?

Over ten years.

It used to be an actual garage, which is why we kept the ignition.

Music Garage has a very industrial feel to it.

Yeah, we used to have a seems to be one building, so we had the door open between the coffee shop and the record store for a long time.

But when we split the building up code and all that, now we are two separate buildings.

So we used to get a lot of traffic from in between the record or the coffee shop in here.

So so what is the beauty of vinyl still being so attractive to people?

Well, I think it's a couple things.

The first thing is it just sounds better.

And the second thing I really think it's it's tangible.

People for so long have just been putting their phone on and listening to music of vinyl.

You can hold it has beautiful artwork, you can open it.

Some of them are gatefold, which you can open and they have more artwork inside.

Every song is listed out.

You can see who plays on the song.

You can see what instruments are used on the album.

There's just so much information on the album itself.

So I think people that really appreciate music like that and appreciate that.

And also to listen to it becomes more of an intentional act that you get to actually sit down, take a moment.

It's kind of like sitting down and reading a book or sitting down and watching.

It's a meditation for people.

Yeah, yeah.

It's it's not just a transactional like music on in the car, it's an actual like I'm intentionally sitting down for 45 minutes and listening to this entire album.

Yeah, I.

Agree.

Yeah.

So I like it.

Well, I want to have a look around.

There's so many things here.

There's a radio studio over in the corner which I'm just like dying to crack open the mic there and talk.

But there's lots of things we want to see.

So let's have a look around other.

All right.

So, Julie, this, you've got everything here.

Obviously, you can have records without a record player.

So what are some of the brands that you use?

What do you even carry this brand?

Okay, so we are a certified Audio-Technica dealership, so this is their base models.

The LP 60, it starts at around $150.

And then the one I really like is the LP 120.

They run 3050 now.

What's the difference?

So good question.

I'm just wondering because I'm like, I hear 150 I hear 350 I'm like, ever plays the record, what do I care?

Like, you know.

So the nice thing about Audio-Technica these new players is they come with a built in preamp that you can turn on and off, so you really can grow, you can pay it down, you can have your bare bones or you can, you know, grow into it, which is what this one really allows you to do.

This is just a basic record player.

It has a straight tonearm here.

It has a start stop button.

It comes, drops the needle down.

You can walk away, it picks it up, puts it back when you're done, you can pair it with, I like these Edifier speakers, they sound really good.

They come in different wattages so you can kind of for how loud you want your music.

You can decide that and this is all you really need.

You don't have to buy big expensive speakers or integrated amplifier, but if you want to, one of those things later you could always add them.

This record player here, the LP 120, you have the S-shaped tone arm, which tracks a little bit better on the record.

You have the weights and balances, the anti-slip allows for a lot more control over your listening experience, and it also comes with a half inch head shell so you can change your cartridge upgrade your cartridge, maybe later.

The two most important things for me, for your listening experience is a really nice cartridge and needle on your record player and some nice speakers.

So those are the two things that really elevate your listening experience.

And there is nothing better in my opinion than that.

Like Crackly Sound at the start of the record.

People love it, some people hate it.

It's like one of my favorite sounds, so I.

Don't mind it either.

I love it.

I just think there's like, I don't know, there's like, I romanticize that sound.

So much in my head.

I just think it's like there's something to me that's just.

You just don't get with turning on Spotify or telling your whatever smart speaker to play a song, you know.

So, so yeah I totally love it.

And you've headphones too, just in case you're really bugging your partner by playing your music early.

So that's important too.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Headphones.

We have some vintage equipment too.

I have a couple people that do a really good job, very happy rehabbing, old or vintage stereos.

So these have been cleaned up.

Um.

Yeah.

No need to go.

I bet there's a few people watching who are like, I recognize their SO records in general.

You've got a huge variety here.

Yeah, most of them I know.

How much does it cost in general for records?

Because it's definitely something that it's a little bit of an investment, right?

Like it's not you know, a super expensive.

Bargain bin where you can buy records for a dollar or $2 or $3.

They're like classic, a lot of easy listening, maybe some older stuff.

If you find a really good title in there, you might want to check the record out for the quality because it might be more about the cover.

Yeah, but I mean, you can you can invest a dollar, you can invest $50.

It really depends.

Yeah.

The new records for us, the margin is better used, so we try and buy used off people and resell it.

We buy lots of collections of people, find them new homes.

The new vinyl is a little bit harder to come by right now because it's so popular, but I try and keep good titles stocked when I can, and then twice a year they do a record store day and then they do a Black Friday event and they'll release like they did this ultravox for Record Store Day this year.

So I see like a lot of familiar names from like the seventies, eighties, like Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen.

Yeah.

And how many artists from today actually even release vinyl, even if it's hard to come by?

Like, do they all release vinyl now?

Like, does Bruno Mars?

And I say, art, as of today, I think.

I have a Bruno Mars record.

I guess so.

So they like Taylor Swift.

They still release vinyl.

She just put a new album out, too.

Yeah.

Yeah, they I think it's the one format that they really want to be on.

So in here, in Ignatian music, you'll see that there's a radio studio for 91 one The Globe, which is the Goshen College radio station.

And you'll also see this stage here.

So Julie, who comes here like.

Oh my gosh, we've had some of the most incredible people play here.

John Spencer from John Spencer's Blues Explosions been here.

Medeski, John Medeski from Medeski, Martin and Wood.

Bill Frisell, who's an amazing jazz player.

But we do all sorts of shows.

We like to do local shows, we do some metal showcases as what we call them, because there's not really a place where the metal bands or hard rock bands can play around here.

Like I said before us is an industrial space, so.

Oh.

What are the acoustics like?

They're great.

The room is sound has been sound tuned.

It's it sounds really good.

It's more of a listening room.

The hard rock shows, they're just loud.

So how often, like, is it on a schedule or like, how often do people play here?

Where can people actually see the schedule of.

So our website Ignition Music Dot Net Facebook has a list I think of all of our upcoming events as well.

You can buy tickets online, you can get tickets in the store.

You can give us a call.

We'll help you.

We have a couple of events here a month.

Paul Thorn will be here November 10th.

Then we have tis the season is every other year we do a holiday event with Carrie Lee Kendall and she puts on it's kind of like a variety show.

There's song, there's dance, there's poetry readings sometimes and it's always sells out.

So it's a really, really nice thing to do for the community.

It's nice.

It's a I don't want it to be a hidden gem any more, but it really is a beautiful space as a really nice atmosphere in here.

It just feels really chill, which kind of kind of goes with the vibe of like vinyl, you know?

And it just, I don't know, it feels like a cool hangout spot.

Awesome.

Well, I hope everyone watching comes and visits the place and just gets to know you and get to know the store and what you stand for and.

Yeah, the visit.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Me too.

It is always such a delight to be with Tim King, the executive director of the Laporte County Symphony Orchestra.

But before we say anything to him from WNIT experience Michiana.

to you we say happy anniversary.

Oh, thank you.

Not you're you're not.

No, no, I'm not 50.

I wish I was 50, but.

When.

The La Porte County Symphony Orchestra.

Oh, my goodness.

congradulations it's.

A real milestone.

A lot of orchestras don't even make it to 50 years, you know, nonprofit organizations.

And you have lean years and good years.

But fortunately, we are in our 50th year and things are going quite well.

That's great.

And you know, like you mentioned about the arts organizations, it has been quite a challenging year with the pandemic and everything.

How did you kind of maneuver through all of that?

Well, when the pandemic happened, March of 2020, literally we had a concert that particular weekend and I had to cancel it two days before the concert.

And so everything was just up in the air.

We did have to postpone two concerts.

We had a concert in March and concert in April of 2020.

But but after that second postponement, our interim music director, Chuck Steck, who's also our principal trumpeter and associate conductor, and I got together and we said, this is ridiculous.

We've got to figure something out.

Nobody was moving anywhere.

No, nothing was going on.

And so we have two medical doctors in our orchestra with very, very fine musicians.

So Chuck and I went to them and we said, Is there any way that we can continue playing?

And they said, Yes, you've got to have a mask and you have to play six feet apart.

So with the winds, they had to construct sort of masks around their bells around where the trumpets and the winds.

And because here in the Civic Auditorium, because it's not a regular auditorium, we were able to spread the musicians out.

Half of them were on the stage and half or more on the floor.

So they were able to keep that six feet distance and we were still able to make music.

So what happened with all that was we had a lot of musicians that said, Gosh, I feel like I'm playing a solo all the time because they're used to playing together.

But they said we would rather do this as opposed to not playing at all.

So then we just started playing and we started rehearsing and playing and sometimes with an audience, sometimes without an audience.

And we were the only orchestra in Indiana that continued to play during that time.

And I credit to things like credit our two doctors and I credit the Civic Auditorium for able for us being able to do that.

And I'm happy to report that we did not have one COVID case during that entire time.

That is fantastic.

Yeah, it worked.

It worked.

You know, that is fantastic.

Now, 50 years, what are you going to do for this concert?

Because this is a big one, Tim.

It's big.

It's big.

Well, we're so fortunate to have Carolyn Watson, our music director.

It's her second year coming in.

And what she's done is every concert that we're doing this year, she took a look at the very first year of programing, and she's put one piece on every concert this year that was played in the first year.

Oh, that's.

Great.

I know it was a great idea.

She came up with that.

So we'll be doing that and then we're going to be doing a American music.

Aaron Copland, The Fanfare for The Common Man and Our Music from Rodeo, and we're doing selections from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin and selections from West Side Story from Leonard Bernstein with three outstanding vocal soloists that could be joining us.

That is wonderful.

And then you also have some high school students that are going to be we.

Do this year.

We have five student apprentices.

And what we've started this program a couple of years ago where we audition talented high school musicians.

They don't have to be from Laporte County.

They can be from Saint Joseph County, Porter Lake, as long as they can make it to the rehearsals and to the performances, they get paid just like another member of the orchestra.

So we had these auditions this year and we have five young musicians, juniors and seniors, two trumpeters and percussionist, a twist and a flutist.

Oh my.

Goodness.

It's great.

From three different schools here in the area.

So they are going to be playing a solo.

No, they're to be part of the orchestra.

So our orchestra's normally 55.

We have 60 now with with the five student apprentices, but they were their last.

And we had our first rehearsal last night for this concert and they were right there in the thick of it.

That's great.

And what a wonderful experience for someone in high school especially to get paid.

Well, that and they play much harder literature than they normally would in a high school situation.

So we've had several student apprentices that are now majoring in music in college who feel like they got a leg up a little bit because they they some of this music that they played, they never would have been able to play in high school and made them play better next to a professional.

That's so true.

Now, the soloist, the vocalists that you mentioned, are they from Laporte?

They're not.

They're not.

We have Caroline has worked with all three of these people before.

It's Amanda Sherriff, Soprano Alex Sherman, who's our tenor, and Nicholas Davis, who's our bass baritone, will be singing selections of both Porgy and Bess and West Side Story.

I haven't met them yet.

They're coming in, but I've talked with each of them over the phone and email.

Caroline says they're wonderful to deal with, and if Caroline says they're wonderful, they're wonderful.

I'm not worried about that.

And speaking of wonderful, Carolyn is one.

Of she is pretty terrific.

She really is.

She just recently took a position with the University of Illinois.

So she was at the University of Kansas.

So now with her being at the University of Illinois as a director of orchestras there, she's a lot closer geographically to us.

So now it takes her 3 hours to drive instead of all day on a plane to get to us this time.

So we're all happy about that situation.

Yes.

And talk a little bit about the Civic Auditorium here, because I came it was back in the spring and that was the concert where you were doing movies, music and the John Williams concert.

And I just want to say something, Tim.

I came here is my first time and the energy that was here, well, it was almost like a football game.

I mean, I'm trying to explain it, but what you have created here in the community is fantastic.

There was so much energy.

People were so excited to be here.

And I mean, it is just such a wonderful musical community.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Well, the situation here is a little different because we put tables on the floor.

So a lot of companies and individuals buy entire tables and so they can socialize with each other prior to the concert and during intermission.

And then, of course, we have the seats in the balcony in the U-shape, and that's been part of it.

I think they like the socialization that they're able to do where you can't really get that in an auditorium situation between that and just a great programing that Carolyn does, and she always kind of leaves them wanting more.

And I really like that.

We keep our programs to about 2 hours, no more than that with an intermission.

And people always say, Oh, can you just play one more piece and No, come back next time?

But it was fantastic.

And I you sat me at a table Tim and it was great to socialize it.

And people came in costumes.

Yes.

And at the end of the program, I mean, everyone was on their feet and everyone was.

It was a great way to end the season.

It really was.

It was.

Now, can you give us a sneak peek as to what's coming perhaps for the holidays?

Yes.

Well, after this concert with November the fifth, our next concert will be our holiday at the Pops concert, which is always the second Saturday in December.

It's December the 10th 7 p.m..

Same situation, tables on the floor, people in the balcony.

We're expecting a sellout on that one because a lot of people for the past three years, I mean, one year we just did a livestream, we didn't have anybody.

And then another year we had about 400.

And then last year we had about 1200.

This year we feel like we can have a full house this time.

And a lot of people have told me that they don't feel like the holiday season has started until they attend.

The orchestra's concert of Holiday of the Pops.

So we have programs already set.

It's all on our website at lcso dot net, you can purchase tickets or just if you want to browse the website and learn more about the orchestra.

That is wonderful.

So again, the Americana concert of November 5th.

Yes.

And they can get tickets.

They can get tickets at LCSO Dot Net and we'll have tickets probably available at the door that night.

We're on Central Time.

So I want people to understand that we're on Central Time.

Our doors open at 6:00.

The concert starts at seven.

Okay, wonderful.

All right.

Well, I'm traveling on November 5th, but I'm putting my tickets in for the holiday.

Oh good.

I want my tickets.

We would love to have you come the holiday season.

Thanks so much for being with us.

As always.

And again, congratulations on 50 years.

Yeah, thanks, Kelly.

Appreciate it.

So that is it for this week's episode of Experience Michiana don't forget, if there's something that you think we should experience, make sure and follow us on Facebook and send us a message on there with your suggestion and make sure that you tune in next week to find out why I'm here.

There's so many great things going on here at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center and Notre Dame, and you and your family should definitely go along to them.

So tune in next week to experience Michiana.

Experience Michiana is made possible in part by the Community Foundation of Saint Joseph County and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the state of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.

This WNIT local production has been made possible in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.