Wizard of Oz visits the ICPL

Who says theater has to take place in a theater?

Last Thursday, over 136 community members participated in an interactive THE WIZARD OF OZ storytime at the Iowa City Public Library. Actors from the upcoming production helped tell stories and play games, while library staff appeared in various costumes and led the entire audience down “the yellow brick road” through the library.

If you missed out on this event, don't worry -- you can still enjoy all of the great music, dance, and fun of THE WIZARD OF OZ! Contact the Englert Box Office now to purchase your tickets.

Performances:

Thursday, July 16th at 7:30 PM
Friday, July 17th at 2:00 and 7:30 PM
Saturday, July 18th at 2:00 and 7:30 PM
Sunday, July 19th at 2:00 PM

Tickets:

$15-$25

Photo: Audience members join the fun at a special THE WIZARD OF OZ storytime at the Iowa City Public Library. (Back row, left to right: Diana Upton-Hill, Melina Lagios, and Patrick Moyer. Front row: Henry and Frances Bottorff.)

The Power of Referral

This Thursday night's presentation by Joe Ehrmann just sold out within the last hour.

Joe who?

I had never heard of Joe Ehrmann... and my guess is that at least half of the sold-out audience hasn't heard of him, either. (This is unsubstantiated - just my feeling)

So why did they shell out twelve bucks and give up a Thursday evening to see him? Because Kirk Ferentz and Nate Kaeding told them to.

This event is backed by Kirk and Nate, as a fundraiser for the Children's Hospital of Iowa. For the last week, in all the papers, there's been talk of this event and the fact that Kirk and Nate are bringing him to the Englert.

Joe Ehrmann is a motivational speaker - a former football player who had a rough life, turned himself around, and now shares his story to inspire others who may be in a rough spot in their lives. I'm sure Joe will give a great presentation, the people who come will likely leave inspired, and the Children's Hospital will see the benefit in terms of dollars and cents. All in all, hard to argue that this is a solid event.

But had we (the Englert) booked Joe Ehrmann ourselves - without the support of Kirk Ferentz and Nate Kaeding - I doubt we'd even be halfway sold out right now. Same Joe Ehrmann, different result. The reason? The power of opinion leaders. Think Oprah's book club. Or a celebrity wearing a certain designer's gown to the Oscars. In this town, Kirk and Nate are celebrities - and when they talk, people listen.

The power of opinion leaders to influence the success of an event or business is huge, and should never be overlooked. The challenge for us is to find those opinion leaders for every event we have, so that when they talk - people will listen.

Congrats to everyone involved with this Thursday's event!

Englert Night Out

It's been a little busy around here, but I wanted to take a second to post some pics from last Thursday's Englert Night Out - our annual recognition party for donors and supporters. Around a hundred people turned out for good conversation, delicious desserts from a variety of area restaurants, and even a few awards.

As usual, Todd Adamson snapped some great photos. Check out the ones below, and see more here.

There's also a video below that I put together, sort of recapping the last year and giving a preview of events to come this fall (all of which go on sale Monday, June 15th, by the way)...

The other video I need to upload yet is of our Englert Impact Award winners: Christina Patramanis (volunteer) and Zephyr Printing (sponsor).

Parking problems

Since the Englert opened in 2004, the City of Iowa City Parking Department has always offered Englert patrons a great deal in the city garages: four hours of parking for a buck when they present their ticket stub.

The City also was kind enough to let us issue free parking passes to some of our Friends of the Englert for the past couple of years.

Both of those programs are on hold for the time being, unfortunately. We're working with the City to get something going again, but until then, ticket stubs and "free parking" passes will not be accepted at City garages.

Truly sorry for the inconvenience, and we hope to have this worked out soon. Thanks for your patience, your continued patronage of the Englert, and for coming downtown Iowa City!

10,000 Eggstravaganza

The Englert partnered with Life Church, Iowa Children's Museum, and Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity to put on the biggest Easter egg hunt in Johnson County. It was a FREE event for the community and we had a great turn out. A BIG THANK YOU to all the Englert volunteers who helped make this a HUGE SUCCESS!


10,000 Eggstravaganza 09' from LIFEchurchnow.org on Vimeo.

Ralph's World

It was definitely Ralph's World on Saturday when he invited all the kids up on the Englert stage. The whole band was very laid back as they welcomed the kid's questions and participation as Rockin' Rollers. I have to admit that I was singing and moving as well. It was great seeing all the kids dance and sing the familiar songs.

Be cool.

This Wednesday's GZA show will mark the first time in a long time that we've allowed beverages inside the theater.

Since I started here almost four years ago, this topic has been an ongoing source of much debate. Let's be honest - we're basically talking about beer in the theater, with the occasional bottle of Coke, instead of the other way around.

On the one hand, allowing beer into the theater helps create a vibe and environment that certain fans love and even expect when seeing a show - especially a hip-hop show like GZA or a rock show like Lez Zeppelin. Plus, the additional fundage from "beer money" is hard to ignore when you're barely breaking even on the show in some cases - and that's if it sells out.

On the other hand, what about spills? Won't that drive up the maintenance costs? Will it damage our historic building? Will people get out of control with that much access to alcohol? What about security? And what about the fans who don't like that kind of environment - are we making the vibe better for one group of fans at another group's expense?

The answer... Who knows?

We're not alone - most historic theaters do allow beverages into the theater these days, and have seen only modest increases in maintenance. No one we talked to cited security concerns. And when I was at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines last month, it was great to be able to sit back and enjoy a glass (er, I mean, plastic cup) of wine while listening to Andrew Bird.

So we're going to give it a go, starting this Wednesday night. All I can say is:

Please - BE COOL.

Let's make this a positive change, not something we regret and can never do again. Cool?

Cool.