Archive for December, 2009

Farmers Alley Theatre brought a touch of Broadway to Kalamazoo last month with “An Evening with Lauren Kennedy”.  If you are unfamiliar with this amazing woman’s work, you can visit her website at LaurenKennedy.com.  Lauren was college best friend to our very own Denene Mulay Koch and has kept in touch over the years with both Denene and husband Jeremy.  She serves as a member of our Artistic Advisory Board and was very enthusiastic about coming to perform at what she called “our amazing space!”  She was blown away by the look and feel of the theatre as well as the professionalism of our talented production staff (headed by Lanny Potts, Tom Shuster, Lisa Watson and Kyle Waterman.)  She was also thrilled with her musical director and accompanist, Catherine Walker Adams and threw many a kudo to Joe Badalamenti on guitar and Ryan Andrews on percussion.  As a quartet, Lauren and the band were incredible.

The show flowed effortlessly to the sold-out opening night crowd, creating beautiful, moving moments.  All were complimented by the inspired lighting design of the incomparable Lanny Potts.  The response to Lauren was wonderful.  Her ability to get comfy and cozy with the audience won them over completely.  With touching ballads such as “I Dreamed a Dream” to new contemporary songs and over-the-top humorous numbers (“My Christmas Wish”), Lauren took the crowd on a journey to the center of her heart.  Denene and Jeremy joined her onstage for a couple duets adding just the right touch of homespun talent to the show.  Read the Kalamazoo Gazette’s take in our “NEWS” section for what the reviewer had to say about the evening.

Broadway veteran Scott Burkell also graced the stage with a song he and writing partner Paul Loesel composed.  Scott hit all the right notes with the crowd and had a chance to promote our holiday show (FOREVER PLAID: PLAID TIDINGS) which he directed and is currently starring in.  By the way, tickets are almost gone, so call us right now for the chance to see it!!

We couldn’t be more proud of the sheer commitment put forth by Lauren and all involved with “An Evening with Lauren Kennedy” and we are very much looking forward to bringing more of these experiences to our audience.  Lauren actually really wants to come back!  She wants to perform, direct, bring friends – and I’m sure a lot of this has to do with the fact that she stayed with wonderful hosts John and Kathy Mulay for the duration of her stay in Kalamazoo!  She said she was going to move in!  Thank you to John and Kathy for providing their hospitality!

And thank you to all of you who support the theatre!  If you missed this one, that’s okay – just don’t let it happen again!

Happy Holidays and we’ll see you at FOREVER PLAID: PLAID TIDINGS!