UW-Oshkosh Jazz Ensemble to Perform in Wabeno Area Players Fine Arts Series

The UW Oshkosh Jazz Ensemble, directed by Dr. Marty Robinson, is the premiere jazz group at the university. In addition, the jazz ensemble travels to national jazz festivals and often tours regionally to high schools around Wisconsin and the upper Midwest. The ensemble plays a wide variety of jazz big-band music, from the early swing era to classic 60s jazz to 80s jazz fusion to modern jazz, including everything in between, and prides itself on the ability to switch gears musically and present a rich and wide array of great jazz music, often featuring new composers and arrangers as well.

During the day of the performance a clinic will be held with the UW-Oshkosh Jazz Ensemble and area school students.  Any schools wishing to participate should call (715) 889-1606 or email wabenoareaplayers@gmail.com.


The Rebel Boys Basketball Team will host a Spaghetti Dinner before the concert starting at 5:00 p.m.  They are raising money for the Rebel Boys Basketball Team to Play Crivitz December 14th at the FiServ Forum (Milwaukee Bucks Stadium). The dinner will be $6.00 per person.  Come out and enjoy a dinner and show!  Show your support for the Rebel Basketball Team and the Wabeno Area Players Fine Arts Series.

Tickets for the event are $10 for Adults and $5 for Students.  The venue for the event is the Nancy Volk Auditorium (Wabeno High School, 4325 Branch St., Wabeno, WI 54566).  For Tickets Call (800) 838-3006 or order online at uw-oshkoshjazz.brownpapertickets.com.Tickets will be available at the door starting at 6:00pm.

Rose Colella Cocktail Jazz Quartet

To Perform for the Wabeno Area Players Fine Arts Series

On Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. in the Nancy Volk Auditorium (Wabeno High School, 4325 Branch St., Wabeno, WI 54566).  Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students.

Fresh off her first U.S. & Canada Tour, with over 30 appearances in NYC, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto & more, jazz vocalist Rose Colella released her much-anticipated album, “Cocktail” to sold-out audiences and global acclaim, and is currently scheduling her next tour.

Recently featured in The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune & The Chicago Sun-Times, Rose has also received mention in All About Jazz, JAZZIZ, NPR’s A Blog Supreme & LA Jazz Scene, describing her as “elegantly tipsy,” “pure seduction,” “cooly coquettish” & “beautiful and inviting.”

Rose currently performs regularly at Chicago’s top jazz clubs, including The Jazz Showcase, The Green Mill Andy’s & Winter’s, alongside the city’s finest jazz musicians, as well as her tour appearances every Summer from NYC to LA. Rose was recently chosen by LIONSGATE Films to present her “LA LA LAND” show during their Blu-Ray DVD release of the film, to two sold-out shows in 2017, and the event was featured in Entertainment Weekly, IMDB, New York Post’s Page Six, Chicago Tribune, NBC Chicago, Hollywood Reporter, PARADE Magazine, Time Out Chicago, BroadwayWorld, RedEye & Eater.

Rose received her Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies from Roosevelt University in Chicago and owns the entertainment agency Lola Bard Productions, named for her grandmother, a 1930s vocalist who performed and recorded with Bobby Hackett & The Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Rose & Lola were featured in The New York Times, with a story detailing Rose’s career as a jazz vocalist in Chicago, inspired by Lola’s career as a jazz vocalist in New York City.

During the day of the concert, Rose Colella will hold a Masterclass at 1:00 p.m. for area high school students.  Any teacher or student interested should call (715) 889-1606.

For tickets call (800) 838-3006 or order online at wap-rosecolella.brownpapertickets.com.  Tickets will also be available at the door one hour before the performance.  Doors open at 6:30 p.m.  For more information about this event call (715) 889-1606 or email wabenoareaplayers@gmail.com. 

Wabeno Area Players To Host Wisconsin Association of Community Theatre 2020 Conference

March 27th and 28th of 2020, the Wabeno Area Players will be hosting the Wisconsin Association of Community Theatre’s Annual Conference.  The Players were chosen for this honor for many reasons.  The quality of the organizations productions, community commitment to the arts, the variety of their productions, state-of-the-art performance venue (Nancy Volk Auditorium, Wabeno High School) and the leader in arts education in our communities.  The conference will be held at the Wabeno High School and lodging accommodations will be at local establishments throughout the area.

The conference will focus on workshops devoted to community theatre or high school theatre. Workshops are led by experts that have or are working with community/high school theatre in many areas.  These workshops are for those with experience, little experience, or no experience in producing a theatrical production.  The workshops are open to adults and students as well.  Anyone interested or involved in theatre is welcome to attend.  These workshops would include:  acting, directing, stage management, improvisation, sound & lights, volunteerism, AACTFest, and state community theater networking. This is also a great opportunity to get to know other theatre people from around the state, share ideas, possibly exchange costumes or props, and have a great time.

The Wabeno Area Players production of Play On will be the featured performance at the conference.  Play on will be performed Thursday-Saturday, March 26th-28th 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 29th 2:00 p.m.  Every performance will be open to the public.  Play On is the hilarious story of a theatre group trying desperately to put on a play in spite of maddening interference from a haughty author who keeps revising the script. Act I is a rehearsal of the dreadful show, Act II is the near disastrous dress rehearsal, and the final act is the actual performance, in which anything that can go wrong, does. When the author decides to give a speech on the state of the modern theatre during the curtain calls, the audience is treated to a madcap climax and a thoroughly hilarious romp. Even the sound effects reap their share of laughter.

The mission of the Wisconsin Association of Community Theatre is to foster and encourage the development of the highest standards of community theaters in Wisconsin, including standards of excellence for production, management, governance, community relations, and service to the community and state. We strive to increase communication among theaters, provide educational forums, and performance opportunities for Wisconsin’s community theaters.  WACT sponsors a festival competition connected with the American Association of Community Theatre’s national festival.  Over the past years we have sent shows to the regional and national competition.  The organization is also a 501c3 organization as well as the Wabeno Area Players.

For more information about the conference, Wabeno Area Players or the Wisconsin Association of Community Theatre please call (715) 889-1606 or email wabenoareaplayers@gmail.com. 

Wabeno Area Players Hold Auditions for Farce of Habit

The Wabeno Area Players will be holding Auditions for the November production of Farce of Habit.  This hilarious comedy is sure to be a favorite of all involved and who attend.  The show will be November 21-24, 2019.  Auditions will Tuesday, September 10th at 6:00 p.m.  They will be held at Madonna Hall (1793 Elm Ave., Wabeno, WI 54566) in Wabeno.

The audition will consist of cold readings.  For more information please call (715) 889-1606 or email wabenoareaplayers@gmail.com.

A little about Farce of Habit…

Comic fireworks explode in FARCE OF HABIT, an absurdly funny Southern-fried romp that takes us back to the Reel ’Em Inn, the finest little fishing lodge in the Ozarks. The proprietor, D. Gene Wilburn, is looking forward to a peaceful weekend on the lake. But there are only two chances of that happening: slim and none. Why, for example, has his wife, Wanelle, picked these three days to white-knuckle her way through caffeine withdrawal? Why is his son Ty’s marriage to Jenna falling apart so fast? Could it have something to do with the French can-can costume Ty is wearing? How on earth would D. Gene’s feisty sister, Maxie, allow herself to get caught up in such a bizarre undercover police assignment? And that’s just his family. If this isn’t enough to thwart D. Gene’s weekend plans, he’s got a gaggle of nuns who’ve converged on the Inn, hell-bent on experiencing a nature retreat—which might be tolerable if D. Gene didn’t have a chronic fear of anything in a habit. Add to this the presence of Jock McNair, a nationally known relationship guru whose colossal ego threatens everyone’s sanity; a shy retiree anxious to cut loose and embrace his “inner caveman” and a couple of wild women who may or may not be who they claim to be. Throw in the storm of the century that’s fast bearing down on Mayhew, Arkansas, and D. Gene has no prayer of baiting a hook any time soon. Oh, and did we mention there’s an axe murderer on the loose? If you enjoy gloriously preposterous hilarity, then laughing your way through the take-no-prisoners comedy is one habit you’ll never want to break!

An Evening at the Piano with Friends

JULY 26 & 27
7:00 p.m.
TOWNSEND TOWN HALL
$10 TICKETS

We are transforming this venue into an intimate setting everyone will enjoy! The music of Sinatra, Broadway and so much more. A cash bar will be available with table service.  As always, complimentary popcorn will be served.  Tickets can be purchased at the door only. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. so you can choose your table and enjoy a beverage or two before the show. 

The goal of this event is to raise funds for the Wabeno Area Players Fine Arts Series.  The Players are committed to bringing quality performances to area at the Nancy Volk Auditorium at Wabeno High School.  This performance space is the premier theater venue in Forest and Northern Oconto Counties.  The organization brings in performing arts groups to perform in the evening as work with the students in the area schools during the day.

For more information please call (715) 889-1606, email us at wabenoareaplayers@gmail.com or our website: www.wabenoareaplayers.org.