Sangamon Auditorium's Class Acts series celebrates 500,000th attendee

By Courtney Westlake



Sangamon Auditorium plays host to hundreds of shows and performances each year, including a series for students called Class Acts, which reached an exciting milestone on Monday, March 30.

"I want to let all of you know that since 1986, Sangamon Auditorium has welcomed half a million students, teachers and parents," announced Carly Shank, director of Audience Development & Communication at the Auditorium, during a Class Acts performance Monday afternoon. "This afternoon, we are pleased to celebrate our 500,000th Class Acts attendee."

The 500,000th person to attend a Class Acts performance was named Dominic, a third-grader from Christ the King school.

Class Acts is a performing arts series for youth at Sangamon Auditorium with the goal of presenting a diverse performing arts program in support of educational and cultural goals mandated by the State of Illinois. The 2008-2009 season is the 23rd season of Class Acts.

"We believe that performing arts are essential to our humanity. We want to present you with quality performances, and we want our performers to be proficient in their craft and want you to connect with the performances," Bob Vaughn, director of Sangamon Auditorium, told the audience Monday afternoon.

In celebration of the milestone, Sangamon Schools Credit Union, one of the sponsors of the series, donated tickets for a class to attend one of next year's performances. The school that won the drawing for the tickets was Owen Marsh.

Monday's Class Acts performance was called "Mad Science presents CSI: Live!" The Auditorium also announced the schedule for the 2009-2010 Class Acts season, which includes performances like "Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad" and "Rainbow Fish."

"We want you to come away from these performances and be intellectually-challenged and learn something new," Vaughn told the students gathered at Monday's performance. "If we do these things, we have the chance of changing someone's life."