UIS Performing Arts Center awarded a $20,200 grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency

The University of Illinois Springfield Performing Arts Center, home of Sangamon Auditorium, has been awarded a $20,200 grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency (IACA) for operational support.

The August 24, 2018 grant will be utilized to support the UIS Performing Arts Education Connections Program, in addition to providing support for artistic programming that may not be able to rely on ticket sales to cover costs.

According to IACA, the grant is designed to provide support to established not-for-profit organizations that make a significant local, regional or statewide impact on the quality of life in Illinois. Grants recognize arts programming of high quality that is appropriate to and reflective of the communities served and that broaden opportunities for the public to participate in the arts.

“It is a wonderful statement of support from the Illinois Arts Council,” said Bryan Rives, director of UIS performing arts services. “These prestigious grants are reviewed and awarded by a committee of peers in the field of arts presenting, so it is an affirmation of the work we are doing in our community.”

One of the educational components the grant will support is the Class Acts Program, a series of daytime performances for preK-12 grade students in central Illinois. Last season, nearly 15,000 students attended ten artistic, educational and high quality performances put on by national touring companies at Sangamon Auditorium.

Overall, more than 72,000 people attended UIS Performing Arts Center events during the 2017-2018 season in the 2,005 seat Sangamon Auditorium and 350 seat Studio Theatre. The Performing Arts Center hosts nearly 150 events each year, including Broadway shows, and is home to the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Springfield Ballet Company and the UIS Theatre and Music Programs.

The Illinois Arts Council Agency was created as a state agency by the Illinois General Assembly in 1965 through legislation sponsored by Senators Paul Simon, Thomas McGloon, and Alan Dixon. The agency is governed by up to twenty-one private citizens chosen for their demonstrated commitment to the arts and appointed by the Governor.

For more information, contact Jen Tibbs, UIS Performing Arts Center coordinator of public information and marketing, at 217/206-8284 or jen.tibbs@uis.edu.

Sangamon Auditorium and the Studio Theatre are now known as the UIS Performing Arts Center

Sunday night’s performance by famed comedian and television star Jay Leno at Sangamon Auditorium brought not only laughs but news. Bryan Rives, new director of UIS Performing Arts Services announced to the 1,500 attendees the creation of the University of Illinois Springfield Performing Arts Center. The UIS Performing Arts Center encompasses a variety of venues and programs including Sangamon Auditorium, the intimate UIS Studio Theatre, the UIS Ticket Office and the UIS Performing Arts Education Connections program.

With the new name comes some other changes including a new web site, UISpac.com, a new name for the active donor support group currently comprised of over 600 households, Friends of UIS Performing Arts Center, and a new logo. The logo features not only the new name but a graphic representation of searchlights. “The searchlights are real,” says Rives. “We now have five powerful search lights on our roof which each put out 1.7 billion beam candlepower and rotate 360 degrees. All made in the USA. Every night when there is a show occurring at one of our venues, the search lights will sweep the night sky as a beacon to the community to come join us. We like to say ‘When you see the lights, come see the show’!”

When asked why the changes were made, Rives said “It was time for a refresh and to celebrate all of the accomplishments our organization has had over the years. Last year we had over 72,000 visitors to our performance venues with over $2.2 million in ticket sales. We anticipate those numbers to grow as we continue to present more popular entertainers such as Jerry Seinfeld, Gordon Lightfoot and Diana Krall.”

Rives also pointed out Sangamon Auditorium has been in operation for about 37 years, and its 40th anniversary is quickly approaching in 2021. “UIS is currently in the planning stages for a major facelift of the lobby area and UIS Studio Theatre along with other improvements in store for Sangamon Auditorium,” he said. At Jay Leno’s performance, select donors and supporters of Sangamon Auditorium were treated to a sneak peak of these plans which include a new concession stand for the lobby to be completed by this spring. Donors were also shown architectural concepts for a major redesign of the main lobby including the addition of a new grand staircase to the third-floor landing and a new ticket office.

Rives went on to add, “With the recent opening of the UIS Student Union and its versatile ballroom and banquet space, our lobby area no longer serves as the main location for campus gathering and luncheons. This is allowing us to repurpose the space as a dedicated lobby area with amenities patrons expect of a world-class performance facility.”

Plans for the intimate UIS Studio Theatre include all new seating and modernizing the stage equipment. “We also need to renovate all of our dressing rooms,” Rives commented. “They are very antiquated and need to be completely redone. It is important to us that the Studio Theatre becomes a priority in our renovation plans as it is most used by our students including the UIS Theatre program which has now grown to providing a Theatre major degree. We want our students to have access to modern facilities and equipment as they begin their careers.”

Renovations are expected to be funded through a combination of major gifts from individual donors, contributions made to the Friends for UIS Performing Arts Center annual fund drive, and funds derived from a current facility fee collected on all paid tickets which goes into a fund for capital maintenance and improvement projects.

Sangamon Auditorium at UIS to Receive National Endowment for the Arts Grant

Through its grant-making to thousands of nonprofits each year, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) promotes opportunities for people in communities across America to experience the arts and exercise their creativity.

In the second major grant announcement of fiscal year 2015, the NEA will make a $15,000 grant award to the Sangamon Auditorium at the University of Illinois Springfield to support six events on the 2015-2016 performing arts season. The NEA will make 1,023 awards totaling $74.3 million nationwide in this funding round.

“The NEA is committed to advancing learning, fueling creativity, and celebrating the arts in cities and towns across the United States. Funding these new projects like the one from Sangamon Auditorium, UIS represents an investment in both local communities and our nation’s creative vitality,” said Jane Chu, NEA Chairman.

“We are gratified to receive the recognition and support of the Arts Endowment for our performing arts progress,” said Sangamon Auditorium director Bob Vaughn. “These funds will be used to continue to support our ongoing quest for higher quality in the presenting program at Sangamon Auditorium.”

The NEA will provide partial support for six events on the upcoming performing arts season. Sangamon Auditorium has presented a season of touring arts events each year since its opening in 1981. Artists on the series include national and international ensembles and solo artists. The 2015-2016 season will be announced in early June.

To join the Twitter conversation about this announcement, please use #NEASpring2015. For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, go to www.arts.gov.

For more information, contact Jen Tibbs, Sangamon Auditorium coordinator of public information and marketing, at 217/206-8284 or jen.tibbs@uis.edu.

PNC awards grant for arts and cultural education to Sangamon Auditorium

The PNC Bank Foundation awarded its first Grow Up Great grant in the Springfield area to Sangamon Auditorium, UIS during a May 18, 2011 press conference. The $90,000 grant will be awarded to the auditorium over a three-year period.

The grant will provide funding to allow over 600 Springfield Urban League Head Start students to attend two live school matinee performances each year at Sangamon Auditorium. The grant will also help provide pre-show materials that prepare children for the performances and helps foster social and emotional development.

“Although UIS’ mission is higher education, we want to be collaborators with those providing education at all levels in central Illinois and this is one more way of doing so,” said Harry Berman, UIS Chancellor.

Additionally, PNC funding for professional development will enable teacher trainers endorsed by the John F. Kennedy for the Performing Arts, Partners in Education program to conduct arts education training for 60 Head Start teachers. The grant will also help Head Start families and caregivers to attend the UIS Family Series to experience learning through the arts.

“A child’s first experiences with fine arts represent an introduction to the world of humanity,” said Nina Harris, CEO of Springfield Urban League Head Start. “This gift serves as a gateway that will motivate and undergird the imagination of deserving children and enhance their quality of life.”

Grow Up Great is PNC’s 10-year, $100 million bilingual program to improve early childhood education.

“For every $1 that is spent on a quality early childhood education program, society reaps $16,” said Doug Stewart, PNC Regional President for central Illinois. “You don’t have to be a banker to understand that a 16 to 1 kind of return is pretty phenomenal.”

Bob Vaughn, director of the Sangamon Auditorium called receipt of the grant “great fun” thanking PNC for their support and speaking about their common goals.

“How fortuitous that the missions of PNC Bank Grow Up Great program, the Urban League, Sangamon Auditorium, and UIS overlap so nicely,” said Vaughn. “How remarkable that each institution with the necessary resources now brings special elements to the table to make the partnership possible.”

UIS and Springfield Public Schools collaborate for Partners in Education Institute

The University of Illinois Springfield’s Sangamon Auditorium and Springfield Public Schools (SPS) have joined together to form a team that was recently selected to participate in the national Partners in Education Institute, which will take place May 5 through May 8 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Carly Shank, director of audience development and communication for Sangamon Auditorium, is the institute’s principal for the Auditorium, and Lynn Gilmore, Elementary Music Specialist for SPS, is the representative for the school district. Shank and Gilmore, along with Bob Vaughn, director of Sangamon Auditorium, will attend the institute.

“Few factors are as important to building audiences for the performing arts as the effectiveness of local educators in local schools,” Vaughn noted. “The Auditorium can provide access and opportunities otherwise unavailable to students and teachers; consequently, we have pursued this opportunity for partnership to assure a brighter future for all parties involved and for society at large.”

Lynn Gilmore believes this collaboration will help strengthen arts education throughout the district.

“The arts are essential to every child’s education. It serves as an avenue that sparks creativity and imagination in the minds of learners. In that same light, every student needs a stage and our collaboration with UIS offers a venue to express themselves via the arts,” said Gilmore.

Fourteen other teams of arts organizations and school systems were chosen to attend the institute, which promotes partnerships in communities across the country between arts organizations and local school districts, focusing on the development of arts education programs for teachers.

The institute provides training and information to design an effective arts and arts integration professional development program for teachers in their communities. Participants will have the opportunity to observe established professional development workshops in action at the Kennedy Center with teachers in attendance. They will also participate in content sessions that prepare them in how to plan, implement and evaluate professional development in the arts and arts integration for teachers.

The new teams will join the existing 90 teams from 44 states and the District of Columbia currently participating in the Partners in Education program. In addition to this institute, the program holds an annual conference in Washington, where attendees exchange ideas and address issues facing their communities.

“We look to supplement the considerable efforts of UIS in teacher education while providing a dialogue that can build meaningful and transformative relationships for years to come,” Vaughn said.

The institute is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Committee for the Performing Arts and the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund.

For more information about the collaboration between Sangamon Auditorium and District 186, contact Bob Vaughn at 217/206-8280 or Lynn Gilmore at 217/525-3264.

For more information about the Partners in Education program, call 202/416-8806 or visit www.kennedy-center.org/education/partners.

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."

Cast Announced for Neil Berg's 100 Years of Broadway, coming soon to Sangamon Auditorium

The University of Illinois at Springfield's Sangamon Auditorium will open its 2008-2009 Performing Arts Season with Neil Berg's 100 Years of Broadway on Saturday, October 4, at 8 p.m. Sponsors are Friends of Sangamon Auditorium and WAND Newscenter 17.

Neil Berg's 100 Years of Broadway re-creates the biggest moments from the most spectacular shows of the century -- featuring the actual stars that helped make them famous. Select Broadway names light up the stage with revived arrangements of classic songs from Broadway hits like The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Aida, Little Shop of Horrors, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Jekyll and Hyde.

The performance at Sangamon Auditorium, UIS will feature Broadway stars Danny Zolli, Rita Harvey, Andrea Rivette, Charles Bergell, and Erick Buckley. Conductor/arranger Berg is the composer and lyricist of several musicals including the hit off-Broadway show The Prince and the Pauper and the forthcoming Broadway musical Grumpy Old Men.

A post-show discussion with Neil Berg will take place in the Auditorium immediately following the performance. Tickets for this event are $48 or $43 and are on sale now. To order tickets visit www.SangamonAuditorium.org or call the Sangamon Auditorium Ticket Office at (217) 206-6160 or toll free at 800-207-6960. Tickets can also be purchased in-person at the Ticket Office, which is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Individual tickets to all Visiting Artist Series and Family Events are on sale now, and tickets to Broadway shows go on sale approximately six weeks prior to each event. Patrons can receive a discount through the Create Your Own Series option by simply choosing at least five events from the Visiting Artists Series, Broadway Series, and Family Events at UIS. Please call the Ticket Office for more information.

About the Cast

Danny Zolli is best known for his performances in the 20th anniversary national tour and the North American Resurrection Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, where he won critical acclaim for his menacing portrayal of The High Priest Annas as well as for his poignant work in understudying and frequently performing the roles of both Jesus and Judas.

Rita Harvey recently took over the role of Hodel in the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof starring Rosie O'Donell and Harvey Fierstien. She made her Broadway debut performing the lead role of Christine Daee in Phantom of the Opera after two years performing the role with the second national tour.

Andrea Rivette's Broadway credits include Emma Carew in Jekyll and Hyde with David Hasselhoff (performance filmed for HBO and DVD), and Ellen in Miss Saigon. This past year she had the honor of playing her dream role, Fantine, at Sacramento Music Circus in Les Miserables, directed by Glen Casale.

Charles Bergell had the privilege of performing the leading role of Jean Valjean in the Broadway and national touring companies of Les Miserables. He appeared as Mssr. Andre in the second national tour of Phantom of the Opera, directed by Harold Prince, and was a member of the 20th anniversary tour of Evita.

Erick Buckley has performed the roles of Marius and Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, Piangi in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, Dave in The Full Monty, Roger in the Broadway revival of Grease! with Sheena Easton, John Secada, Rex Smith, and Adrian Zmed, and Gangster #1 in the Tony-winning Broadway revival of Kiss Me, Kate.

About Sangamon Auditorium, UIS

Sangamon Auditorium, located on the campus of the University of Illinois at Springfield, hosts more than 120 performances annually. Also home to the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and Springfield Ballet Company, it is the only auditorium of its kind and size in the Springfield area, with a seating capacity of 2,018. Sangamon Auditorium continues to fulfill its mission of presenting and supporting varied cultural and educational professional arts activities to audiences in Springfield, Sangamon County, and the surrounding areas. The auditorium administrative offices can be reached at (217) 206-6150 or by e-mail at onstage@uis.edu.

Arlo Guthrie Solo Reunion Tour finishes 07-08 Performing Arts Season

The 2007-2008 Performing Arts Season at Sangamon Auditorium will conclude with a performance by Arlo Guthrie, part of his Solo Reunion Tour, Together at Last on Thursday, May 15, at 7:30 p.m.

Guthrie is perhaps best known for "Alice's Restaurant" and became a symbol of social activism during the 1960s. Now he has embarked on a solo tour with nothing but a couple of guitars and a harmonica, something he has rarely done since his performance at Woodstock. Read more>>