We are now officially one month away from our BIG \u201cTen Years of Wow!\u201d Gala Celebration at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio.\u00a0 A lot of work has gone into this celebration in the planning stages and we are now getting to the details.\u00a0 I want to just paint a picture for you of what you can expect on April 1.<\/p>\n
The day will start for 200 guests at Willow Bend Country Club at 5 p.m. for a Happy Hour leading up to the dinner.\u00a0Sometime before we are served dinner, a few honored guest speakers will share thoughts and perspectives of how we got started, how we\u2019ve grown and how we look forward to the exciting future of the Niswonger.\u00a0We also have a very special publication we have prepared just for our guests with the history of the Niswonger with all kinds of fun facts.\u00a0The attire for the occasion is optional black tie.\u00a0Formal attire will be the dress for some, while others may want to be a little less formal.\u00a0 Either is fine.<\/p>\n
Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. and will be the kind of meal befitting the occasion.\u00a0I told the country club I wanted the meal to be one of the finest they have served!\u00a0 We still have room for about ten more guests at the tables.\u00a0If you want to be a part of this pre-concert event, call the box office immediately.\u00a0We would love to have you share in our celebration.<\/p>\n
After a delicious dinner at Willow Bend, we will make our way to the Niswonger for the 8 p.m. Gala Concert with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and Bernadette Peters.\u00a0Doors to the lobby will open at 6:30 p.m., giving attendees plenty of time to take in the splendor of the decorated Van Wert Federal Grand Lobby.\u00a0 Pictures will be taken in the upstairs lobby for those concert attendees who would like a memento of the evening.<\/p>\n
The Visual Arts Committee of the Niswonger has been busy designing and planning a festive look for the Lobbies.\u00a0 I am sure it will be beautiful inside and out and you will want to take it all in.\u00a0 There will be much to see, plus you will want to visit with friends who are travelling from all over the country to be with us that night!\u00a0 You will also enjoy beautiful music in the lobby as you await the opening of the doors to the Van Wert County Foundation Saltzgaber Music Hall.<\/p>\n
After a brief curtain talk from a special guest or two, Maestro Keith Lockhart will give the downbeat to The Boston Pops playing the overture from \u201cNice Work If You Can Get It.\u201d\u00a0This will be followed by the very descriptive and beloved Gershwin piece \u201cAn American in Paris.\u201d\u00a0 We will then welcome pianist, Michael Chertock to the stage for the all-time favorite \u201cRhapsody in Blue.\u201d\u00a0 Following a 20-minute intermission, Broadway, film, TV star, actress and singer Bernadette Peters will join the Boston Pops for a memorable second half.\u00a0 Be ready for some special surprises during Bernadette\u2019s portion.\u00a0 Then at the conclusion of the show, be ready for a finale like none you\u2019ve ever seen before.<\/p>\n
Once the concert has concluded, we take the celebration to the Wassenberg Art Center for our Afterglow Party.\u00a0There will be lots of fun surprises in store as well as delicious hors devours and music provided by the Paul Keller Trio out of Detroit.\u00a0 We will have the chance to casually mingle and visit with friends, make new friends, and enjoy food, drinks and other activities throughout the night.\u00a0 Stay as long as you can, we have until 1 a.m. if you can make it!\u00a0 The Afterglow is also on sale through the box office and on-line.<\/p>\n
We still have some good seats available for the Gala Concert and Afterglow.\u00a0 Get them now and be a part of our \u201cTen Years of Wow!\u201d celebration.\u00a0 You will never forget it.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t forget, it will \u201cRain\u201d on Monday, March 6, at the Niswonger PAC.\u00a0Broadway\u2019s \u201cRAIN — a Tribute to The Beatles\u201d will be performing at 7:30 p.m.\u00a0 I see 12 available seats for this performance as I look today.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure if it will continue to rain by Saturday, March 11, but it will be an Artrageous night at the Niswonger.\u00a0 Don\u2019t miss Artrageous, the live concert and portrait painting extravaganza.\u00a0 Tickets are still available for this unique concert experience.<\/p>\n
Well, that about wraps up this week with Music in Van Wert.\u00a0 Good luck to those local school bands and choirs competing at District Contest this weekend at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center and Van Wert High School!<\/p>\n
FIN\u00c9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We are now officially one month away from our BIG \u201cTen Years of Wow!\u201d Gala Celebration at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio.\u00a0 A lot of work has gone into this celebration in the planning stages and we are now getting to the details.\u00a0 I want to just paint a picture for you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 10:18:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}