From Bluegrass to Ballet

Telluride Watch
Published 10/3/06
By Josie Jay

“It’s called Palm Presents,” said Joanne Evans, managing director for the Michel D. Palm Theatre Performing Arts Center. “We decided to keep it simple.” The simple name may belie the actual performances booked for the upcoming season, which include a dramatic drum ensemble and the St. Petersburg Ballet.

Evans said the Palm’s schedule was highly dependent on “what shows were coming through the area,” she said, and “then we booked fantastic shows the audience will absolutely love.” Evans, who started at the Palm in June, previously worked for the performing arts center at the University of Wisconsin Parkside, and brought with her numerous contacts in the industry. Those contacts have helped attract groups to the Palm that may have otherwise skipped over the venue.

“It can be very difficult,” Evans said of bringing quality performances to a small mountain town. “Before I was between Chicago and Milwaukee. We had talent going across and coming down all the time – it was easier to book shows. I don’t have that in this area.”

Instead, the town has its own reputation of presenting quality festivals and shows, and “I’m trying to play off that,” said Evans. “We hope groups want to come here because it’s so beautiful.”

Palm Presents kicks off in October with the bluegrass group Bearfoot, winners of the 2001 Bluegrass band competition, and four more shows will follow into February, not to mention additional performances by the Telluride Repertory Theatre, including Chicago, and the Telluride Chorale Society. “We have lots of good entertainment coming,” said Evans. And depending on the success of this season, the entertainment options should continue to grow in future years. “We’re hoping next year, if everything goes well and we continue to get more sponsors, we’ll move to eight shows,” said Evans.

However, “if some smoking deal comes through that’s too good to pass up” this year, “we’ll try to present it, too,” she said.

Evans said the Palm is also willing to undertake a co-venture show, with either a local group or an outside promoter, as they did with the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in June to present a show by John Prine.

After he played the Palm, Evans asked him his opinion of the venue. “He said, ‘I give it five stars. It’s a wonderful place. I’d come here anytime,’” she said. Evans is hoping all the festivals begin using the facility for shows. “You’re not going to beat the sound,” she said, “or the seats. It’s so perfect, almost like being in your living room. There’s not a bad seat in the house.”

Evans’s dream would be to bring in another big show, like a Broadway musical. “The Rep does a couple a year, but that’s not enough for me,” she said. “I could see one every week.”

This season doesn’t include any Broadway musicals aside from the Rep’s performances, but Evans is still excited about them all, perhaps most so for Drum.

Drum is a musical production from Nova Scotia featuring 20 musicians, dancers, drummers, and singers from four of the area’s principle cultures: Black, Acadian, Aboriginal, and Celtic. They are all “brought together in a heart-pumping fusion of music, dance, poetry, video, rhythm, and song,” according to their website. Evans said the theatre where she used to work booked the show one year, and then turned around and immediately booked it again for the next year. “That’s typically not done,” she said, as theater’s want to bring in fresh shows for the audience. But Drum was so well received they knew it would be a hit the second time around as well. “They are really outstanding,” said Evans. For more information on the group and to watch a clip of the performance, visit www.drumshow.ca.

A holiday show at the end of November will feature Grammy winners Asleep at the Wheel. “It will be a really fun show,” said Evans.

In December, the Golden Dragon Acrobats will tumble their way across the Palm’s stage. “I think this troupe is the best of all the acrobat shows,” said Evans. “They have more of Cirque du Soleil feel and costuming.”

Palm Presents wraps up the season with the St. Petersburg Classic Ballet Theatre in mid-February. The 12-dancer ballet company will present “A Classical Ballet Gala,” with pieces from Petipa’s Pakhita, pas de deux and solos from Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Le Corsaire, and more.

The Palm is currently preparing for a mass mailing of brochures about Palm Presents, with complete show and ticket information, including a ticket holder form. For more information on the Palm and a full schedule of events, visit www.telluridepalm.com or call 369-5674.