I had the privilege to attend the Jazzed Up Big Band show in the Roof Garden on Tuesday evening. It was an evening of great music performed by a large band of incredible musicians. Each Tuesday this summer 16 to 17 musicians gather to play jazz in a free concert for all of us to enjoy. ...

There is nothing more relaxing and mellow than the music written and performed by Richard and Karen Carpenter. “Carpenters Once More” opened the performance season in the Lauridsen Performing Arts Theatre at the Pearson Lakes Art Center last Wednesday night...

For the first time in my more than three decades of reviewing live performances, last Thursday evening's concert was the first live-streamed show I have done. It was fun and refreshing after the year we have had battling COVID. We are all accustomed to seeing a Christmas show performed by Dave Rowley and Ryan Sather. They are usually joined by Damon Dotson but, of course, this year that was impossible...

Due to a church board meeting, I was a little late arriving at the Bat performance in the Pomerantz Hall at the Pearson Lakes Art Center last week Wednesday evening. When I arrived the hall was already rockin' in full swing. The audience was enthralled by his historical stories and great guitar playing skills. He showed us many ways to play his favorite instrument including how to strum it like a banjo. It was quite educational...

It was a chilly night last Thursday for the final outdoor concert of the 2020 season at the Pearson Lakes Art Center. Due to the pandemic, the art center staff was forced to leave their acoustically perfect performing arts theatre and hold concerts outdoors. The sound equipment built into the theatre could not be removed to use outdoors. So a fundraiser was held to cover the $10,000 needed for this major expense...

Wednesday turned into a perfect evening to sit in our lawn chairs outdoors at the Pearson Lakes Art Center and listen to rock 'n' roll music. "The Everly Set – A Celebration of the Everly Brothers" took place on the portable stage. The large audience started rolling in early; ready to enjoy some of the original music of the rock 'n' roll era...

Dave Rowley is no stranger to outdoor performances, as seen in this 2019 photo. Rowley & Friends moved their in-demand Pearson Lakes Art Center concert outside on Tuesday, Aug. 4. (File photo)...

The Scottie Miller Band has played at the Pearson Lakes Art Center several times. But Tuesday night's show was the first they had played here on an outdoor stage. The tall trees near the gazebo provided shade for the band and its audience of fans...

We all are very familiar with the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. The story takes on a whole new look as the musical "Sleeping Beauty" is performed on the stage of the Treasure Village Family Playhouse...

Four talented young friends from the Nashville area, banded together to write and perform country music. Taking inspiration from a classic old Bob Dylan tune, they decided to call themselves Farewell Angelina...

Celebrate Pearson Lakes Art Center's first big concert of the summer with Farewell Angelina on July 14. The 7:30 p.m. concert will take place at the Outdoor Amphitheatre. The cash bar is available. Attendees may bring their own lawn chairs or use ones provided on site...

The long anticipated opening of the 48th season at the Treasure Village Family Playhouse arrived Tuesday with the fast-paced story "Jungle Book."...

The Holy Rocka Rollaz came from the Twin Cities to help us get off to a rockin' good start for Winter Games weekend. They performed Friday night to an appreciative audience of rock 'n' roll fans at the Pearson Lakes Art Center in Okoboji. ...

For 10 years Damon Dotson, Dave Rowley and Ryan Sather have gotten together to help bring Christmas cheer to the Lakes Area. Each year those of us lucky enough to be in the audience have enjoyed the music and friendship. The 2019 event was the best ever! The trio of outstanding musicians/singers were joined on stage by Joe Cuttell on guitar/vocals, Carley Wells on drums, Brian Moore on horns and Matthew Sather on backup vocals...

The beautiful sounds of "The Blues" made sitting in the Lauridsen Performing Arts Theatre a serenely soothing experience recently. The Scottie Miller Band treated its audience to an evening of one blues song after another at the Pearson Lakes Art Center in Okoboji...

Hotel California made a return appearance to the stage of the Pearson Lakes Art Center Tuesday night and the audience was mighty glad they did. The Eagles tribute band seemed to me to be better than before and I loved what they did a year ago...

I will begin by admitting I didn't know what to expect when I was told I was to see an outdoor play at the Iowa Lakeside Lab on Sunday afternoon. "Nature: A Walking Play" was an extremely well written, planned and choreographed story about life back in the mid 1850s. ...

For the 16th consecutive year, a troupe from Second City in Chicago has appeared at the Pearson Lakes Art Center and each year it is humorous. This past Saturday night's show was no exception. While it is not a show for children, it is lots of fun for adults...

Brian FitzGerald and Martin McCormack combined instrumental music talent with great vocals to give the audience a wonderful show at the Pearson Lakes Art Center on Wednesday night. They call themselves Switchback. FitzGerald is from Lansing, in the far northeast corner of Iowa. McCormack is also a Midwesterner. They both embraced their Celtic heritage but also spun some great Americana into their show...

There are not enough words to describe how much fun I had listening to the music, singing along and dancing in my seat at "Beehive - The '60s Musical" at Okoboji Summer Theatre. I will qualify that statement by admitting that the '60s music is my high school and early adult era so I knew and liked all 32 songs. ...