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The Adventures of Tortoise & Hare is an electroluminescent show by Lightwire Theater. Graphic submitted

The Boyle County Performing Arts Center has announced its lineup of shows for their first-ever professional season for 2023-24.

The BCPAC, located at Boyle County Middle School, is a new event venue for visiting shows, school shows and community events. Part of their mission is to provide the local community with high quality arts events, including family and educational entertainment.

This season brings nine professional touring shows and two community collaboration events. The season includes a wide variety of performances – an illusionist, a light show, an 80s cover band, dance, theater, visual art, and well known stories like “The Nutcracker” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show.”

The center opened in 2021, and while they’ve been hosting shows, this is the first year they’ve presented a season of professional shows. BCPAC Director Jimmy Cornn has worked to create a well-balanced list of acts that will serve students and also be fun for community members.

Every show is for community members, but some shows will also have matinées that Boyle County students will get to see for free. Cornn explained that Superintendent Mike Lafavers wanted all ages of students to see something of a professional level in the theater every year.

“We don’t always have to take trips out to see things; we can, which is great, but wouldn’t it be nice if we can bring the arts to the kids,” Cornn said.

Last year the BCPAC hosted two community collaborations, “Scrooge The Musical” and “The Little Mermaid,” which allowed those productions to be much bigger than they normally would’ve been.

This year’s community collaborations are the Choral Festival and Boyle County High School’s spring musical, “Mean Girls.” Cornn said the BCPAC will plan to host every spring musical that the high school does from now on.

The high school will not be doing a Christmas play this year, but instead will do a fall play, and the BCPAC will host two professional Christmas shows. Cornn said the high school may do Christmas shows in the future, but may switch off each year.

Cornn is also director of the Boyle County Arts Academy, which allows students to get arts certificates by taking a certain number of arts classes. This is Cornn’s second year directing the academy. After auditions in February 2023, the Arts Academy enrollment went from 200 to 300 kids.

He said as it’s only the second year, they won’t be making many changes to the academy. Arts classes will have more people in the short term, but they hope to add more arts classes and more teachers in future years.

He explained that the big focus for this year was getting a good variety of professional shows for students, which was the last big part of getting the academy going.

Most ticket prices will range from $20 to $40, depending on the seating and the show. Some shows will have discounts for student tickets, depending on sponsorships and resources, and others will have a flat rate. Any student discounts available will be half the original ticket price.

The BCPAC is also offering memberships that will have discounts on tickets, pre-sale access, and free popcorn.

The three levels of membership are bronze, silver and gold. Each level gets pre-sale access for two weeks before tickets are available to the general public, 30% off tickets and free popcorn.

Bronze gets eight discounted tickets, and also gets a BCPAC sticker and their name in the program. Silver gets, in addition, a t-shirt and 16 discounted tickets. Gold gets 24 discounted tickets, their name on the donor wall, and the option to serve on the Season Selection Committee or Community Relations Committee.

Cornn said the Season Selection Committee will have some say in selecting the next season’s shows based on a list of shows that Cornn picks out. The Community Relations Committee will help continue to define the purpose of BCPAC and how it fits into the community.

The BCPAC is still looking for sponsors for the season. Cornn said that businesses can buy ads for the programs, or be a center stage sponsor, which is a larger amount and will go toward producing the show.

For more information about shows and memberships, people can go to thebcpac.com.

The full list of shows and information about them are as follows:

• Mike Super – Magic & Illusion: Aug. 14 at 7 p.m.

The back-to-school event is a magic show by Mike Super, who is a winner of the NBC show ‘Phenomenon.’ Mike Super is the only magician in history to win a live magic competition on primetime network TV and voted America’s Favorite Mystifier.

He’s also a top finalist on America’s Got Talent and featured on the premier episode of Penn & Teller’s ‘FOOL US.’

A promo for his show states, “Imagine mind-blowing illusions combined with the hilarity of a headline comedian. Mike Super has taken the performance of magic to new, mainstream levels that will reach out and literally touch you.”

• Artrageous: Sept. 13 at 6:30 p.m.

Artrageous is a troupe of multi-talented visual artists, performance artists, singers, recording artists and dancers from New Mexico. Their performance combines all arts on one stage, with humor and interaction in a frenzy of movement.

During any given show, artists create visual pieces making lines and shapes on giant canvases while the audience guesses what each painting will become. All the while, live musicians are performing popular music and Artrageous original music.

At the end of the performance, the audience is invited on stage to interact with the installation. The audience can meet the troupe and take photos as they walk through the gallery of live art.

Cornn said there will be a matinee for elementary school students that will be separate from the evening show. There will also be a student rate at half ticket price for the evening show.

• The Adventures of Tortoise & Hare – The Next Gen: Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.

Lightwire Theater offers a performance of electroluminescent artistry. Their act shows stories in complete darkness, where the characters are made of light moved around by actors.

Lightwire Theater has been semi-finalists on America’s Got Talent and are winners of Tru TV’s Fake Off.

Their act is a continuation of Aesop’s fable “The Tortoise and the Hare,” but this story finds the tortoise and the hare 10 years down the road, now with children and exploring modern day distractions. Smart phones and video games create a new landscape of lost connections to life experiences. Cornn said the show will also have a student discount.

• Frosty – A Musical Adventure: Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m.

This musical by Catherine Bush, whose plays and musicals have been performed in Danville often, is a touring production making a stop at BCPAC.

The production is put on by the Barter Players, which is a group of professional artists who perform world-class theater for young people.

In the show, a young orphan named Billy discovers magic in a stolen hat, and when he places the hat on a snowman’s head, that snowman comes to life. Billy and Frosty go on a thrilling quest through New York City.

• The Nutcracker by The Lexington Ballet Company: Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 2 at 2 p.m.

This traditional holiday show follows Marie on a magical journey with the Sugar Plum Fairy, waltzing flowers, the Snow Queen, and the Nutcracker Prince as they battle the Mouse King and travel to the Land of Sweets.

Select students from the Boyle County Arts Academy and the Kelley Puckett Dance Studio will get to perform in the production alongside LBC professionals. The performance will be sponsored by Whitaker Bank.

• Electric Avenue – The MTV ’80s Experience: Jan. 20 at 7 p.m.

Electric Avenue is a cover band that plays 1980s new wave and radio pop music. They cover songs by artists like David Bowie, Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, Queen, Prince, etc.

Electric Avenue delivers the full concert experience with all the instruments popular in that genre.

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show: Jan. 29 at 2 p.m.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show is a puppet show that brings to life Eric Carle’s classic books. Created by Jonathan Rockefeller, each production of the critically acclaimed show features over 75 puppets, including the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Alongside “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” the show features three other Eric Carle stories – “Brown Bear, Brown Bear;” “10 Little Rubber Ducks;” and “The Very Lonely Firefly.” These tales have messages of community, self-expression, and the power of creativity.

This broadway show is going on a national tour, and the BCPAC is their first stop. The performance is sponsored by Whitaker Bank.

There will be After Party tickets available for purchase. At the After Party kids can take a photo with the puppets, make their own caterpillar craft, and experience interactive scenes from the story, created by Boyle County Arts Academy students. Every student will leave with a copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar book.

• Choral Festival Event: February 2024

This event will be a community collaboration that brings together student singers, guest soloists, and local music programs, and will raise money for local music programs.

The BCPAC is partnering with Boyle County native Dr. Timothy Glasscock, who works for Bellarmine University. He will be working with students. The concert will feature special guest soloists, local singers, and Boyle County Arts Academy students.

• Take3 – Where Rock Meets Bach: March 14 at 7 p.m.

Take3 is a trio of Julliard-trained musicians that take classical music and put a rock edge to it, or take rock music and put a classical touch to it. Cornn said it’s like a smaller version of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and that the show is energetic.

A promo for the show states, “Whether they are rockin’ the Bach or are classically infusing the favorites of The Beatles, Bieber, or Coldplay, TAKE3 are nothing short of exhilarating.”

There will be a matinee including a workshop for students that’s separate from the evening show.

• Beyond Babel: March 21 at 7 p.m.

Beyond Babel is a hip hop dance group that’s currently off-broadway and going on a national tour in the spring.

Their show is a retelling of “Romeo and Juliet” set to hip hop dance and hip hop music, and features a cast of 12 elite dancers.

• Mean Girls musical – High School Edition: April 2024

The BCHS spring musical is a community collaboration between the BCPAC and the BCHS Theatre Department. The production will feature performances and set construction from Boyle County Arts Academy students.

The Mean Girls musical by Tina Fey is adapted from the 2004 hit film Mean Girls, in which a new girl in school tries to fit in with The Plastics, a trio of popular girls led by the charming but ruthless Regina George.

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