By Tom Flanigan
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-976155.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – A two-night musical extravaganza takes place this Friday and Saturday at the historic opera house in Monticello. Tom Flanigan reports the artists, even the most famous, have a real local connection.
"July eighth and ninth at the Monticello Opera House and of course Sara's band will be performing, one of the premier bands in the area so we're real proud to have them."
The "Sara" in this case is Sara Mac who fronts the Sara Mac Band.
"It makes it even more interesting and even more of kind of an adventure to walk in and know that this is not only going to be a live performance, but it's also going to be taped and on record for all of eternity."
And that's because a crew from WFSU-TV will be on hand to capture the proceedings for airing sometime this fall. Along with the Sara Mac Band, the From the Heart Music Hour will feature Brian Bowen Nineteen South, Tobacco Road, Mimi and the HearnDogs, The Currys and Steve Leslie. Rick Ott also has a very special musical guest lined up for Saturday night's headliner slot.
"Billy Dean who is a local area person is making a trip back from Nashville to appear on the show."
"When I found out what Rick was trying to do I was immediately trying to work it into the schedule because, for one thing, I'm really passionate about these small, little opera houses; these small little community theatres. Every small town needs a stage, a platform to keep artists alive and let artists get back to those small little communities and they've all but been forgotten and so I've championed the cause with Rick to keep that alive."
The actual performances start at eight both evenings and there will be a six-thirty happy hour beforehand. Producer Rick Ott says the tickets are a bargain for so much entertainment.
"The tickets are twenty dollars per evening or thirty-five dollars for the two evenings. We have a limited number of meet-and-greet tickets that I think are fifty dollars. They're admission for both nights and opportunities to spend about half-an-hour with the groups upstairs right before the performance and get a few pictures and talk a little more personally with the artists."
Tickets and more info can be found on the Monticello Opera House web site. You can also visit wfsu.org.