Standing Room Only

If you are planning to buy tickets to Under the Streetlight, please purchase now for best seat selection. This show is selling verrrrrry quickly!

We’re just sayin’.

We’ve been toiling over our 2009-2010 season for months, and we are so excited that tickets are finally on sale for you!

Please take a moment to tell us what you are most looking forward to seeing on our stage this coming year.

Thanks! Can’t wait to hear from you!

The ECC Arts Center’s Club on CenterStage performances are more than a concert series, they’re a feast for the senses! You hear every breath, see the artist’s hands and hang on every note in the candlelit setting of our SecondSpace Theater! Gourmet food, wine sold by the glass and bistro-style tables complete the atmosphere. Limited seating (just 168 seats per show!) ensures that you are participating in a special musical experience.

The Food

Crème brûlée prepared by the ECC Culinary Arts

The ECC Arts Center is the only area entertainment venue partnered with an award-winning culinary arts program. The gourmet, three-course meals served at the Club are prepared to the highest standards in fine dining by ECC’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality Institute of Elgin. Dinner is a work of art within itself! The crème brûlée to the left (as well as all other food on this page) was enjoyed by a real, live person just this past spring!  We also serve wine by the glass, so feel free to indulge. You’re already at the show!

Megon McDonough performing in the Club January, 2009

The Music

Our cozy Club setup allows you to be part of an intimate musical. We bring in local and national legends so that you can experience musical genius up-close and personal. Each season features a diverse selection of accomplished performers. 2009-2010 Club acts include:

• Harry Manx
  • Manx was a huge hit at ECC last spring. We just had to bring him back for a solo show that features his signature blues blended with the sounds of India.  The dinner menu will also be influenced by the aromatic Indian flavors.
• Corky Siegel, Randy Sabien and Megon McDonough
  • Siegel, Sabien and McDonough collaborate for an unbeatable night of genre-defying music. A romantic Valentine’s Day menu is planned for this February event.
• Mark Bettcher and guests
  • Add a bit of theatre and a large dose of humor, and you have an evening with Bettcher’s unique musical style that will delight the casual listener as well as the jazz aficionado.
• Hot Club of Detroit
  • Hot Club of Detroit remains true to its “Gypsy Jazz” roots while exploring a fresh take on the tradition, led by fast-fingered Django Reinhardt disciple Evan Perri. The theater turns into a true bistro with a French-themed dinner menu.
• Tumbao Bravo
  •  Known for tight, lively arrangements of Cuban jazz, Tumbao Bravo’s sound is exciting, danceable and highly entertaining. Your taste buds will be dancing too, with our Cuban-inspired menu.

The Experience

You don’t have to take our word for how awesome our Club is, just take a look at the feedback we’ve received from 2009’s Club-goers:

“The prices are great! The food and music is outstanding. The service is exceptional!”

“Thank you for providing such excellent musical talent!  ECC is so affordable and the experience is awesome!”

 “Cozy, quaint, delicious”

“excellent food, great artist, awesome atmosphere!” 

“the whole evening was fabulous!”

“Great music, good food, romantic environment.”

Learn More

If you want to learn even more about our Club events visit us on Facebook and the ECC Arts Center’s YouTube channel. You can watch clips of our line up, look at photos and get information about event dates/times.      

All photos by Kirk Lawler © 2009

Recent casting call request came in yesterday. Here you go –

Warner Bros. Newline Cinema is shooting a remake of a Freddy Krueger film.
Casting Director from Atmosphere Casting in Chicago has an urgent need for HS-looking extras. MUST be at least 16.

Shoot is taking place Friday, May 8 & extra check time will most likely be 6am.
DO NOT SIMPLY SHOW at site. Must receive a confirming call or confirming email from above casting co.

If chosen, clothes would be those worn for a friend’s funeral. Also must bring 2 changes.

Dress for the weather – bring something to entertain yourself during waiting periods. Books would be great!

Detail below :

Send stats to: booksatsunset@gmail.com

full name/address/2 telephone numbers
height/weight/age
car make/model/year

INFO NEEDS TO BE COMPLETED BY 7pm tonite! Thank you! The Casting Director will be ever so grateful!

Judi Brownfield (847-888-1860) Books at Sunset/Elgin

Thursday, May 14
6-10 p.m.by appointment only
8:00 pm – open auditions

Saturday, May 16
11- 4 p.m. by appointment only
1:00 pm – open auditions

Monday, May 18
7 p.m. – Callbacks

Location:

Elgin Community College, Visual & Performing Arts Center
1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin, IL 60123
Room 284-D

Audition information:

·         Auditions are open to males and females age 16 and older. Roles will be cast with age-appropriate participants.

·         Please prepare a Broadway music selection to sing (do not sing a song from Godspell). Bring a copy of the music for the accompanist. No a cappella singing or taped accompaniment.

·         Please wear comfortable clothing and appropriate footwear for the dance audition.

For an audition appointment:

Call Tanya Moore, production coordinator, (847) 530-3264 or e-mail tlbmoore@aol.com, and provide your name, phone number, requested audition date. You will be assigned an audition time.

Rehearsals:

Rehearsals begin Monday, June 1, 2009 at 7 p.m.

Regular rehearsals are Monday through Thursday evenings, from 6-11 p.m.

Godspell opens Friday, July 24, 2009 and runs weekends through Sunday, August 9, 2009.

Social Probation Improv!

If you need a good laugh (and who doesn’t with the economy tanking left and right), you need Social Probation Improv (SPI), ECC’s newest improv troupe.

For just $2 and/or the lint from your pocket, you can enjoy SPI’s hilarious antics any of these times:

• Wednesday lunchtimes at the ECC Arts Center at 11:30 a.m.
• Wednesday evenings at Ravenheart Coffee in downtown Elgin at 5:30 p.m.
• Thursday evenings at the ECC Arts Center at 5 p.m.

Yes, they really do collect (and save) the pocket lint that people contribute. Strange but true.

So catch some bargain basement comedy that’s truly funny. The lint trap on your dryer will be glad you did.

That’s right! Joe is a hot ticket and we’re completely sold out for Saturday, March 7.

Check out these great artists coming up!

Patty Larkin – March 14
Richie Havens and Harry Manx – April 25
American English – May 2

We’ll be back next week with more info about all of these great groups!

Please come to see the free sneak preview of ECC Musical Theatre’s production of Hello Dolly! tomorrow night, Thursday, Feb. 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the Blizzard Theatre. No ticket or RSVP is needed.

This is the final dress rehearsal before Friday’s opening and ECC Theatre students and friends can come see the show by invitation only.

Hello Dolly! is an ebullient and irresistible story about Dolly Levi, a New York-based matchmaker who merrily arranges things… like furniture and daffodils and people’s lives. As a widow, she has found herself in love with a “half-a-millionaire” Yonkers merchant named Horace Vandergelder. So she proceeds to weave a web of romantic complications involving him, his two clerks, a pretty milliner and her lovely assistant. Eventually, of course, all is sorted out, love conquers all and everyone ends up with the right person.

The regular run of Hello Dolly! is Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20, 21, 27, 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 22 and Mar. 1 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults and $16 for students and seniors. Reservations for regular performances can be made by calling the ECC Box Office at 847-622-0300.

Audition information:

ECC Theatre seeks women ages 16 to mid 30s to audition for the role of “Ann” in the spring production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons (under the direction of Mary Hatch). Ann is in her mid to late twenties, and is positive, honest, gentle (with a strong backbone), and has great depth of life experience.

date & Time:

Wednesday, February 18^th 6-8pm (By appointment)

Location:

Elgin Community College, Visual & Performing Arts Center

1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin, IL 60123

Room 284-D

FOR AN APPOINTMENT contact Susanne Kepley, Assistant Director, by email at skepley@elgin.edu or by phone at 847-814-5966. Please provide your name, phone number, requested audition time. Please familiarize yourself with the play before your audition. Actors will read selected scenes in 15-minute audition appointments. Copies of the script are on reserve in the ECC library.

The subject of two films, a TV drama and a Tony award winner, All My Sons is a WWII home front family saga that created an uproar when first produced. Inspired by the true story of a callous manufacturer who knowingly sold defective airplane engines to the armed forces during the war, this taut drama tests the family bonds of a profiteer whose pilot son is MIA.

Rehearsals begin Mon. Feb. 23rd.

Regular rehearsals are Mon. thru Th. evenings – 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.

All My Sons opens Apr. 24th and runs weekends thru May 10th.

Have you ever seen a musical at ECC?
If not, you should and here’s why:  

Musicals are good for your heart. (No, we can’t back that up with medical research. We just think it’s good common sense.)

Musicals at ECC are great entertainment at a great price. (We’ve got great directors, live orchestra, wonderful sets and costumes and a fine roster of local talent. Who could ask for anything more?)

Musicals make you feel good when the economy is tanking or when the weather is crummy. (This is one of those great affordable ways to get out and have some fun without having to spend a bunch of money or spend time outside while winter draaaaags on and on and on…)

Save 10% with our early bird discount when you buy your Hello, Dolly! tickets before January 31st. Call the Box Office at 847-622-0300 today and mention Early Bird with your order.

Hello, Dolly!
Elgin Community College Arts Center
1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin, IL 60123

Weekends Feb 20 through March 1
Friday and Saturday performance at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday performances at 3 p.m.

Arts Center Box Office
847-622-0300

Gotta love the early bird discount! Woo hoo!