Contact:
Julie Dukes
Communications Manager
(989) 631-5930 x 1602
[email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 2016
MATRIX:MIDLAND Festival 2016
Lineup Announced
Tickets on sale April 19, 2016
Your ticket to entertainment!
MIDLAND, MI - MATRIX:MIDLAND at Midland Center for the Arts has announced the lineup for its
39th annual MATRIX:MIDLAND Festival, featuring world-class performers, musicians and
professional speakers. This year’s festival runs from Wednesday, June 1, through Sunday, June
26. Tickets go on sale at noon on Tuesday, April 19, 2016. Information and ticket prices are
available online at www.mcfta.org/mxfestival or by calling the Ticket Office at 800-523-7649.
Always an exhilarating and eclectic array of entertainment, this year’s MATRIX:MIDLAND Festival
includes: emotionally relatable songs from one of country music’s hottest talents; the huge talent
of a petite Broadway star; insights from an award-winning journalist; high-flying acrobats to keep
all ages in suspense; humor from a popular NPR host; marching band energy and street theatre
spectacle; and one of the happiest construction projects a kid can have!
MATRIX:MIDLAND Festival 2016 at a glance:







Jason Isbell (with special guest Hiss Golden Messenger) – The incredible Grammy®
Award winner is arguably the most revered root-rock singer-songwriter of his generation!
(June 1)
Kristin Chenoweth – Don‘t miss the star of everything wonderful from Wicked to Glee!
(June 3)
Mitch Albom – This one-of-a-kind program will encompass all of Albom’s many talents
and brings some magic to the stage! (June 7)
Flip Fabrique – Fun, fast-paced and fearless, this nouveau cirque crew takes athleticism
and showmanship to new heights! (June 10)
NPR’s Peter Sagal – With a decades-long career in making people laugh, the host of
NPR’s Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! shares what he’s learned about humor. (June 12)
Mucca Pazza – Straight from Chicago’s underground music scene, the band has perfected
a live show full of visual mayhem and dance-ready music. (June 16)
Polyglot Theatre’s We Built This City – using thousands of cardboard boxes, kids and
families build a magnificent, fanciful city in the parking lot – then knock it all down! (June
23 – 26)
Festival and program sponsors include: The Dow Chemical Company; Dow Corning Corporation;
Tri-Star Trust Bank; Morley Companies; Fabiano Brothers, Inc.; Dow Chemical Employees’ Credit
Union; Midland Cogeneration Venture LP; Warner Norcross & Judd LLP; Chemical Bank Wealth
Management; and Garber Automotive Group.
Press Kit with full descriptions and hi-res images at
www.mcfta.org/mxfest2016
MATRIX:MIDLAND Festival 2016 – DETAILS:
JASON ISBELL
GRAMMY® Award Winner
Wednesday, June 1, 2016 • 8 p.m. – Auditorium, Midland Center for the Arts
Alt-country singer/songwriter Jason Isbell is a master of writing songs that maximize the
emotional impact of his heartrending voice, proving himself a consummate storyteller, building a
loyal fan base with his stripped-down, emotionally relatable songs. His most recent album,
“Something More Than Free,” won the GRAMMY Award for Best Americana Album. Additionally,
“24 Frames” from the same album won the GRAMMY for Best American /Roots Song. “Something
More Than Free” is a sonically-diverse album featuring Isbell’s Southern-inspired vignettes of
working-class men, women and traditions that permeate 11 new songs of pure honesty and
authenticity.
Co-sponsored by The Dow Chemical Company
Tickets: $48, $38 and $27
AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH KRISTIN CHENOWETH
Emmy and Tony Award® Winner!
Friday, June 3, 2016 • 8 p.m. – Auditorium, Midland Center for the Arts
Kristin Chenoweth is famous for her talents that span film, television and stage. She is beloved as
the original Glinda in the hit Musical “Wicked” and as Sally in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”
She’s won over TV audiences with a laundry list of memorable roles, including her Emmynominated appearances on “Glee.” The songbird seamlessly incorporates pop, country, gospel,
classical and, of course, musical theater numbers into her stage performance. Revel in what “New
York Daily News” calls the “Nuclear Glow” of this “stick of Blonde dynamite” when Chenoweth
brings her beautiful and electric personality to the Festival Stage.
Co-sponsored by Tri-Star Trust Bank; Midland Cogeneration Venture; and Morley Companies
Tickets: $97 Gold Circle*, $72, $62 and $47
*Limited Gold Circle Seating: Be the closest to the stage! Plus, Gold Circle ticket holders will
have access to the Saints & Sinners Patio starting at 7 p.m.
MITCH ALBOM – FINDING YOUR MAGIC STRINGS: HOW EVERYONE HAS TALENT THAT
CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Find your passion!
Tuesday, June 7, 2016 • 7:30 p.m. – Auditorium, Midland Center for the Arts
Through storytelling, piano playing, and even some singing, Mitch Albom shows the audience how
a passion for one gift can often lead to discovery of another, truer one. With the release of his
new book, “The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto,” the bestselling author and humanitarian brings
some magic to the stage as he takes listeners on a journey from the old piano that arrived when
he was eight to his failed songwriting career in New York City, which led him to find his own lifechanging talent – writing. "Everyone joins a band in this life," he observes, be it through music,
family, friends, or lovers. And those connections change the world.
A book signing will follow the program. Copies of “The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto” will be
available for purchase.
Co-sponsored by Warner Norcross & Judd LLP; Chemical Bank Wealth Management; and Garber
Automotive Group
Tickets: $34
2
ATTRAPE MOI – FLIP FABRIQUE
Fun, fast-paced and fearless!
Friday, June 10, 2016 • 7:30 p.m. – Auditorium, Midland Center for the Arts
"Catch Me!" a contemporary circus production by the Quebec-based company Flip FabriQue, is
made up of a sextet of young, highly-skilled Canadian acrobats drawn from Cirque du Soleil and
Cirque Eloize. Hoops twirl, diablos whirl and acrobats soar – all in a day’s work for the new kids
on the circus scene. From bouncing off balance beams to scaling a trampoline wall, "Catch Me!"
features death-defying stunts in a crowd-pleasing cirque sensation for adults and children alike.
Leave your troubles behind and settle in for an astonishing, lively show that will leave you smiling
from ear to ear. Fun, fast-paced and fearless, this nouveau cirque crew takes athleticism and
showmanship to new heights in this high-flying spectacle. Banquine, hula hoop, trampowall, and
humor are all part of the spellbinding fun this friendly group of artists has in store for you. A
terrific crowd-pleaser!
Co-sponsored by Dow Chemical Employees’ Credit Union
Tickets: $36 and $29 adults; $36 and $20 students
AN EVENING WITH PETER SAGAL – THE ART OF TELLING A JOKE
Host of NPR’s “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!”
Sunday, June 12, 2016 • 7:30 p.m. – Auditorium, Midland Center for the Arts
As the host of National Public Radio’s “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!,” Peter Sagal has captivated
news junkies across the country with his lighthearted approach to current events, and the show
has become the biggest and most beloved weekend radio phenomenon since "A Prairie Home
Companion." Sagal is funny and profound at the podium, delivering witty and spontaneous
presentations with irreverent insight into current events. Audiences do not need to be listeners of
the NPR show to enjoy his talk. With a decades-long career in making people laugh, Sagal will
share what he’s learned about jokes, giving audiences a rare behind-the-scenes look at how he
writes and delivers them, and explores why humor is the best way to get a reaction from a crowd.
Co-sponsored by The Dow Chemical Company
Tickets: $34
MUCCA PAZZA
Get ready for visual mayhem and dance-ready music!
Wednesday, June 16, 2016 • 7:30 p.m. – Outdoors at Midland Center for the Arts
Straight from Chicago's underground music scene, the family-friendly Mucca Pazza has perfected
a live show that combines marching band traditions and street theatre with rock and roll
sensibilities and a high level of musicianship. A Mucca Pazza performance is an experience for the
eyes and ears, pulling from soul and fund, rock and punk, New Orleans brass bands and "Gypsyreggaeton. Mucca Pazza's songs are chaotic fun that is easy to get swept away in.
This mostly motley(but super friendly) crew take their liberties in best DIY style mixing and
matching the brass and reeds and percussives with violin, mandolin, accordion and electric guitar,
doing the same with whatever scraps, hats and uniforms they have left over from school and
topping their onslaught with a group of free-thinking cheerleaders. This versatile mobile orchestra
will take the audience along with them in a Pied Piper processional, lifting spirits up and into the
air until everyone is a part of the spectacle, playing along with the band in a communal display of
might and mischief. Area marching bands will not want to miss out on the fun!
Co-sponsored by Fabiano Brothers, Inc.
Tickets: $24 adults; $12 students
POLYGLOT THEATRE – WE BUILT THIS CITY
One of the happiest projects you could ever have!
3
Thursday, June 24, through Sunday, June 26, 2016 • entry throughout the day –
Midland Center for the Arts Parking Lot
An interactive cardboard construction site, We Built This City uses thousands and thousands of
cardboard boxes and the energy of kids and families to build a magnificent imagined city!
Buildings go up, are pulled down, redesigned, extended, walked through and reconstructed
creating each child’s unique creation. Underscored by a rocking soundtrack from an on-site DJ,
Polyglot artists roam the site entertaining and engaging with kids building skyscrapers, tunnels,
and sprawling estates. The session ends with the city being shaken and stomped to the ground.
We Built This City simultaneously places children in the role of performer, creator, audience and
architect. Over 30,000 children have participated in its many seasons, which include The Kennedy
Center in Washington, Melbourne International Arts Festival, and Act3 Children’s Festival, always
with popular acclaim.
Co-sponsored by Dow Corning Corporation
Tickets: $5 per child | Free for accompanying adults
MATRIX:MIDLAND presents professional, world-class entertainment to the mid-Michigan region. For over 30
years, Matrix has hosted an extraordinary schedule of cutting-edge entertainment including cinema, music,
comedy, family programs, world-renowned authors and more.
Midland Center for the Arts, Inc. is a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation formed under the laws of the State
of Michigan incorporating six groups: Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and Art, Center Stage Choirs, Center
Stage Theatre, MATRIX:MIDLAND, Midland County Historical Society, and Midland Symphony Orchestra.
Activities at Midland Center for the Arts are supported in part by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural
Affairs, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. For the latest Center news, visit our web
site at www.mcfta.org.
###
Midland Center for the Arts | 1801 W. St. Andrews Rd. | Midland, MI 48640 | (989) 631-5930 | mcfta.org
4