Tonight and for two other Thursdays this summer, the venerable Lake Macatawa in Holland might be better named Lake Wobegon as locals artists launch a variety show at the Park Theatre that takes its cues from A Prairie Home Companion radio show.
"It's going to be a similar type of show, but it's going to be live and visual, not simply audio on the radio," says Craig Tommolla, originator of the Something Takes Place extravaganza. "You will still get that experience of the show going on around you -- the transition, the hustle, the change from one act to the next."
But in a very real sense, the show stands for something much larger than just an evening's entertainment during the summer. It's a barometer for the health of the artistic scene in Holland and metro Grand Rapids -- and by all accounts the needle is rising on that gauge.
Something Takes Place is a spontaneous event, thrown together over the past 12 weeks to showcase area bands and musicians, photographers, poets, performers and artists, all in one venue for a $2 admission. It's almost like a highbrow vaudeville.
Even the way that the show is being promoted smacks of something different. More than 50 people wearing Something Takes Place T-shirts fanned out through the Holland Farmers Market at the Eighth Street Marketplace on Saturday morning and froze in place for three minutes to publicize the show.
Tonight's debut of Something Takes Place is scheduled to feature six bands and musicians, a photographer, three poets and authors, a breakdancing crew, and gallery art from 10 artists when doors open at 7:30 PM. at the Park Theatre, 248 River Ave. across the street from Centennial Park.
There will be two more shows at the theater on July 9 and August 13, and there are two parts to each show -- the first half of which is family oriented and the second half which is more adult oriented. From 7:30 to 10, performers will offer family-friendly fare suitable for all ages. After a 30-minute transition that will focus on gallery art, the remaining three hours will contain offerings a bit more on the edgy side.
"People are very receptive to the idea of experiencing multiple creative medium at one time," says Tommola, owner of Thirty Six Squares LLC, an advertising and design firm he launched three years ago in Holland. "It supported largely by in-kind donations from creative professionals and all supporting sponsors are essentially gaining publicity for their brands. It's very bare-bones, driven by people connecting with each other. "
Under the direction of Thirty Six Squares, six interns from Michigan colleges who want to gain experience in event planning, graphic design, and marketing and communications serve as horsepower behind the show.
"I told them the first day that if they will not be making coffee here," says Tommolla, 30, a native of Saugerties, N.Y. who came to Holland in 1996 to attend Hope College. "You're going to make this event fail or succeed based on your efforts -- this is largely going to be a real-world project."
The idea for Something Takes Place started as a website that mimics a multimedia workshop where creative individuals can share photos, tracks of original music, or videos they have made.
But the idea grew to encompass live performances and showings when Tommolla suggested the event to the Holland Historical Trust as a way to boost bookings at the Holland Armory, which was attempting to raise much-needed funds for its renovation. A member of the board, Tommolla says the armory no longer needed to host the event when donors came forward.
"Oddly enough, I originally thought we may name it 'Zeitgeist Du Jour,'" says Tommolla. "It's an interesting name, but when you get down to it, it's not easy to remember, or spell, or say -- so then it lost some luster there."
With simplier name in hand, Tommolla brought the idea to Jay Peters, president of Development Strategies Inc. in Holland that handles the day-to-day management of the Park Theatre. Development Strategies is a fund raising and consulting firm, as well as a project management company.
"It is exactly the kind of thing that we want to do with the Park," says Peters, who worked on the feasibility report that studied ways for the theater to be renovated, ulitmately recommending that the venue be sold to a not-for-profit organization. "This is really filling a niche for creative people who just don't have an outlet to plug into at this time."
Peters believes that Something Takes Place may become the catalyst to raise the profile of the Park Theatre, which has a liquor license and flexible seating arrangements. The theater recently went through a $300,000 renovation of its fascade and marquee to preserve its character, with plans to renovate the interior at a cost of up to $2.2 million if economically feasible. The theater recently hosted the first Lakeshore Idol competition and dinner events.
“I think the Park Theater is developing a reputation for doing these kinds of things, and I’m really excited because this targets a younger, far more creative set than we’ve tapped into in the past," says Peters. "We’ve done some creative programming with dinner theater, and we hosted the first Lakeshore Idol, but this has an art twist to it that I think fills a niche that I think this community is ready to have tapped.”
Cynthia Hagedorn, visual artist and owner of Square Peg Events in Holland that she launched in January, will be fulfilling several roles for Something Takes Place -- as an organizer, artist and performer.
Hagedorn said she will be painting live as musicians perform to capture the energy of their works, similar to the way that she painted artwork on stage for the Holland Symphony Orchestra and the Rothbury Music Festival.
In addition, she will be overseeing two artworks that will involve those who attend the event. One artwork will be the community canvas, which is a stretched canvas resting on an easel that has been primed and ready for paint. The public will be encouraged to apply acrylic paints on the canvas as free art form.
"It often draws people who have never held a paint brush before," Hagedorn says. "They may paint a flower or an abstract that the next person then builds on. By the end of the night it becomes something that no one had originally imagined."
The other community artwork will be to drop cloth canvas "which essentially is a big graffiti board" that the public can use to create artwork with fabric markers, she says. "It's just so much fun."
And Hagedorn also served as the organizer of a gallery in the theater that features the work of nine artists.
"When Craig approached me to paint live for the event, I thought: This is simply fabulous," Hagedorn says. "To be there along with the musicians, poets, and dancers, it's going to be a wonderful time."
Matt Gryczan is the managing editor of Rapid Growth.
Photos:
Interns for Something Takes Place promoting local events
Laura Foster and AlexaRae Antekeler, had out flyer for Something Takes Place
Interns for Something Takes Place promoting local events
Criag Tommola, owner of Thirty Six Squares LLC
Photographs by Brian Kelly -All Rights Reserved