MCANINCH ARTS CENTER HOSTS FREE COMMUNITY OPEN HOUSE AND TICKETS ON-SALE PARTY FOR 30th ANNIVERSARY SEASON SATURDAY, AUG. 6 AT 11 A.M.

July 27, 2016 Michael J. Roberts

McAninch Arts Center (MAC) located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage hosts a Tickets On-Sale Party and Free Community Open House Saturday, Aug. 6, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. This event marks first time the public can purchase individual tickets for the MAC’s exciting 2016-2017 Season including New Philharmonic concerts and Buffalo Theatre Ensemble productions. Tickets go on sale online (AtTheMAC.org)Sunday, Aug. 7 and by phone (630.942.4000) Tuesday, Aug. 9, beginning at 12 noon.

Ticket buyers will enjoy personalized customer care from the MAC’s ticket services staff, no handling fees and the chance to pick their seats. The first 50 ticket buyers on that day will also receive a special complimentary gift. Everyone attending the event will have the opportunity to see the three MAC theater spaces, and enjoy free food, including sandwich wraps, chips, popcorn, sweets, soda and coffee. There will also be a chance to listen to live piano music performed by Steven Havens, pianist and instructor of piano at College of DuPage; and enter for ticket giveaways taking place every half-hour.

Some of the exciting shows MAC’s 2016-2017 Touring Performances Series available for purchase include the following:

The internationally acclaimed MOMIX dance company brings back “Opus Cactus” after a 10-year hiatus (Sept. 10). This mesmerizing show inspired by the landscape of the American Southwest, features dynamic, acrobatic images of cacti, slithering lizards, fire dancers and more;
Legendary rock singer-storyteller John Hiatt in an intimate acoustic concert (Oct. 2);
“Stephen Schwartz and Friends,” featuring the Tony Award-winning composer of popular musicals including “Godspell,” Pippin,” and “Wicked,” performing with a trio of his favorite Broadway singers including Chicago’s own Liz Calloway, (Oct. 7);
Herb Alpert and Lani Hall in an exclusive Chicago fall engagement (Oct. 15) immediately following theSept. 30 release of Alpert’s newest record, “Human Nature;”
A lecture by PBS’s Rick Steves on “Travel as a Political Act” (Oct. 22);
A solo engagement by Grammy Award-winning American singer and keyboardist Bruce Hornsby (Oct. 28);
The Havana Cuba All-Stars, showcasing some of Cuba’s greatest and most prominent musicians (Nov. 6);
Wynonna & the Big Noise Christmas (Dec. 2);
“Seven Things I’ve Learned: An Evening with Ira Glass” featuring the host of NPR’s “This American Life” (Feb. 25), and much more.

Single tickets will also be available for the first time for

The MAC’s resident symphony orchestra, New Philharmonic, under the direction of Maestro Kirk Muspratt, exciting five-concert 40^th Anniversary season, opening with “Passionate Virtuosity” – Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky, featuring guest pianist Wael Farouk plus a guest conducting appearance by New Philharmonic’s founder, Harold Bauer.
Buffalo Theatre Ensemble’s three-play 2016-2017 season, opening with Marc Camoletti’s hysterical comedy, “Don’t Dress for Dinner” directed by Kurt Naebig (Sept. 8-Oct. 9).

*Events, dates, artists subject to change.

New for its 2016-2017 Season: The MAC presents encore broadcasts of National Theatre Live’s International Series, part of the U.K.’s National Theatre’s groundbreaking project a selection of world class, award-winning British theater productions to local venues around the world. Selections include “One Man, Two Guvnors” by Richard Bean (Aug. 14 & 18); “The Audience” by Peter Morgan (Sept. 11 & 15); “View from the Bridge” by Arthur Miller (Sept. 25 & Sept. 29); “Frankenstein” by Nick Dear, based on the novel by Mary Shelley (Nov. 5 & 10);“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare (Nov. 17 & 20); “War Horse” based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Nick Stafford (Jan. 5 & 8). Tickets are $20 and are on sale now in person at the box office or by phone(630.942.4000). Tickets may be purchased online beginning Sunday, Aug. 7.

For more information about any of these 2016-2017 events visit AtTheMAC.org or call 630.942.4000.

About the MAC

McAninch Arts Center (MAC), at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355, and houses three performance spaces (the 780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; the 236-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and the versatile black box Studio Theatre), plus the Cleve Carney Art Gallery, classrooms for the college’s academic programming and the Lakeside Pavilion. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 75,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season.

The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. For more information about the MAC, visit AtTheMAC.org, facebook.com/AtTheMAC or twitter.com/AtTheMAC.

*Events, dates, artists and prices subject to change.

The MAC’s 2016-2017 Season is made possible in part with support by The DuPage Foundation, Hilton Lisle/Naperville, Brookdale-Glen Ellyn; The JCS Arts & Education Fund of the DuPage Foundation; the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; Smith Financial Advisors, Inc; SlTlG Sullivan Taylor & Gumina, P.C.; Follett’s College of DuPage Bookstore; Paramount Theatre; WFMT 98.7 FM; WBEZ 91.5 FM; WDCB 90.9 FM and the College of DuPage Foundation.

Established as a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation, visit foundation.cod.edu or call630.942.2462.

Programs at the MAC are partially supported through a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.