Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line 11-03-2026: Tori Highley talks upcoming Dixon Historic Theatre shows

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Talk Line 11-03-2026: Tori Highley talks upcoming Dixon Historic Theatre shows · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Good morning, Sauk Valley. Welcome back to The Waking Crew
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: here on FM 95.1 and AM 1460 WIXN. And it's
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: the second batter on deck for a triple stack of
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  Speaker 1: talk line today coming all the way from the Dixon
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  Speaker 1: Historic Theater. Tori Hiley in to share a lot of
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  Speaker 1: news because as the shows go on, the work never
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  Speaker 1: stops for the folks at the Dixon Historic Theater.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Does it, Tori?
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  Speaker 3: No, it does not. We're getting ready to finish off
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  Speaker 3: this year and we've launched next year. So we just
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  Speaker 3: we keep moving. We never stop.
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  Speaker 1: And you've got, we're going to start today by talking
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  Speaker 1: about some upcoming shows, starting with the Children's Theater.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so our Children's Theater is doing its two fall productions.
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  Speaker 3: We've got Junie B. Jones Jr. happening on the 13th
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  Speaker 3: and 14th, and then Descendants, the musical, on the 20th
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  Speaker 3: and 21st. And these are both done by our Children's Theater,
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  Speaker 3: so ages 5 to 18. The shows are pretty cheap
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  Speaker 3: to come to, so we'd love some community support. It's
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  Speaker 3: $ 15 for adults, $ 10 for children. And these kids really
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  Speaker 3: put their heart and soul into these productions. We've been
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  Speaker 3: rehearsing since August, and they're ready to get out there
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  Speaker 3: and perform.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's absolutely fantastic to see these little performers. And
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  Speaker 1: I've got to tell you, Junie B. Jones caught my
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  Speaker 1: eye only not just from the books, which kind of
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  Speaker 1: stuck with me with my own kids through high school,
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  Speaker 1: but that's actually the nickname of our Great Dane.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, that's hilarious.
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  Speaker 2: Her name is Juno, but she gets called Junie B. Jones,
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  Speaker 2: or at least by me a lot.
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  Speaker 3: Is she a little mischievous, too, sometimes?
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  Speaker 2: Great Danes think they're chihuahuas.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, my gosh. Okay, so definitely a Junie B.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and she'll lay around, and then you'll find her
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  Speaker 1: nosing around somewhere, and it's like, how does a dog
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  Speaker 1: that size get there?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh.
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  Speaker 3: I love that.
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  Speaker 2: They find a way.
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  Speaker 1: Um, but, uh, you know, I'm excited to see the
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  Speaker 1: prophecy show coming. Yes.
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  Speaker 3: So that's happening on black Friday. We're trying a different
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  Speaker 3: date this year. I'm interested to see how it works. Um,
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  Speaker 3: but we've had this show out here four or five
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  Speaker 3: times now and they do a great job. It's an
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  Speaker 3: awesome production. They bring the lasers, the smoke, the guitars.
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  Speaker 3: It is, I mean, a trans Siberian orchestra right here
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  Speaker 3: on our stage. It's a really cool time.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Uh, my wife and I took her grandmother to see this, uh,
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  Speaker 1: If it was last year or like the year back,
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  Speaker 1: time flies by anymore. So I just forget to, I'm
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  Speaker 1: forever 43 from now on. But yeah, no, it was fantastic.
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  Speaker 1: If you've never seen it or if you have, it's
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  Speaker 1: worth going back a second time. But it's truly something
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  Speaker 1: to experience if you haven't before.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a great holiday tradition for families. So if
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  Speaker 3: you're looking for something new to start or you want
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  Speaker 3: to continue one, this is definitely the show to come to.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and young or old, honestly, so. And the Muny Band,
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  Speaker 1: now this is one I haven't heard of.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, so the Municipal Band. Okay, yeah, I was looking
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  Speaker 3: through topics. Yeah, the Municipal Band does their winter concert
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  Speaker 3: and their spring concert at the Dixon Theater. So that
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  Speaker 3: will be happening on December 5th. It's a free event.
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  Speaker 3: We'd love to have the community out supporting them. It's
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  Speaker 3: a good time.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: Everybody loves those shows. Get out there and support them. Oh, boy.
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  Speaker 1: My oldest is going to be happy to hear about this.
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  Speaker 1: Polar Express, we were just talking about Christmas movies starting up,
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  Speaker 1: and I know this isn't a Christmas movie. This is
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  Speaker 1: an experience, but I love hearing about this.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so Polar Express, we're adding a little experience to it.
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  Speaker 3: You'll get to walk away with a cool little ornament
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  Speaker 3: with a golden ticket and a bell. We've got hot
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  Speaker 3: and cold chocolate, and Santa and Mrs. Claus will be
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  Speaker 3: in the lobby to greet kids and to listen to
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  Speaker 3: what you want for Christmas. So it'll be a really
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  Speaker 3: fun time if you're looking for it. good time to
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  Speaker 3: meet Santa, that will definitely be a good day.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: Kai, there you go. You're going to watch it anyways.
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  Speaker 1: Go get your horn on that and see it on
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  Speaker 1: the big screen. We argue over what's the best. He
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  Speaker 1: says Polar Express, I say Christmas Story, and the feud
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  Speaker 1: will never end.
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  Speaker 3: Nope, nope. I mean, those are both great classics, so.
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  Speaker 1: But speaking of Christmas, keeping it on that beat, Christmas
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  Speaker 1: with the Drifter.
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  Speaker 3: Yes. So the Drifters, this is the real Drifters from
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  Speaker 3: the 50s.
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  Speaker 2: The real Drifters?
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  Speaker 3: The real Drifters are coming on out. Yes.
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  Speaker 2: That's awesome.
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  Speaker 3: So it'll be really awesome. They're singing Christmas music, classic songs.
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  Speaker 3: It's going to be a good time telling stories. Definitely,
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  Speaker 3: if you're a music lover, you're going to want to
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  Speaker 3: come out and see them.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to have to play some Drifters after we
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  Speaker 1: get done talking.
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  Speaker 2: So I love that.
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  Speaker 1: And, you know, when it comes to the theater, sometimes
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  Speaker 1: if nobody, if you did not know about this, thinking
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  Speaker 1: the movies that you also play there, everybody thinks the
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  Speaker 1: theater and the productions that you put on. But there's
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  Speaker 1: also a chance to catch some movies.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we've got some classic Christmas movies happening over the
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  Speaker 3: next couple months. So we're starting off November with Lion, Witch,
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  Speaker 3: and the Wardrobe, which isn't quite Christmas, but it definitely
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  Speaker 3: has a little hint of Christmas in there, right?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it fits.
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  Speaker 1: We had this argument when we were talking Christmas movies.
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  Speaker 1: I said the same thing. I said it's just enough
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  Speaker 1: theme you have to include.
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  Speaker 2: Like Die Hard.
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  Speaker 3: Exactly, yeah. So that's on November 7th. So right away
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  Speaker 3: this month, this weekend, to start off the Christmas spirit.
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  Speaker 3: If you want to come out, it's a $ 2 movie ticket.
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  Speaker 3: It'll be at 3 o'clock, so a little matinee. And
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  Speaker 3: then we're ending the month with Krampus to really get
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  Speaker 3: you in the Christmas spirit. Yep, so that'll be on
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  Speaker 3: Saturday the 28th at 730. And then we've got Elf Happening,
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  Speaker 3: Miracle on 34th Street, and then White Christmas, that holiday
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  Speaker 3: tradition we have always at the theater.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely hitting all the classics.
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  Speaker 2: I love this.
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  Speaker 1: I thought maybe I'd gone too far with Uzis and
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  Speaker 1: Grenades with Die Hard, but you brought in Krampus.
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  Speaker 3: We brought Krampus out, yes. So that'll be a really
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  Speaker 3: fun movie night for sure.
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  Speaker 2: I love switching that up.
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  Speaker 1: And of course, you know, this is, I hate to
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  Speaker 1: say it, but another year's almost gone by.
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  Speaker 3: It is. I mean, we launched our 27th spring season yesterday, so... Exciting, exciting.
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  Speaker 3: We're saying goodbye to 26 and jumping right into spring
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  Speaker 3: of 27. We're going to kick off the year with
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  Speaker 3: a band we've had here before, Yesterday. It's a Beatles tribute.
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  Speaker 3: But they're doing a different show than they did last time.
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  Speaker 3: Last time they did early Beatles. This time they're going
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  Speaker 3: to do later Beatles.
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  Speaker 1: So Sgt.
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  Speaker 3: Pepper. And they'll do some early Beatles too, but they're
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  Speaker 3: going to stick to mostly that older Beatles tracks.
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  Speaker 1: I love that, giving you that mix up there. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: there's so much to the Beatles catalog that this.
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  Speaker 2: Is an easy... Easy way to do that.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, yeah. And then we'll keep going in February. We're
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  Speaker 3: bringing back quite a few things. So we've got Get Improv.
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  Speaker 3: We've had them out before. They're a great comedy group.
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  Speaker 3: And then we have Windy City Dueling Pianos coming, too,
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  Speaker 3: who we've also had out here before, and they are
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  Speaker 3: pretty popular out in this area.
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  Speaker 2: They are.
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  Speaker 1: I got to catch the show. I did get to
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  Speaker 1: catch the show, and it was awesome.
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  Speaker 2: My wife and I went.
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  Speaker 3: It's an interactive experience. You can write down songs that
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  Speaker 3: you want to hear and go throw them in a
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  Speaker 3: bucket up on stage, and then they draw out of
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  Speaker 3: that and kind of do their own twists on those
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  Speaker 3: songs and.
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  Speaker 2: Play them live.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, the guy had the keyboard between the two, so
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  Speaker 1: he was going up to sub in for songs because
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: you were like, oh, maybe you can't request this because
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  Speaker 1: the instrument and the guys are like, no, we've got
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  Speaker 1: a take on it. We can get the request in.
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  Speaker 1: And it was so much fun.
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  Speaker 3: It's a great time. So if you're looking for just
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  Speaker 3: a fun, easy night, that's definitely one to come out.
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  Speaker 3: And then we're ending February with a really cool band
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  Speaker 3: called Yalio, which is a Santana tribute. And they've got
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  Speaker 3: 10 musicians up there on stage. I mean, it's so
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  Speaker 3: many different sounds coming from that stage, singers. It's going
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  Speaker 3: to be a really cool show.
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  Speaker 1: And.
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  Speaker 2: Michael Winslow.
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  Speaker 1: Is this who I'm thinking it is?
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  Speaker 3: I bet it is. Police Academy.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, my God. I didn't want to get too excited.
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  Speaker 1: This guy was my hero when I was a kid.
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  Speaker 3: He is hilarious. If you like comedy, you like acting,
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  Speaker 3: this is the show for you. It's going to be
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  Speaker 3: so cool. So he was on America's Got Talent most recently.
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  Speaker 3: I think that was probably the thing he did. But
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  Speaker 3: he was on all seven Police Academy movies. Spaceballs. He's
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  Speaker 3: the bleep-blop-bloop guy with the helmet.
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  Speaker 2: He's the man of a million sounds.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, that's his tagline.
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  Speaker 2: Yep.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, it's insane the noises this man can produce, and
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  Speaker 1: you would think even for the most skilled person, from
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  Speaker 1: machinery to every— I' m not sure there's a noise he can't make.
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  Speaker 3: I am excited for this guy to have him come out.
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  Speaker 3: I can't wait to meet him and just see what
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  Speaker 3: show he has in store for us. It's going to
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  Speaker 3: be a really cool event.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that one's definitely going on my calendar. Now, this
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  Speaker 1: next one I'm guessing isn't a— A British offensive tossers.
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  Speaker 3: So this is our St. Patrick's Day celebration show. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: so they are an Irish punk band. And then we've
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  Speaker 3: also got Riley coming with them, who we had here
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  Speaker 3: last year. So it's going to be a really fun
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  Speaker 3: event that will, you know, have some green beer and
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  Speaker 3: beads hanging out.
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  Speaker 1: I'm excited about that. I am actually an Irish punk fan.
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  Speaker 1: There is no this is not for promotion. I'm learning banjo. No,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: I have not learned it yet. So nobody asked me. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's a terrible experience. But I'm always looking for new
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  Speaker 1: Irish punk bands, Shanghai Trees and Dropkick Murphys. So Tossers
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  Speaker 1: are now going to get added to my list. And
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  Speaker 1: now to actually be able to get to see live music,
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  Speaker 1: My wife and I have been so busy. We were
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  Speaker 1: just talking the other day. We have not got to
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  Speaker 1: go to any festivals this year, so we were so disappointed.
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  Speaker 1: So Tossers is going on my list.
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  Speaker 3: Heck, yes. That'll be really cool. And then going into April,
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  Speaker 3: we've got some other great musicians happening. We've got Listen
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  Speaker 3: to Her Heart, which will be a Tom Petty experience.
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  Speaker 3: And then A1A, a Jimmy Buffett tribute show. And that one,
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  Speaker 3: we're hoping to do a big tailgate party out in
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  Speaker 3: our parking garage right next door. So keep an eye
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  Speaker 3: out for details of that to come.
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  Speaker 2: Margaritas, maybe?
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely. Margaritas on special all night long. You can't have
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  Speaker 3: Jimmy Buffett without those.
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  Speaker 2: No, it's Margaritaville at the Dixon Historic Theater.
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  Speaker 3: Exactly. It's going to be a great time. I'm excited
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  Speaker 3: for that show. It should be a fun night. And
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: then we're bringing back Puppy Pals Live. We had them
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: here last summer. They're a great little dog rescue show.
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  Speaker 3: So they have live dogs on stage. Aww. And they
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: do tricks. It's really cool. It's all rescue dogs in
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: the production itself.
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  Speaker 2: I love that.
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  Speaker 1: Whether you're an animal lover or a kid, that's a
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  Speaker 1: great way. And I love hearing that. And of course,
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: there's only going to be much. more, but Tori cannot
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: give away the entire upcoming season today, but she will
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: be back with more updates. So we promise we'll get
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: them out there, but she gave you quite a lot
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: to munch on for the holiday season.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you. Yeah, it was great coming out. I'm excited
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  Speaker 3: for this season that we were able to show so far,
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  Speaker 3: but we'll definitely be launching more in the next coming months.
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  Speaker 1: We're looking forward to getting those updates. And Tori, thank
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  Speaker 1: you so much for coming in the studio to share
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: them with all of us.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: We appreciate it.