Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line 10-06-2026: Spencer Aurand talks shows at The Dixon Historic Theatre

Transcript

Talk Line 10-06-2026: Spencer Aurand talks shows at The Dixon Historic Theatre · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey there, Sauk Valley. Welcome back to The Waking Crew
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: here on FM 95.1 and AM 1460 WIXN. 8.36 on
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: your Tuesday, October 6th morning. And as promised, it's your
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: second dose of a double dose of talk line today.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm joined again once more by our good friends
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: from the Dixon Historic Theater. Spencer joining us today in person.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: No rain, thankfully. I feel like the last time I've
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: seen him, Most folks it's been under. fairly soggy conditions.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I've been really enjoying the super nice weather, especially
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: going to a lot of the different fairs and stuff
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: that have been happening over the last few weekends. So
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: it's been very, very much appreciated. Yeah.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: We got enough rain. I was over that.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Are you kidding me? I was like, it's not the
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: beginning of spring. What's going on?
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: I was like, when the farmers start getting annoyed with
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: the rain, you know it's really bad. I was like,
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: what's happening right now? It just keeps raining.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, when you can't be like, oh, it must be
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: good for the farmers, who is this for anymore? Why
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  Speaker 1: are we doing this? Yeah, why are we doing this?
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  Speaker 1: I love.
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  Speaker 2: It.
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  Speaker 1: Well, speaking of doing this and things that need to
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  Speaker 1: be done because you've just got so many good events
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  Speaker 1: coming up at the Dixon and one happening today.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, today we are having with Discover Dixon, we are
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  Speaker 2: hosting a candidate forum. at six o'clock tonight. So I
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: was just like, I got to make sure we mentioned
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: that because it's happening today. So if you want to
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: come by, learn about some of the candidates that are
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  Speaker 2: going to be running for office, it's going to be
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  Speaker 2: candidates for the Illinois State Representative, U.S. House of Representatives,
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: and Lee County Board are all going to be there presenting.
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  Speaker 2: So you can come, ask questions, learn some more about
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  Speaker 2: those candidates before election day. This is the kind of
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  Speaker 2: stuff that I really like doing at the Dixon. This
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  Speaker 2: is the kind of stuff that I want to do
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  Speaker 2: more of. And I want the theater to kind of
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  Speaker 2: be a hub for the community to do more than just,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the live events. Obviously, I love the live events.
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  Speaker 2: But to me, they're almost kind of a means to
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  Speaker 2: an end rather than the end all be all.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, absolutely. And I mean, this is great from
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  Speaker 1: local to state government. This is the way to be informed,
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  Speaker 1: be able to, like you said, ask some questions and
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  Speaker 1: And if you want to know, come November and in
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  Speaker 1: time to vote, the best thing to do is go
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  Speaker 1: to events like this, get informed, and then you can
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  Speaker 1: go out there and vote how you will.
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  Speaker 3: 100%.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, that's tonight at 6 o'clock at the Dixon Theater.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: And then we've got a bunch of upcoming concerts for Rocktober.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So we've got on October 10th, this upcoming weekend, We've
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  Speaker 2: got Ain't That America and Take It Easy. It's a
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  Speaker 2: John Mellencamp tribute followed by an Eagles tribute. That show
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: is selling really, really well. No surprise there. I'm like,
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  Speaker 2: I shouldn't be surprised at how well it's doing. It's
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  Speaker 2: doing really well. So if you want to get good seats,
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  Speaker 2: I'd recommend getting those early or as early as you
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  Speaker 2: can at this point. You've only got about a week left.
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  Speaker 2: That's going to be a really fun one. Then on
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  Speaker 2: October 17th, we have Sabbath coming in, which is a
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Black Sabbath tribute, obviously. And then they are going to
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: be joined by Rain and Blood, which is a Slayer
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: tribute out of Chicago. So that's going to be a
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: really fun night. I'm excited for that one, especially if
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: you are a big fan of Ozzy. It's going to
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  Speaker 2: be good. The guy that they have performing as Ozzy
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: is pretty fantastic. He does a really good job. And
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: then my most anticipated show for the month is definitely
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: Almost Queen on October 24th.
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  Speaker 1: I'll bet.
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  Speaker 2: It appears to also be the most anticipated show for
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  Speaker 2: most other people. That one, I can't even promise you
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  Speaker 2: good seats at this point, but if you just want
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  Speaker 2: to get seats, you better go online to dixentheater.com and
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  Speaker 2: get those tickets as soon as possible because those are
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: going real quick. I think last I checked, we had...
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  Speaker 2: There are too many songs I have on the list
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  Speaker 2: I want them to be able to check off, and
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  Speaker 2: you know they're going to.
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  Speaker 3: I can see why the tickets are going so quickly.
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  Speaker 1: I'm excited for that.
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  Speaker 2: And then we are working again with the Mosaic Theater
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  Speaker 2: Troupe to put on another shadow cast of the Rocky
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  Speaker 2: Horror Picture Show on October 30th at 7.30. So if
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  Speaker 2: you really like Rocky Horror or you've never been to
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  Speaker 2: the Rocky Horror Picture Show, it is quite the experience.
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  Speaker 2: If you've never been, I highly recommend you come and
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  Speaker 2: see it one time.
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  Speaker 3: And then if.
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  Speaker 2: You're horrified, never come back ever again. Or you might
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  Speaker 2: fall in love and want to come do it every
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  Speaker 2: single year.
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  Speaker 1: I think you're going to fall in love. I've been
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  Speaker 1: a Rocky Horror fan since I was a kid. My
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  Speaker 1: mom introduced me to Rocky Horror at a young age,
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  Speaker 1: along with Grease. Loved both of those. But Rocky Horror
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  Speaker 1: has always held a big special place in my heart.
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  Speaker 1: Anything Tim Curry as well. Yes, very fun show.
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  Speaker 2: And I will note, especially if you haven't seen it before,
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  Speaker 2: it is very much so an adult show.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I guess that is, yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Don't bring your kids.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, technically kids are allowed to come if they
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  Speaker 2: have an adult accompanying them, but I don't recommend it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. I just wouldn't.
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  Speaker 4: Check it out maybe the first time and then determine... Yeah,
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  Speaker 4: you come see the show. Have the adults come, and
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  Speaker 4: then you can make the determination. You won't want to
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  Speaker 4: bring your kids.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but the shadow cast sounds like such a cool thing.
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  Speaker 1: I couldn't do it this year. I wanted to, but
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  Speaker 1: I couldn't confidently commit to some of the rehearsal thing,
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  Speaker 1: and I never want to be that person, so I'm
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  Speaker 1: always like, if I'm going to do something....
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  Speaker 2: It's been fantastic working with the Mosaic Theater troupe. They've
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  Speaker 2: done a fantastic job putting this together. Frankly, they've done
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  Speaker 2: a fantastic job putting everything that they have done over
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  Speaker 2: the last.
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  Speaker 3: Couple years together.
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  Speaker 2: They're great to work with, and they do a fantastic
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  Speaker 2: job with the shadow cast. And for people that don't
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  Speaker 2: know what a shadow cast is, it's the Rocky Horror
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  Speaker 2: Picture Show movie is playing on our movie screen, kind
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  Speaker 2: of like normal. But then on stage there are actors
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  Speaker 2: performing the show out live, not doing any lines or
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  Speaker 2: anything over top of the movie. The movie is the
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  Speaker 2: only thing you're really hearing. But it gives you kind
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  Speaker 2: of a fun mix of going to see the Rocky
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  Speaker 2: Horror Picture Show live show and just watching the movie.
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  Speaker 2: And it is a good blend, especially for all of
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  Speaker 2: the kind of audience interaction that goes along with that show.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm excited. I've never attended a shadow cast. So
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  Speaker 1: the first time I heard about it, it really grabbed
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  Speaker 1: me because I've been to one of those where you've
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  Speaker 1: got like the live symphony playing along with like a
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  Speaker 1: major motion film. I've been to those. That was like
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  Speaker 1: a really cool thing. So I was like, oh, my God,
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  Speaker 1: this is like really ramping it up and taking it
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  Speaker 1: to a level. So I'm very excited to get to go.
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  Speaker 1: All right.
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  Speaker 3: We got to move on.
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  Speaker 1: I guess so.
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  Speaker 2: The other thing. So we've got holiday shows. These I'm
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  Speaker 2: not going to go into super detail, but I did
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  Speaker 2: want to start getting them on people's radar as it
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  Speaker 2: is time for people to start doing their holiday planning.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's all going to be here before we know it.
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  Speaker 2: So the weekend after Thanksgiving, we have the Prophecy Show Returning.
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  Speaker 2: That is a TSO tribute. It's been an audience favorite.
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  Speaker 2: One of the reasons that we've kind of made it
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  Speaker 2: a holiday tradition for ourselves to bring them back every
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  Speaker 2: holiday season. So if you love TSO, they are a
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  Speaker 2: fantastic TSO tribute. They put on a great show, and
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  Speaker 2: we love having them at the theater. Then on December 12th,
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  Speaker 2: we are bringing in Santa's Circus, which is a very
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  Speaker 2: fun family show. It's what it is, you know. The
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  Speaker 2: tin's got it correct on this one. It's a circus,
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  Speaker 2: but it's Christmas themed. So Santa is like the ringleader
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  Speaker 2: of the circus. It's all like everybody's dressed up as
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  Speaker 2: elves and different Christmas characters and stuff. And they do
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  Speaker 2: a full circus show. Really cool acrobatics juggling. They do
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  Speaker 2: ribbon dancing, all kinds of stuff. It's really cool. That
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  Speaker 2: one is on December 12th. We have that show starting
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  Speaker 2: a little bit earlier for families, so that's starting at
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  Speaker 2: 7 o'clock instead of 7.30, and I think that show
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  Speaker 2: is only about an hour and a half long, so
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  Speaker 2: it's not a super long show. We'll go straight through it,
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  Speaker 2: so you'll be getting out of the theater before 10
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  Speaker 2: o'clock pretty easily for the kids. Then on December 19th,
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  Speaker 2: we've actually made a slight adjustment to this show.
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  Speaker 1: We have.
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  Speaker 2: Christmas with the Drifters. It is the Drifters coming in,
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  Speaker 2: famous for Under the Boardwalk and This Magic Moment. We're
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  Speaker 2: really excited to have them coming in, but they're coming
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  Speaker 2: in with their full Christmas show.
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  Speaker 3: So they're going to do a bunch of.
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  Speaker 2: They're going to do some of their classic songs, but
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  Speaker 2: they're going to do a lot of Christmas music. Tons
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  Speaker 2: of fun. We have adjusted that show from our regular 7.30
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  Speaker 2: start time to a matinee show at 3 o'clock. So
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  Speaker 2: we think that'll be A little more convenient for families
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  Speaker 2: and the audience for that show to come out to
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  Speaker 2: a matinee show. We think that'll work a little better
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  Speaker 2: for people's holiday planning that close to Christmas.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So we're really excited to have them coming in. And
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  Speaker 2: that's really... We've finally done it. That gets us to
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  Speaker 2: the end of the year. There's nothing past that beyond
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  Speaker 2: me having to come in here and make a 2027 announcement.
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  Speaker 2: So probably next month when I come in, I'm going
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  Speaker 2: to be making some announcements about 2027. But yeah, that's
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: everything we have coming up now.
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  Speaker 1: That, I mean, just a packed way to go out
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  Speaker 1: on the rest of the year. Some big names, a
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  Speaker 1: lot of fun. I can't wait just to see the
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  Speaker 1: Santa Circus. Just how they're dressed up in the theme.
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  Speaker 1: That sounds so cool. But, of course, you know, while
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: we're talking about the theater... We'd be remiss if we
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: didn't talk about the Dixon Encore fundraiser and the chance
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  Speaker 1: to help support that.
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  Speaker 3: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: So if you've been to a show at all probably
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: this year, you've probably seen me talk about the Dixon
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  Speaker 2: Encore campaign. The main focus of that campaign was raising
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: money to replace the chairs on the main floor. So.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: Uh, again, with us having, you know, uh, I think
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  Speaker 2: there's 550 chairs on the main floor. Uh, we need
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: to raise about $ 500, 000, uh, to actually replace all of
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: those main floor chairs, as well as do some repairs
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: and reupholstering on the original 1922 chairs that are up
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: in the balcony. Um, we want to keep those cause
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: they're amazing and original to the building. Uh, but they
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: do need a little work. Um, The main floor chairs
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  Speaker 2: cost about $ 500 per chair to get them replaced. So
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  Speaker 2: for this campaign, our silver level donors is $ 500 plus.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: If you donate at that $ 500 level, obviously you get
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: dedication on the website. There's going to be a dedication
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  Speaker 2: plaque out in the lobby that's going to have all
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: of our donors on it. But then you'll also get
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: a dedication on the chair itself that you help us
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  Speaker 2: pay for. So we've got 550-ish opportunities for people to
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: get a dedication in the theater that will hopefully be
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: around for at least the next 50 to 70 years
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: or so before anything needs to be replaced there. And
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: if we properly take care of the new chairs, hopefully
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  Speaker 2: they will, like the original 1920s chairs, upstairs they'll be
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: around for another 100 years. So that's the idea. If
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: you're interested to learn more about that, you can go
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: to our website and click the Donate button. It'll take
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: you right to the EnCorp campaign where there's some more
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: details about the different perks and benefits of donating. If
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: you give less than $ 500, you still do get some perks.
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  Speaker 2: You're still going to get dedication on the website, and
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: there will be still a dedication plaque out there for
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: anyone that gives any amount of money under $ 500. Um,
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: and then there are donation levels above $ 500 that come
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: with a bunch of other extra perks and cool, uh,
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: limited edition, like campaign only merch and stuff. Uh, but
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: if you want to learn more about that, there's information
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: at Dixon theater.com.
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  Speaker 1: Go on the site, give them a call. Either way,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: you get a chance to get out and help mark
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: these shows on your calendars. Better yet, secure your tickets now.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: Those are going to be going fast.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, especially for Eagles and Queen. If you want to
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: go see those shows.
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  Speaker 2: I'm sending out warning flares now. If you really want
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: to go see that show, don't show up the day
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: of the show because you might not be able to
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: get tickets.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. Waking Crew. I know how you feel about
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: your Eagles. Oh, my goodness. I love it. And I
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: can't wait to get the 2027 reveal. Hopefully next time
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: you're in, you'll be able to talk about that as well.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: Ideally, next time I will be able to announce it,
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: at the very least, the first half of the season.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: There you go. There we'll go. We'll have some more. Well, Spencer,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: thank you so much for coming in and for all
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: you do for the local theater community. We truly appreciate it.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: Thank you for having me.