That’s Entertainment!

Entertainers

Comedian/Jugglers and/or Magicians
Musicians
Concerts
Stage Plays
Circuses
Celebs
Misc.

Comedian/Jugglers and/or Magicians

Image/Link	Name	Location/Circumstance	Photos/Notes
	John Park	(1) Ypsilanti Heritage Festival (2) Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum (3) Top of the Park, Ann Arbor (4) Ann Arbor District Library, Mallett’s Creek Branch (5) Ann Arbor District Library, Pittsfield Branch
	Josh Casey	(1) EMU Family Day 2004 (2) YMCA Kids’ Health Day (3) EMU Family Day 2005 (4) Ann Arbor District Library, Mallett’s Creek Branch
	Jeff Wawrzaszek	(1) UTC Halloween Party (2) year-end fun-fest, Allen Elementary (3) Big Boy restaurant nr. Dexter on Lydia’s 10th birthday	Daddy also got to see Wawrzaszek perform at a party given for the UM Development Office, at the Damon’s Restaurant near his workplace. We suspected that Jeff was the one masquerading as Ronald McDonald at a performance at Wiard’s Orchards, but we asked him at his Big Boy performance (he roams around on selected days and entertains customers, particularly children), and he said it wasn’t him.
	Joel Tacey	(1) Ann Arbor District Library, Mallett’s Creek Branch (2) Ann Arbor District Library, Pittsfield Branch
	Jim Fitzsimmons	(1) Old St. Pat’s Labor Day Festival (2) Ypsilanti Heritage Festival	We also ran into Jim at the auction for Mrs & Mr. Hasselbach (Pokadot & Company).
	Lisa Lou	(1) Michigan State Fair 2006 (2) Michigan State Fair 2007
	Sheldon Rhodes	Grace Bible Church	Mommy and/or Daddy have also seen Sheldon at several Awana Leadership Training Conferences. Mr. Rhodes is the man who taught Daddy how to juggle, at an LTC in Spring Arbor in October 1999.
	The Amazing Egghead	Ann Arbor District Library, Main Branch
	Zeemo the Yo-Yo Man	Old St. Pat’s Labor Day Festival
	David Cain	Bethel Gilead Church, Bronson
	Jamahl Keyes	Michigan State Fair
[no link]	Nick Goodrich	Michigan Renaissance Festival	A 7-ball juggler who, when we saw him, performed under the stage name “Hans Olo.”
[no link]	Rick Carver	Michigan Renaissance Festival	Caught just a bit of his act; he was juggling torches.
	Merlin the Wizard	Ann Arbor District Library, Mallett’s Creek Branch	Merlin is just one of the guises of magician William “Baffling Bill” Schulert.
	Ben Spitzer	Little Lamb Day Camp
	Tom Bartholomew	Ypsilanti Heritage Festival
	Tim Salisbury	Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum	We arrived several minutes before the start of Tim’s last show, and got into conversation with him, in the course of which Daddy admitted he could do a modest bit of juggling himself. Tim immediately asked for Daddy’s help during the show, to wit: Tim would give a brief “How to Juggle” clinic, at which Daddy would pointedly not seem to pay attention, then he would call Daddy up to demonstrate. Daddy tossed a single ball, then intentionally did it wrong with two balls, and then, after looking utterly bewildered in holding three, tossed two behind his back and started a quick routine—thankfully without a drop. Daddy finished a moment later, pointed to Tim, and proclaimed, “He’s a good teacher!” The audience loved it. Later in the show, Tim asked for items from the audience to juggle, and Daddy contributed his right shoe. “Ever juggle a size 15?” Tim admitted that would be a new record for him, but did just fine. A man of tremendous strength, he also juggled real bowling balls.
	Josh and Roy Show	Sounds and Sights on Thursday Nights (Chelsea)

Musicians

Image/Link	Name	Location/Circumstance	Photos/Notes
	3 Men and a Tenor	Kiwanis Christmas Sing at the Michigan Theatre, Ann Arbor
	Gratitude Steel Band	Ann Arbor District Library, Main Branch
	Lawrence Welk Show Live on Stage	Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, Dearborn	Lydia gets kissed by Ralna English. See more details on this concert here.
	ShaeLaurel	Michigan Renaissance Festival
	Peter ‘Madcat’ Ruth	The Ark, Ann Arbor MI
	LaRon Williams	The Ark, Ann Arbor MI
[no link]	Christopher Benje	The Ark, Ann Arbor MI
	Ypsilanti Community Band	Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor MI
	Ernie Haase & Signature Sound	WPOS, Toledo OH
	Cherry Hill Brothers Quartet	(1) Kiwanis Christmas Sing at the Michigan Theatre, Ann Arbor (multiple times) (2) Dixboro Fair	The Quartet doesn’t have their own website, but they do have a personal page on YouTube, with links to them performing several songs.
	Tim Zimmerman and the King’s Brass	Grace Bible Church, Ann Arbor MI
	Terry and Barbi Franklin	Grace Bible Church, Ann Arbor MI
	Buddy Davis	First Baptist Church, Temperance MI
	Legacy Five	Romulus High School, Romulus MI
	Toney Brothers	WPOS Arena, Maumee OH
	Dove Brothers	WPOS Arena, Maumee OH
	Stan Saylor	Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn, Frankenmuth MI
	Glory Bound	Holiday World, Santa Claus IN	This is one of several gospel groups using the same name, unfortunately. It was comprised of two men and two women.
	Jerry Jacoby	Somerset Beach Campground, Somerset MI
	Jordan Pruitt	Target Children’s Book Festival, Kensington Park, Milford MI
	Jose-Luis Orozco	Target Children’s Book Festival, Kensington Park, Milford MI
	Laughing Pizza	Target Children’s Book Festival, Kensington Park, Milford MI
	The Doodlebops	Target Children’s Book Festival, Kensington Park, Milford MI
	Joe Reilly	Earth Day Celebration, Leslie Science & Nature Center, Ann Arbor MI

Concerts

Name	Location	Notes
“Barney’s Musical Castle”	Detroit, MI	Lydia also got to see Barney several years later in a visit to Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor.
The Wiggles, intermission appearance within “Barney’s Musical Castle,” above	Detroit, MI	The Wiggles: (left to right) Jeff, Anthony, Greg, and Murray enthralled the audience during the intermission.
Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular	Fox Theatre, Detroit
Halloween Concert at Greenhills School	Ann Arbor, MI	This was a delightful performance put on by the high school students. It started off with the “cauldron” scene from Macbeth, had lots of spooky stuff in the middle, and finished with a rousing chorus of “The Monster Mash.”

Stage Plays

Name	Location	Notes
Youtheatre	Southfield, MI	We saw a very clever production of “Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel”.
Sesame Street Live	Detroit, MI	We saw this at the Fox Theatre in Detroit.
Disney On Ice	Auburn Hills, MI	We saw this at the Palace of Auburn Hills; the program was titled “Princess Wishes.”

Circuses

Image/Link	Name	Location	Notes
	The Anastasini Circus	Michigan State Fair, Detroit MI
	Detroit Shrine Circus	Detroit, MI

Celebs

Image/Link	Name	Location/Circumstance	Photos/Notes
[no link]	Lucy Ann Lance	Ann Arbor, MI	Lucy Ann Lance (real name Lucy Ann Visivotti) is a local radio personality, working at WAAM. [Update: Her show was axed from WAAM in early 2008, which decided to go to an all-syndicated line-up.] She also hosts many special events in the area, including the Kiwanis Christmas Sing at the Michigan Theatre. Here Lydia gets to start off the crowd singing “Frosty the Snow Man.”
[no link]	Katie Lorenz	Ann Arbor, MI	Miss Michigan 2004
[no link]	Ashley Baracy	Ann Arbor, MI	Miss Michigan 2005
[no link]	Sheila Klein	Ann Arbor, MI	Miss Michigan 2006 was Sheila Klein, and Lydia gets to meet her at the conclusion of the Kiwanis Christmas Sing at the Michigan Theatre.
[no link]	Alisha Jaros	Ann Arbor, MI	Miss Michigan 2007
[no link]	John Hieftje	Ann Arbor, MI
[no link]	Alma Wheeler Smith	Ann Arbor, MI
[no link]	John Long	Ann Arbor, MI	Former basketball star of the Detroit Pistons, John Long was making an appearance at an open house at Bennett Optometry in downtown Ann Arbor.
[no link]	Ernie Harwell	Ann Arbor, MI	Legendary baseball announcer Ernie Harwell, who spent most of his career broadcasting Detroit Tigers games for WJR, made a special appearance at Greenfield Village at a display of old fashioned baseball. Ernie arrived late, and had to leave early, and Lydia was the only person who got to pose with him. Alas, our camera’s batteries were dying, and it didn’t go off until Ernie was already pulling away.

Misc.

Name	Location/Circumstance	Photos/Notes
Animal Magic	(1) EMU Family Day, Ypsilanti (2) Mallett’s Creek Library, Ann Arbor (3) Summer Fun Festival, Dexter	Animal expert Mark Rosenthal does an educational display of his impressive animal collection, with the occasional magic trick thrown in.
Ron Loyd, the Bubble Man	(1) Hands On Museum, Ann Arbor (2) Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor (3) Hands On Museum, Ann Arbor (4) Gallup Park, Ann Arbor (5) Leslie Science & Nature Center	The Bubble Man produces a large one.
The Flying Wallendas	(1) Detroit Shrine Circus (2) Ypsilanti Heritage Festival
Johnson Marionettes, featuring Applesauce the Dragon	Coburn Elementary School, Battle Creek MI	Lydia hasn’t seen Applesauce yet (except in a glass case in an art gallery), but we’re hoping. Daddy got to see the show more than once back in elementary school.
Qwinkley Entertainment	Ann Arbor Juggling Festival	This mother & son duo are the greatest balloon artists we’ve ever seen.
Flying Aces	Pittsfield branch, AADL	This group of performers do lots of tricks with Frisbees.
The Balloon Guy Entertainment	Mallett’s Creek	Josh Kamradt, the Balloon Guy
Wild Swan Theater	Towsley Auditorium, Morris Lawrence Building Washtenaw Community College Ann Arbor MI	Lydia and a group of her classmates saw these performers present a special musical program about immigrants, “Coming to America.”

Sometimes she gets bored quickly, and sometimes she finds things too overwhelming, but usually Lydia is a good audience.

Whenever a performer asks for a volunteer, Lydia is always among the first to raise her hand.

Updated most recently on 5 August 2008.