Entertainment

Union High School’s spring musical production of “Into The Woods” recently was informed by the Iowa High School Musical Theatre Awards that they are the recipients of 9 awards for this year’s production. Union has participated in this educational program for the past 7 years.The production was awarded 2 major group awards. First “Outstanding Musical Production” was awarded to Union as the highest honor the production can achieve.

The Vinton Shellsburg High School Drama Department will be presenting The Shows Goes On: Songs and Scenes From Broadway this weekend. Performances are Friday and Saturday evening at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with general admission seating. Masks will be required for the audience and we will follow social distancing guidelines.

The Palace in cooperation with ACT I and the Schmidt Brothers is pleased to announce a live concert at the Palace.  The concert is planned for May 7th and 8th starting at 7 pm.  Tickets will be available at the door for $10 and seating is limited to 70 each night to honor social distancing.   We recommend wearing a mask out of respect for others.

Into The Woods” brings the Brothers Grimm to the stage with an epic fairytale about wishes, family and how the choices we make affect our lives. The story follows a Baker and his wife, who wish to have a child; Cinderella, who wishes to attend the King's Festival; and Jack, who wishes his cow would give milk. When the Baker and his wife learn that they cannot have a child because of a Witch's curse, the two [st] off on a journey to break the curse.

UpdatedValory is a short film about a young boy living out in the rural Midwest countryside who finds a ship in a bottle in the cornfield by his house with a neighboring friend. Together, they try and figure out how the bottle came to be there in the first place, surrounding it with mystic wonder.Preproduction for this project began in November of 2020, but the script has been written since around 2014.

Despite the restrictions of the pandemic, the Union High School Drama department will be presenting a live performance of two one act plays on Friday Nov. 6th and Saturday Nov. 7th at 7pm in the Union High School auditorium. “Bad Actors Audition” and “The Once Act Play that Goes Wrong”  were chosen specifically because of their small casts that allowed for appropriate pandemic prevention methods while still giving audiences a night of great entertainment.

OK, before I give you the fun news - a quick [upd]: NO POPCORN THIS FRIDAY NIGHT! HOWEVER, we WILL be serving CURBSIDE POPCORN on SATURDAY and SUNDAY, June 6 & 7. ANNND! We will also be serving LEMON SHAKES! HOURS on SATURDAY and SUNDAY: 6-8 PMWe will be properly gloved and masked, and ready to quench your thirst and satisfy your Palace Popcorn craving for the week.

At this point the managers and trustees do not believe it is financially feasible for us to open at 50% capacity with 6-foot spacing, due to the cost of content. Our other concern is available movies, as studios have already streamed their spring and early summer offerings. The online site we use to view upcoming content currently shows no new film release dates until July 17.

When you see a cement truck parked in front of the Palace Theater, you know the movie isn't showing. Progress is being made on the new concession area at the Palace. Allan Merchant was in the beginning stages of repairing the floor for the new concession area. According to the Palace, demolition took place in just five hours a week ago Saturday. "This week Edwards Plumbing removed cement for floor sinks and roughed in plumbing, Allan Merchant replaced cement, and Mike Morrow, with the expert assistance of his father, Dave, began framing the new concession stand.

In an effort to do our part in protecting our school-community’s health, we have decided to postpone tonight’s Cabaret. We do this reluctantly and know that many were looking forward to the event. While we do not have any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Benton County, we also know we would have many attendees from outside the school district and we know the spread is happening quickly in Iowa.