By now you should have received your brochure announcing the upcoming 2021-22 season of presentations from Darke County Center for the Arts. And yes, the brochure outlining the exciting program year that Artistic Director David Warner has finally been able to schedule (after dealing with myriad COVID-19-related difficulties) finally arrived — a bit later than usual; during the interim between DCCA’s last season of scheduled presentations and now, much usual activity was canceled, postponed, or is still in a limbo due to lingering effects of the pandemic. And yes, in order to allow DCCA Executive Director Andrea Jordan the time necessary to record and respond to the usual volume of ticket requests prior to the initial DCCA show, the deadline for holding coveted seats in glorious Henry St. Clair Memorial Hall for renewing ticket holders comes more quickly than usual. And yes, if you have renewed, you have not yet received those precious tickets; but be assured, DCCA staff is eagerly — and somewhat frantically — gearing up for business as usual in this unusual time.
Andrea appreciates the patience of DCCA supporters who will, quite frankly, not receive a quick response to their quick response to the season offerings. Although she is diligently endeavoring to remember how everything is supposed to work after over a year of nothing working as it is supposed to, she is unable to promptly respond to everything that is suddenly happening all at once. And she wants those eager to renew their Memorial Hall seats to know that, despite the necessary renewal deadline prior to the start of single ticket sales on Aug. 4, DCCA never knowingly sells a valued season-ticket holders’ seats without first contacting the patron.
If you need to talk with Andrea, call her or make an appointment to stop by the DCCA office located on the third floor of Greenville Public Library during DCCA’s summer office hours — Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. (And by the way, those limited hours do not realistically reflect the time DCCA staff spends fulfilling their many duties — those are simply the hours when you can be assured that someone will be working in the office.)
DCCA’s 2021-22 Re: Vision season got off to a memorable start with DCCA’s usual annual fundraiser “Barbecue and Blues” on July 9. Over 700 joyous patrons filled the Greenville Public Library Lawn to savor the food and the music of the justifiably popular local artist Jeff Rearick, Detroit blues legend John Latini, and the incomparably talented guitar god Noah Wotherspoon backed by not only his gifted trio but also an outstanding horn section. Noah and crew provided a night to remember, demonstrating the unusually inspirational power of music to transcend daily cares and inspire joy and hope for the future.
DCCA’s usual hosting of a Missoula Children’s Theatre residency is happening this week, with dozens of local youngsters experiencing the thrill of working together to create a theatrical gift to the community when they perform in MCT’s Sleeping Beauty; performances are at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. this Saturday. DCCA also participated in the “Gathering at Garst” this past weekend, as usual, and is gearing up for its usual appearance in the Coliseum during the Great Darke County Fair in August.
Amid all this activity, DCCA’s first presentation of the Re: Vision season is coming up fast; The Hitmen, the guys who performed with legendary artists on classic rock-n-roll hits, will perform at Memorial Hall on Saturday, Sept. 11. And DCCA staff outside of tech crew and a very part-time Marketing Director consists of just two employees — Andrea and David, who are working as hard as they can to make it all happen as usual. As we look forward to experiencing our lives as usual due to the waning of the pandemic, DCCA continues to strive to enrich our community through the arts as it has done for almost 43 years. We look forward to enjoying those efforts — as usual.
