Convocation Center
announces trio
of fall semester events

Music and comedy are on the fall semester schedule at NIU’s Convocation Center.

A touring company of the musical “Fame – the Musical” performs Sunday, Sept. 21. The country music sounds of Rascal Flatts and performers from the Country Music Television’s “CMT Most Wanted Live” entertain Sunday, Sept. 28. Later, popular comedian Wayne Brady brings his show of laughs and songs to DeKalb Saturday, Nov. 1.

Based on the Academy Award-winning motion picture and long-running television series, “Fame” is a critically acclaimed worldwide phenomenon, having played more than 5,000 performances in more than 16 countries.

It chronicles the four-year odyssey – from audition to graduation – of a group of talented and dedicated students at New York City’s High School of the Performing Arts. Driven by the compulsion for fame, these deeply rendered characters from diverse backgrounds experience common triumphs and tragedies along their journey toward immortality.

The show has played across England (including an extended run in London’s West End), and in Germany, South America, Asia, Australia, Eastern Europe and a successful three-year tour in North America. The show returns to America with an all new show produced by Phoenix Productions.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are on sale at all Ticketmaster locations. Tickets also can be charged by phone at (312) 559-1212, ordered online at www.ticketmaster.com, or purchased at the Convocation Center Box Office. Reserved ticket prices range from $45.50-$25.50 for general public, with a $5 discount for NIU students. NIU students only can receive the discount if they purchase tickets at the Convocation Center ticket office.

Rascal Flatts, one of country music’s most vibrant acts, will mix it up with performers from “CMT Most Wanted Live” for one exciting concert at the Convocation Center. Hitmaker Chris Cagle and newcomer Brian McComas also are on the bill, while CMT personality Lance Smith will be on the road as host.

The Rascal Flatts self-titled debut album, which contained the multi-media smash hit “I'm Movin’ On,” and sophomore project, “Melt,” both have reached platinum-selling status, the latter debuting at No. 1 on the country album chart and No. 5 on Billboard’s Top 100. "Melt" has delivered a three week No. 1 single, “These Days,” which also won a CMT Flameworthy Award last spring as Group Video of the Year, a Top 5 hit with “Love You Out Loud” and the fastest-rising single of their career, “I Melt.”

Cagle has had five videos land on CMT, with two reaching the No. 1 position (“Laredo” and “I Breathe In, I Breathe Out”). “What A Beautiful Day,” from his self-titled sophomore album, reached the Top 10 and has spent more than 32 weeks on the Billboard Country Music Chart. McComas recently made his first appearance on “CMT MOST WANTED LIVE” to perform the hit single, “99.9% Sure (I've Never Been Here Before).”

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Reserved tickets are $29.50, and go on sale at noon Saturday, Aug. 23.

Wayne Brady & Friends is set to bring roars of laughter into the Convocation Center.

Brady is best known for his improvisational work on ABC’s “Whose Line is it Anyway?” and is the Emmy-award winning host of “The Wayne Brady Show.” His live show combines the art of improv, music, dance and a cast of young comedians for a special night of fun, laughter and music.

Doors will open at 7 p.m. Reserved tickets are $18 to $45 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 21.

For more information about these or any other events, contact the Convocation Center at 752-6800.

8-18-03