Crimson and Gold Connection; Joe Firman

Welcome to Crimson and Gold Connection, keeping you connected with the people and current events at Pittsburgh State University. This is the Crimson and Gold Connection on 89-9-K-R-P-S. This week we catch up with the director of the Big No Family Center for the Arts, Joe Furman. It was a busy year, the fifth anniversary also at the Big No Family Center for the Arts, so much going on and the 2020 years just around the corner. So, for those who missed the fifth anniversary, we had a great time. Roel Mungia did an absolutely incredible job with the symphony, and we had a little bit of everything for everyone. We even had the PSU drum line, and did the fight song, the balloon drop. It was amazing. I think we put everything in it, you could go plus the kitchen sink. And then we even had a cake and a lobby afterwards celebrate the anniversary. So, it was just a great celebration of all that we've been able to accomplish and sets the stage for our next five years and beyond. So, pretty amazing. Well, it's coming up in the month of January 2020. Well, we are certainly wasting no time. We're jumping right in on January 26th with the Best of Broadway, Finding Neverland.

And, you know, this is one of the most amazing Broadway performances. Just pure imagination. The story is about the writer and his inspiration for Peter Pan. And so, the title of Finding Neverland is how he meets this widow and her children, and then he imagines the world of Peter Pan. And it's really an awesome story. And they made a movie about it, and then they turned the movie into the Broadway production. And now the Broadway production is touring the world. And one of the performers is even a local from down in Miami. So, to have that kind of local connection is pretty amazing, too. So, we're hoping that everyone will turn out for that. And, you know, one of the greatest gifts that we can give is the gift of experience. And so, we've had a really cool sales opportunity where we've been suggesting that it would be a better stocking stuffer than take us to a Broadway musical. And we really hope everyone will come out.

One of my staff likes to say that Broadway is all about that experience, and we really think it's kind of amazing that we are able to bring that experience of Broadway right back home to Pittsburgh. It is the most affordable way you're ever going to see Broadway. And the other thing that's important for people to remember is the best way to support the Bicknell Center and all of our programming is to be a part of it. Being part of that audience and just coming and being with us is the best gift you could possibly give us for Christmas as well. Well, circling back to the fifth anniversary of the Bicknell Center of the Arts, I talked with Raoul both before and after the performance there, and he couldn't have been more excited. And Raoul, he gets excited, but I saw him extra-amped. He was really honored to be a part of this. Oh, it was awesome. You know, people, if they think back five years ago, to our opening ceremony, probably remember that if they were part of it, that the symphony was a very first group performing when we started the music. It was behind the curtain and people were still visiting. And then we raised the curtain to reveal the symphony. And so to be able to have the symphony as part of our first Gala event and then to cap off the five years with them was incredible.

And I wear multiple hats in the building and one of the real joys I've had is being on the symphony board. And to watch their growth over the last five years has been incredible. They're 105 years old, but they finally have a home to call their own. And we are so thrilled to have them rehearse in our rehearsal space and perform on the main stage and to watch what they've been able to accomplish. And I could not think of anything better than having our students, faculty, staff, and friends in the community there to celebrate. It was just magical. Yeah, I wish I honestly wish I could have gone to that. I was on a Tuesday at 7.30 at night. It sounds like you still had a good turnout though. I saw some of the pictures online. Oh, it was really good. Really, really good. Also, if people did miss it, we do have a streaming service that we put a lot of events on. And they are archived at vimeo.com slash pit state. So a lot of our concerts. I was just sitting in my office this morning reviewing a dance performance from the West Regional Ballet that we had just posted and we have a lot of the symphony concerts there. They're adding so many videos so fast. It is amazing. You can spend days and days and days watching our old productions as well as a lot of other videos from around pit state.

The site is shared. It's all the different video productions being done on the campus. So it's fun to have an archive to see what we're up to. Speaking of previous productions, the month of December, and of course in January, we'll have our usual live from the Vicknell Center Sunday at 6 p.m. And we've been replaying the holiday extravaganza from 2018 from 2019. You guys have also produced a best of holiday extravaganza that we've been airing. Yes, John Eastman, our technical director. He likes to really talk about the magic of being able to capture these moments. And the really cool part about this best of is he went back through all of the holiday performances we've done over the last five years and pulled out tidbits from each one. And so it's really amazing to hear the history of the building. People don't remember something about performing arts. Once you've performed it has gone forever. What we're able to do through our initiative with broadcasting and working with the Com students on campus is we're able to capture those moments and preserve them pretty much forever. So to be able to go back and revisit these and to experience those great memories again is magical as well. And what a great gift that is as well to be able to work with care PS and have these rebroadcasted.

So yeah, the best of our own way that's coming in January. Absolutely. And then I'm super excited about February. We've got Jennifer nap coming back to do a concert. When I say coming back, she is a Grammy-nominated artist. And she graduated from Pittsburgh State University. So she was just interviewed by the marketing office here on campus. And they asked her about what it meant to be coming back. And she was talking about in the article, all of her mentors who helped her reach a level of success. And to be able to come back and perform at the Bicknell Center, she said the moment she heard they were building it. She secretly wanted to perform in it. And so to be able to give her the opportunity to come back and be a part of that and revisit the campus and bring her great talent to our new stage. That is just so amazing to me. And we have a lot of alumni from all over the world who come back to see the campus and they'll stop by the Bicknell Center. We probably do two or three tours on any given day. And to see the alumni come back and say, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, if only this would have been here when I was a student.

And then to think about all of our students we have today will be coming back in the future and be able to give them these experiences. It's really great. Joe Furman, Director of the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts. My pleasure to be here. Joe Furman, speaking about Pittsburgh State alum Jennifer Naps performance on Saturday, February 22nd at 7.30 p.m. For more information about the event and all of the other performances taking place this year, visit bicknellcenter.org. I'm Fred Fletcher-Fierro and you've been listening to the Crimson Ant Gold Connection, a production of 89.9 KRPS. Join us for Crimson and Gold Connection Wednesdays at 8.50 and Fridays at 350.