Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center to Celebrate Five-Year Anniversary with Three-Day Gala
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on August 23, 2023
The Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center, which celebrated its Grand Opening on Oct. 20, 2018, is proud to announce plans for the 5th Anniversary in downtown Clarksburg from Friday, Oct. 20, 2023 through Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023 at the historic Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center located at 444 W. Pike St. in Clarksburg.
The weekend kicks off at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 20, 2023 with the swing and the swagger of Good Shot Judy, one of the east-coasts highest octane swing bands. A Good Shot Judy show offers all those tunes you know just from growing up in America – songs you can at least hum along to, if you don’t outright know most of the words. But the music itself is only part of the band’s allure; there’s something electric in the execution, and it’s that vigor that carries the day as much as the pull of recognition.
“Good Shot Judy played the Robinson Grand in the fall of last year,” said Jason A Young, the Robinson Grand’s program manager. “All we heard from the audience after the show was ‘bring them back;’ so we did.”
Robinson Grand friends and fans will have the opportunity to officially celebrate the venue’s 5th Anniversary on Saturday, October 21, 2023 at The Grand Gala with Hall of Fame jazz pianist Bob Thompson, comedian Jeff Allen, and legendary vocal quartet The Diamonds.
“We programmed the Anniversary Gala with the same format as the Grand Opening in 2018,” said Young. “Two great musical acts with some hilarious stand-up comedy in the middle.”
Since 1991 Bob Thompson has been a pianist, and a regularly featured artist on West Virginia’s NPR syndicated radio show Mountain Stage. For the past twenty-three years he has also been co-producer and host of Joy to the World, a holiday jazz show broadcast on public radio stations nationwide, and heard internationally on The Voice of America. In October 2015, Bob Thompson was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
Jeff Allen’s rapid-fire humor, which centers on marriage and family, is a hit with all ages. A live comedy favorite, Jeff has appeared on Dry Bar Comedy, Netflix, Amazon, Huckabee, Pureflix, Showtime, Comedy Central, VH1, and more. He starred in the critically acclaimed film, Apostles of Comedy, the syndicated comedy series, Bananas, his own one-hour comedy special Happy Wife, Happy Life, and the Warner Bros. comedy film Thou Shalt Laugh. Jeff has been featured at Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival and HBO’s Comedy Arts Festival. His Dry Bar Comedy videos have amassed over 400 million views on social media and other platforms, introducing him to tens of millions of new fans worldwide. At times both gut-wrenching and hilarious, Jeff’s new tour offers a unique glimpse into his crazy world.
The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet that rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with 16 Billboard hit records. They were most noted for interpreting and introducing rhythm and blues vocal group music to the wider pop music audience. Through the years since the release of “Little Darlin’” (1957), The Diamonds have learned one important lesson – the durability of classic rock and roll music is as much about the future as it is about the past. As a result, The Diamonds continue to expand their audience to this day, performing in a variety of venues and settings worldwide. These performances include – with Symphony Orchestras, in performing arts theaters and major concert halls, on cruise ships, in casinos, and county and state fairs, on tours of England, Ireland, Brazil, Chile, Korea, and Japan, for benefit concerts, corporate conventions, and at nightclubs.
The Robinson Grand’s 5th Anniversary Weekend will finish at 7:00p.m. on Sunday, October 22 with singer, songwriter, author, and humorist Mark Lowry; who’s entertained audiences since we was 11 years old with his unique gift of communicating profound truths through music and storytelling.
Mark Lowry is best known for penning the lyrics to the Christmas classic “Mary Did You Know?” and singing baritone for the GRAMMY Award-Winning Gaither Vocal Band for countless years.
“We are excited about the lineup of events we have put together to celebrate our 5th Anniversary,” said Young. “We feel like the weekend features high quality, diverse, and affordable entertainment for all.”
Tickets for all 5th Anniversary events are currently one sale to Friends of the Robinson Grand. The general public can purchase tickets on Friday, August 25, 2023 at 10 a.m.
All tickets can be purchased online at tickets.therobinsongrand.comor by calling the Robinson Grand ticketing center at (855) 773-6283.
