Performing Arts Center of Wisconsin Rapids Celebrates 25 Years – November ‘25

Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report for this Thursday, November 13th, 2025.

Have your host James here, a big shout out to the Crockett Sceptics sponsoring this time

for us so we can talk to some of our favorite community people like we have in today.

We're talking about the Wisconsin Rapids Area Performing Arts Center, we got a couple

of individuals here from there, let you guys introduce yourselves so we can put a voice

to the name and start with you Eric.

Hi, I'm Eric Brittnocker, Director of the Performing Arts Center, thanks a lot.

Good to see Eric, it's been a while, good to see you.

Thank you.

I'm Sarah Danky and I'm the theater teacher at Lincoln and also the P.A.C. coordinator.

Sarah it is great to meet you, thanks so much for being here and with both of you appreciate

everything you guys do putting into our community greatly appreciate it.

I make no bones about this, I am an actor first and foremost, so Sarah I love what you

do and appreciate it so very much.

We know the confidence in the different things, the skill sets, the kids can build through

theater and so many of these experiences and certainly Eric with the kids that you work

with and everything and what you're able to help these kids embrace and learn and maybe

even start careers with who knows.

I've been able to do this for a while and to the point where we're actually going to

get to celebrate an anniversary and that's why you guys are here today to talk about.

Let's dive right into this the Performing Arts Center's 25th anniversary, how you guys

celebrate?

Well, I'll tell you, we're celebrating by having an open house, both on Friday and Saturday

night, those start at four o'clock on both nights.

On Friday night we're having or featuring the Lincoln High School Theater Department

and their fall show and then there was one a spoof and that's a show that they're taking

to the Wisconsin High School State Theater Festival very, very soon but we're going to

be featuring that on Friday night, that'll be at 5.30.

But then on Saturday, again we have that open house at five o'clock, there's going to be

a short presentation in the PAC, there's going to be some alumni that will be speaking

who are actively involved in the theater world or the production world, if you will.

There's going to be some people that were around at the inception of the PAC who are going

to be doing some speaking, Ms. Priscilla Kite will be playing the piano, she's been a long

time an accompaniment accompanist for the Wisconsin Rapids Public School System and playing piano

for choir in a variety of different performances along the way. They're going to be talking about

how we acquired Madame Steinway, which is the piano that was donated by J. Lee Mead family,

Gilbert and J. Lee Mead, I'm sorry. And then we're probably, well we are going to be hearing

from Mr. Musconis and Mr. Kaiser themselves who are instrumental in bringing and developing

the PAC and all of the ideas that were put into the facility. They recorded a Zoom call

unfortunately they're not able to join us. And then at 5.30 we're hosting a dinner in the

Lincoln High School cafeteria. The food is catered by the Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools Food Service.

We have a fine menu of a variety of different dishes. There's also gluten-free and vegetarian

options, if you will. And then starting at 7 o'clock we'll have kind of a variety of show featuring

a couple of the local dance studios, Rapids School of Performing Arts is joining us,

Studio 48 is joining us. We will also have former student Max Bennett's performing. He's

going to be closing the night, but then we're also featuring the 40 minute one act for the Lincoln

High School Theater department. And then there was one a spoof. So there's a lot going on. So just

to recap again, Friday and Saturday, both nights there's an open house at 4 o'clock until about five

open to the public, open to the public until about 4.30. There's all sorts of memorabilia and

history, news article clippings and things, pictures, past shows. So stop in anytime after 4 o'clock.

Friday or Saturday. It's great to hear some of these voices from the past and some other

teachers and stuff coming down. You said Mr. Rosconis and I was immediately back to being in his class

and appreciating him because he really, I don't know if I'm in this chair without people

like him and teachers like him that really pushed me and really put up with me to be blunt

at everything. So that's really cool to hear. It's a wonderful like event to just not only

as far as how it's spread out and the different things, a different variety of things going on for

people. Sometimes if you have an event like this and it's one day at one particular time, you'll

get a good turnout, but you don't get as many people as you could because of the variety there.

Having this going on for a week and maybe people are able to take in the whole time,

or maybe some can show up for this day and there's this day, it really gives a lot more flexibility

to the community to be able to appreciate this. And that makes sense because I was doing my homework

for this and going through and the pack obviously been around 25 years. I have to be honest about

something with everybody. It took me a while to become friends with the Performing Arts Center.

I was very jealous for a very long time. This opened right after I graduated. I was wondering

about that. Right after I graduated. Sarah, imagine how much a little kid like me wanted to

perform on that kind of stage. I didn't get a chance to. I was jealous. I completely admitted,

just nothing but jealousy, I'm kidding. But I was doing my homework and going through and it's

not just the amount of kids in plays that have gone on there, but you and I get together and talk

with Sally and our friends at Save of the Arts and the performance is there and those acts.

I almost had the question and then I thought I'm not going to do this to you guys of how many

different acts have performed on that stage. You think about the ton. You know, Ted did a really,

really great job of keeping that kind of history and the numbers and how many people attended,

but that got a little bit too much to kind of keep up with after the years. You know, we still have

busy nowadays. We still have records of the artists that came through and the Arts Council is one

of the ones where that lineup is always changing. But we have the groups that come in year after year

and a lot of them sit in these chairs and interview with you, Miss Wisconsin Rapids Area Pageant.

We've been a long time user, the two local dance studios. We even get some dance studios from

plover every once in a while if they fit into the schedule. But, you know, we get Eau Claire Children's

Theatre that, you know, comes from Eau Claire to present to our, you know, local students and that

sort of thing. So there's a lot of these annual events that, yeah, they reach a lot of different

people and a lot of different areas and just because you're not into, you know, what the Arts

Council presents doesn't mean you haven't been there for dance or or something else. Yeah, Charlie

Barence and Hager promotions. I mean, you know, all kinds of people have, you know, used the

facility and enjoyed it and have come to see shows of all different varieties. We've had authors

and speakers and different presenters and, you know, you name it. As a proud Lincoln grad, I,

you know, Lincoln getting use of this facility is great and on its own and all that. I don't

want to take anything from that, of course. But I just love when we have something that's so beautiful,

so good, the acoustics and they're all the things and we're able to use it for so much other,

for so many other things, especially over the last 25 years. You know, it's a big number when you

lose track. When you forget, you know, how many was it again? You know that that's a big number

of entertainers and different people that have come across that stage and the economic impact that

has made on our community is gigantic. You would know what if it wasn't there. There are so many

things that that building, that that little area there has been able to bring to our community

along with all the joy and entertainment and so much of that that you can't put a price on.

Sarah, I wanted to ask you a little bit about the performances themselves, the kids and the shows.

I was in the production, in a production of, and then there were none. A long time ago,

a Captain Lombard, one of my favorite plays, favorite performances I've been in and everything.

I saw this spoof and I'm like, oh, I got to look into that. It sounds awesome. How long have you

guys been rehearsing? How long have you been working on this? Probably mid-September is when we

had auditions and then we've been working here and there since then and because we're in the one

act festival, we had district in mid-October. We held that here at the PAC and then we just had

sectionals at DeForest High School and advanced from that and then we have state already,

we're performing at state at UWSP next Friday. So it's a little longer than normal than a normal show,

but the kids are loving it and they're doing such a good job with it. I'm wonderful to hear

about the competition and everything, wishing them well, break a leg, great run to them.

When it comes to being able to perform a show, it's always going to feel good and it hits the

soul being able to perform for your community. But to be a part of an event like this, I imagine

this is really hitting home for them. I don't think it's hit them yet. I don't think they quite

understand the big part of it that they're like, yeah, okay, this is happening until I think

they start to see, because they haven't seen the lobby yet, we've been starting to put together

the lobby. And for those that have graduated from Lincoln High School and has gone through the

theater program, you know that, you know, this was a tradition that Ted did and that I, you know,

continue is that we make a bulletin board for the Arab bulletin board poster with all the

different names and the faces. And we have it from when it opened 2000 all the way up to today.

So it's literal walk down memory lane for everybody. I mean, you can come and take a picture of

yourself on the next two year bulletin, you know, of your show. So we still keep up that tradition.

That's so cool to hear. And if you're a alum, this is a must event. This is a must to be

it down there, to check this out and everything. I was just talking with Pam and she was at over at

Lincoln the other day and was telling me about some things over there and I'm like, wait a minute,

like I didn't, you forget how long it's been since you've been to your old high school or something

like that. I think that there's just a fun, you know, go down nostalgia street a little bit and have

some fun with that who doesn't love some nostalgia. But also just being a part of the event, I think

means something showing up, being a part of these things. Not only are going to be entertained,

you're going to have some great food and all of that, but you are also showing I'm a part of this

community. I'm a part of this. This means something to me. Yes, absolutely. And to the point of the

kids perspective of this and you mentioning that boy to be young and when things are like that and

they're just all this big stuff's going on around you. You don't necessarily see how big it is

and everything. These kids, not only when it comes to every single high school performance and

I maintain this, the greatest theater you'll ever see is high school production. Yes.

Easily. And there's never been a bad one in human history. There's never been a bad high school

production. Everyone of them are entertaining and fun. And we always encourage people to attend

them helping these kids. They're going to build some confidence from this. The things that they

learn and the skill set that they get from theater. There's very few things that really do that

like theater does. But then when they do this particular show and they're looking at that audience

and they're bowing at the end and everything and they see a full crowd. They see different members

from their community out there. What do you think they're going to grow up to be like? What do you

think they will do? Because they will learn from this. Those brains are still sponges and they see

people putting into their community. They get to be our age. They start to do the same type of

thing. We're not just teaching kids how to learn to memorize lines and learn their blocking. We're

teaching them how to be good community members, good citizens and all that. No, that's a fair point.

And they learn confidence. They learn so many life skills of collaborating with others. How do

you get along with people that you're not maybe particularly like at the time? And we like what

Eric and I use we always strive for is how do we make them employable? And like theater is a

foundation for creative problem solving. And we keep up with that. I mean, shows like especially

comedies, comedies are hard. They are hard to put on and some people don't know that if you're not

into theater, they're harder than a drama. And the reason why is because there's so many different

levels of comedy of humor. There's some that like lower comedy like the potty humor and then there's

some that like the higher comedy, which you have to like understand history in order to get the joke.

And so there's so many different levels and then the energy whole the energy. The energy we're

constantly telling them keep the energy up. If you're having fun, they're having fun. Let's keep it

going. And I think what probably the biggest thing that I love about it is that they really come

together as a team. And you know, Ted Does did this and I've done this too is that you know,

casting crew and tech, we are a team. It's not separate entities. And even when we do musicals,

the pits included too. It is we are all a team to make sure that that audience is entertained.

What do we want to make them feel? And when they're done with their show, yes, it's tiring. But then

they get so proud of what they do. And I think that's really important especially at the high school

age that they're putting in all this hard work. They actually see it. It's like this is why we do it.

This was worth it. This is why we do it. I talk about this with cooking often times that it can

be a lot and take this amount of time and it be a little frustrating even. But as soon as you see

somebody eating the food that you just cooked, there's no feeling like that. There's no feeling like

it. It's a very similar process. And again, there's no there's no downside to this. There's no,

you know, when it comes to kids not only being in theater and being a part of the arts, but you

attending this event. There's no downside. Nothing bit of fun. Eric, before we wrap things up,

go over the details of the event one more time. I did want to note that the different voices from

the past, different people coming by and everything. That is pretty cool. That's something that you

reach out to them. That was there to a kind of mutual kind of connection on that one of like,

hey, I'd love to be a part of this or something. Are you saying with regard to people wanting to

use the facility? The guest speakers that you have coming for the open house.

Oh, so the guest speakers, yeah. A lot of that was due to Sarah and reaching out and also just

reaching out to Ted and Bob and saying, hey, you know, like, who was part of this kind of, you know,

at the inception and who would be really great to reach out to? Because the truth is, is that Sarah

and I don't have some of those connections with people. You know, we kind of came a little bit later

in the game. And so, you know, we kind of relied on them and just put the word out there. Hey,

we're having this event. If you could make it, that's great. We tried to really keep the event light.

And I mean, yeah, there's there's quite a bit of planning involved and a lot of it hats off to

Sarah for, you know, doing a lot of background work. But, you know, we just tried to keep it light,

keep it simple, you know, invite the community, you know, in a way that we thought was important

to include them with the show, to include the community members who might have an interest,

or the community users who might have an interest in both performing. We've got some exhibit spots

in the lobby that will feature some of those regular users. And so, you know, we really just

tried to keep it light, keep it simple. You know, we, we weren't going to be able to reach every single

person, not every person is going to be able to make it. And that's not what it was about. It was

about we have to pick a date. We have to combine it with a special event. And that's what we did.

And so we're almost there. We know a little bit about trying to pull off events on your own and

these kind of things. It's not easy. I admire it and very nice work by you guys. Part of the reason I

ask about the guests is what you were saying there about maybe not having those connections. But

also just that's not something that I think everybody would think of. I think that's a really

nice addition to this open house, along with the history and the telling of it and everything.

Not only again, going back to the students and them learning some stuff and all the great work

and creativity that came behind this, but just for people to be able to walk down memory lane

a little bit and understand some of that that we life is it doesn't pause. There's no pause button.

It's we're just moving, moving, moving. And we don't have an often we don't often have a time to

kind of look back and appreciate things or appreciate how far we've come or anything like that.

Those first shows. Heck, even going before that, just getting this idea funded,

getting this idea off the ground and everything. A big tip of the hat to even that accomplishment.

A little loan, everything that every you mentioned those those crazy things that can come up in

theater or when you're putting out a performance, you plan, you plan, you plan, and then life happens.

Every situation like that that theater has that stage has seen and everything. It's a credit to

everybody involved from the beginning to now. It's very cool. Eric, one more time. Do you

mind if we go through the rundown event again? Yeah, we'll keep it nice and clean on Friday night.

There's an open house starting at four o'clock. And also on Friday night at 5.30,

we'll be featuring Lincoln High School theater department. And then there was one a spoof to

attend that. That's five dollars. So Friday night starting at four o'clock open house,

five thirties the show on Saturday. Again, four o'clock is the open house at five o'clock. We're

going to be doing a short presentation in the P.A.C. Free to the public. Free to the public.

There will be a dinner at five thirty. If you buy the dinner ticket, it comes, the dinner in the

show is all combined and that's twenty five dollars. For the twenty-fifth. For the twenty-fifth.

So five thirty will be the dinner. Seven o'clock will start the kind of variety show featuring

Rapid School of Performing Arts, Studio 48 Dance Company, the Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School

theater department. And then there was one a spoof. And then we're closing out the night with

alumni max penance singer songwriter and perhaps graduate of 2017. He played Bert in Mary Poppins.

Oh, right, right. I knew the name seemed familiar. Okay, right. He got to fly and he was so excited.

That's a lucky kid, right? That's awesome. And it's cool that he'll be back for this. And if

people want tickets for those shows, is there somewhere we can send them for those?

Yeah, there's a website. It's called on the stage. So if you go to onthestage.com,

you can search for Lincoln High School. Probably the easiest way is just to do a Google search for

on the stage. Lincoln High School theater department. And then you will be able to go to our

landing page where you can just buy. I tell you what it is. It is r.show. You know, a slant. I

don't know what those are. And then it is twenty five years P.A.C. If you go to Facebook, you guys

have a great Facebook page for the event. You go there. There are links there for you as well.

So whatever is the simplest way for you to do it, find it. Get those tickets and be a part of

this event. If you can the whole week of event, a whole weekend of events and everything. But if

not, you know, being able to be a part of it is just good enough and certainly great and very

appreciated. And one more thing. If you don't want to, you know, attend the dinner on Saturday night,

you can just attend the event. The show for five dollars. So you don't have to, you know,

do the dinner and the show. But if you do buy the dinner, it comes with the show ticket.

Which we encourage you because that's where you get to tell stories about the P.A.C.

Oh, yeah. What you all did. That's a must. You definitely want to do that. And definitely

want to support these things going on over at the performing arts center whenever you see them.

When there are events happening and stuff, get your tickets show up. Be a part of it and

help support the arts in our community. Both of you. Thank you so much for the time. Have fun.

Tell the kids a break a leg and have a good run. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you for having us.

Thank you, guys. And thank you, everybody, for joining us for another edition of WFHR's

Rapids Report.