Lawrence Welk was born on March 11th 1903 in North Dakota. He has been called the creator and King of "Champagne Music." His parents immigrated from South Russia, now Odessa Ukraine. Welk grew up speaking German and did not learn English till he was 20. His accent became a trademark for him and his show. He had a passion for the accordion and is featured playing it on his show often. Before his show was picked up by ABC in 1955, he had a failed restaurant venture selling "squeezeburgers" cooked on an accordion style grill. In 1971 ABC dropped his show but Welk arranged a syndication deal that kept his show on for another 11 years and making him one of the richest entertainers in America.
Find out more about Lawrence Welk here: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/march-11/lawrence-welk-is-born
Lawrence Welk Show - New Year's Eve Party from 1981
Lawrence Welk SNL Skit
Potential Song for Feste to whistle and play with
Lawrence Welk Goodbye Song
Another Version of the Goodbye Song
As Adam said, he wants to have roughly 50% of the dialogue played out to the audience. Linked here are some clips from Lawrence Welk that show how the performers played to the camera and live audience. Take note of the way the performers invite others in, as well as the camera slow zoom that slowly pulls us into their acts!
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=8113495055406108-Lennon Sisters "Something Stupid"
Dancing from Lawrence Welk
A lot of these are couples dancing but there is a tap routine starting around 32 minutes
More Dancing from the Lawrence Welk Show
Grant Wood was born on a farm in Iowa in 1891. When he was 10 years old his father died and his family moved to Cedar Rapids. This is where he started to develop artistic passion. In high school, he and his friend Marvin Cone, helped paint the scenery for school plays. While in school he also taught himself how to make jewelry, furniture, and ornamental light fixtures. in 1913 he studied at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. Due to financial struggles, Wood moved back to Cedar Rapids 3 years later. Between 1920 and 1928 Wood traveled to Europe 4 seperate times. In 1920 he visited Paris with his artist friend, Marvin Cone. His final trip to Munich in 1928 is where he was inspired to drop his impressionistic style and develop a much more complex style of painting. One of his most famous paintings, American Gothic (shown below). This painting won third place The Art Institute of Chicago’s 43rd Annual Exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture. It became very popular to many while other criticized the fact that it unfairly stereotyped Midwesterners, which is funny because Grant Wood grew up in the midwest.
If you would like to read more about Grant Wood visit this site: https://www.crma.org/grant-wood
"The theater is the place in the world where the ordinary can become extraordinary." - Omar Porras
Omar Porras was born on July 19th, 1963 in Bogota Colombia. He was trained in theater and dance. For a time he was dedicated himself to street theater where he learned invaluable practical and theoretical knowledge. In 1990 he founded Teatro Malandro in Geneva. Teatro Malandro focuses on the actor's body, their projection in space, and the use of masks. He was highly inspired by Asian and European masters. Teatro Malandro turned 30 years old in 2020 and is renowned worldwide.
If you would like to read more about shows he has directed, click here (it's in French but you should be able to have it translated by Google): https://malandro.ch/omar-porras/
Teatro Malandro - Omar Porras Clip
A Trailer for an Omar Porras Production