That's right—Englert's magazine has gone digital, opening up new ways to visually show our passion for the arts, the dynamic events we host in our building and out in the community, and behind-the-scenes of how we operate.
A little background: Stages isn't new, but you might be new to our magazine. The Englert has published a magazine, spotlighting community partnerships and shows, in some capacity for over ten years. Stages, however, was only accessible in print form, in mailboxes, or handed out at a show. Reaching a smaller audience, we figured it was time to expand our editorial horizons and create a more community-centered medium accessible to everyone across social media, in email form, and our website.
With so many diverse audiences coming through our doors, Stages presents a way to relive those electrifying musical, comedic, and artistic experiences you've had at The Englert over the years. Consider us a lookbook for events you attended, and events you should attend.
Our inaugural digital issue focuses on one of our favorite annual events: Mission Creek Festival. Our festival photographers captured so many priceless moments between performers and the audience we're bursting to share. This issue also serves up upcoming summer shows you don't want to miss, from our Summer of Blues series and special concerts at Wildwood.
We're also telling more stories, both visually and editorially. From Englert sponsors Andy and Phoebe Martin, who not only supports our theater but also entrusted us as her wedding venue, to our programming team's adventures at NIVA, fighting ticketing fees and creating an equitable music venue.
The Englert Marketing Team
Ella Kang, Elisabeth Oster, & Cat Dooley
ANGELA IBRAHIM-OLIN PRESIDENT
BETSY POTTER VICE PRESIDENT
JOHN MARTINEK SECRETARY
ROB DECKER PAST PRESIDENT
STAFF BOARD
LIV ALLEN EVENTS COORDINATOR
NICK BERGUS
DAWN BOWLUS
AMBER CAPPS
ERNIE COX
IOANNIS ALEXAKIS PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
BECCA BREAZEALE PATRON SERVICES MANAGER
CAT DOOLEY MARKETING COORDINATOR
KEEGAN COLLETTA HUCKFELDT EVENTS DIRECTOR
EMILY GOMEZ HOUSE MANAGER
BRIAN JOHANNESEN PROGRAMMING DIRECTOR
ELLA KANG SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER
JAMES KINKADE CONCESSIONS LEAD
DESIRÉE KILBURG
ERIN POTTEBAUM
NIKI PROM
ROMAN TERRILL
WHIT MARTINEZ COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR
GRACE MERRITT PROGRAMMING COORDINATOR
DAVE MOORE SECURITY LEAD
ELISABETH OSTER MARKETING MANAGER
CRAIG OWSLEY BOX OFFICE MANAGER
PAIGE SAMEK SENIOR DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
JOHN SCHICKEDANZ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
KENT SMITH HEAD USHER
BOX OFFICE AMY DONOVAN, ERIN DURIAN, SARAH KERSEVICH, SAM MEYER
FACILITIES MARIANNA COFFEY, KENT REYNOLDS
FRONT OF HOUSE HANNAH BAGLEY, JESSICA HAARSMA, ALEX MARTINEZ, DEMI OO, RACHELLE SCHMIDT, MELISSA SINCLAIR
JANITORIAL SAM MEYER
PRODUCTION TECHNICIANS JUSTIN COMER, JULIA CORBETT, HAVEN HAYWOOD, DAN MILLER, CODY SCHLADER
STAGEHANDS SAM HAMMOND, LOGAN KHA, NORA KING, BEL MARTINEZ, SOPHIE MITCHELL, RYAN RADIG, EAMON REED, CASH RIKER, LAELA TESDALL
Thanks to the generous support of our season sponsors and members of the Fellowship for the Future, The Englert is able to bring the best locally and nationally known performers to our community.
MISSION CREEK 2024
Something magical happens
every year when Mission Creek rolls around. Though we celebrate Iowa City's robust ecosystem of music, literature, and community every day, the festival structure gives us permission to gorge on pure artistry for three whole days. Those three days run on adrenaline a festival provides—continuously running to the next music set, the next reading, and the next memory made. But what makes Mission Creek most exhilarating is how extreme it feels to consume all of it.
Rather than run from stage to stage like many festivals, you must run from venue to venue, from quiet to loud, from literary to musical. One minute, you might be rocking to the ear-splitting rock from the fivepiece band Osees, and the next, you might be meditating to the operatic chanting of Hatis Noit, barefoot with a microphone and a pedal looper. To be a Mission Creek festival-goer is to be disciplined and willing to be challenged by sound.
As we look back on our 19th year of Mission Creek, each memory and performance feels like a collage of diverse venues, musicians, authors, and audiences that shouldn't fit well together—but cut and pasted together, presents an exciting kaleidoscope unlike any other festival.
Just as we gorged ourselves on music, poetry, and connection just two short months ago. In this 2024 Mission Creek look-back, allow us to gorge on those memories and experiences.
Remembering Chris Wiersema & Sarah Shonrock
The 19th Mission Creek Festival was a year of rememberance, with the passing of two extraordinarily significant members of the Mission Creek family. This year we lost our dear friends and collaborators Sarah Shonrock and Chris Wiersema.
Sarah's work at The Englert and Mission Creek in the box office and front of house propelled the festival to new heights in terms of the experience for passholders and artists behind the scenes. She always adapted to the festival's evolving needs with her trademark calm, cool attitude and she worked hard to ensure that Mission Creek–and really, all art–was accessible for the entire community.
Chris, a generational programming talent, served as one of the primary curators at Mission Creek for over a decade. His singular taste helped define the festival's idiosyncratic identity and what it means to celebrate independent art. He steered so many impactful festival moments from concept to actuality–we all remember legendary art-rockers Faust onstage at Gabe's with a jackhammer! And even when he had moved onto other projects, he was always a coffee, phone call, or instant message away to help steer us in the right direction. When we called him to get feedback on whether booking the Osees for this year's event was the right move, he politely replied, "It's about time!"
Mission Creek Festival would not be what it is today without their hard work, thoughtful dedication, and the love they brought to the community. We dedicated this year's festival to their memories.
A kickoff to any event is a delicate balancing act, but that's why a first Mission Creek night at Hancher is the key. The building's ambiance made things feel extra special as author Hanif Abdurraqib waxed poetic about basketball, L'Rain brought meditative, experimental pop, and Neko Case's powerhouse vocals filled the auditorium. A perfect lineup that encapsulated Mission Creek, blurring the lines between music and literature.
Friday Night at The Englert.
indigo de souza george
Pairing Indigo De Souza and George Clanton on the same night struck an interesting balance between the vintage pop and the burgeoning female indie folk movement. De Souza brought a space for the audience to meditate on living, on relationships, on growing up. Bringing a serenity over the theater, as audience members casted a glance at the Iowa basketball score, De Souza's bewitching voice filled the space and cast a spell, while also providing opportunities to yell.
PHOTOS: CAT DOOLEY
george clanton
clanton
Lo-fi artist George Clanton seems teleported from the set of an early '2000s MTV Unplugged concert, with spiky acid-bleach hair and synth-laden hooks. Clanton brought a hypnotic light show, a devoted fanbase, and fully laid into the character of George Clanton—some sort of secret member of a boy band shot to superstardom. Clanton rendered The Englert unrecognizable with lasers and animated flashing smiley faces galore.
PHOTOS: ALYSSA LEICHT
SaturdayNightatTheEnglert.
The Englert's Saturday lineup was a practice in opposites. Pairing Southern songstress S.G. Goodman with California psych rock band Osees resulted in a hypnotic night. From a quiet song of longing, to yelling about haunted dreams, and from a seated crowd basking in vocals, to moshing attendees rocking to double drum kits—polar opposites created musical harmony.
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Black joe lewis boasts soul and garage blues hits like "bitch, i love you" and "Black Snake." for fans of howlin' wolf and james brown.
Walter Trout was the lead guitarist for canned heat and john mayall's bluesbreakers. A respected blues musician — a sideman for the likes of john lee hooker and big mama thornton.
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Keb' mo' defines modern blues, getting his start at 21 with papa john creach, keb has five blues and americana grammy awards.
Catfish keith is both an iowan resident and a nationally recognized acoustic blues guitarist, combining delta blues and roots music for over twenty independent radio hits. robert cray embodies the blues hall of fame, sharing the stage/studio with the likes of b.b king, chuck berry, stevie ray vaughn, and even a musical film cameo in ANIMAL HOUSE.
A lot of the magic of Mission Creek lies in its use of venues. Iowa City is fortunate to be home to a vast array of venue atmospheres. Maybe you ruminated with the stripped-down artistry of Hatis Noit or Nadah El Shazly in the darkness of Riverside Theatre. Maybe you moshed with YXNG RASKAL at Trumpet Blossom's intimate, sunny space. Maybe you cracked open a Venue Hopper Lager and basked in the warmth of horns with The Blake Shaw Big(ish) Band at Reunion Brewery. Or maybe you closed it down at Gabe's with hip-hop and dance beats of Armand Hammer and Pelada. A venue vibe can make or break a concert, and Mission Creek is a prime example of matching venue with artist.
THE ENGLERT HANCHER TRUMPET BLOSSOM REUNION GABE'S RIVERSIDE
PHOTOS: CAT DOOLEY & ALYSSA LEICHT WRITTEN BY: ELISABETH OSTER
Perhaps the most unique feature of the festival is its fusion between music and literature. Music is inherently literary, with a reliance on lyrical poetry. And in the same way, writing has its musical rhythms with each syllable. The pairing is natural and particularly welcome in a renowned city of literature. We welcomed Hanif Abdurraqib, Morgan Parker, Zachary Pace, and many more to a variety of formats—all curated by Nina Lohman.
Just as Mission Creek curated national literary talent for the fest, we're also aware of the distinct privilege Iowa City has to house many renowned writers within the Iowa Writers' Workshop. The Lit Walk provides writers the opportunity to read their work in both a vibrant plant shop and among racks of clothing, rushing from location to location in true festival fashion.
For the first time ever, small press and literary magazines joined up for our book fair in a bowling alley at Spare Me!
Let's give it up for our amazing photographers who capture all the mems for Mission Creek. Here's a look at some of their brilliant work, and what their fave moments were!
SO FAR...
J MCF COCKTAIL PARTY ON STAGE!
J MCF BINGO ON STAGE!
PHOTOS:
We think of fun first when it comes to Fundraising at The Englert.
We want everyone to join in, be a part of the community, feel engaged, inspired, and leave activated. We had our first ever Bingo Fundraiser on stage. Over thirty local artists and small businesses donated prizes, Jarrett Mitchell of Fox Head Beer was our Bingo Caller, and people went home happy, dreaming of bingo daubers dabbing.
Feeling FOMO? Don't worry, we'll have more.. Why? Because we think of fun first when it comes to fundraising. Yeehaw. ~
Paige Samek, Senior Development Manager
Dispatches from
PHOTO:
WHAT IS NIVA?
The National Independent Venue Association, in which The Englert is a member, works to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent US performance venues, promoters, and festivals. The collective is leading the #fixthetix initiative, including two current bills to reform live event ticketing. Every year, our team heads to NIVA's annual conference to see how The Englert can continually improve. NIVA '24 landed our Programming Coordinator, Grace Merritt, in New Orleans to attend panels, network with other independent venues, gain new business tools, and experience the New Orleans music scene. Take a up-close peek at some of Grace's notes from her time at the convention as we look towards next year in Milwaukee!
Grace's NIVA '24 Notes
J how to nurture emerging talent? how to retain?
J representation with intention
J curating events in alignment with your audience and community within the culture of the world
J making artists part of the story
J how to ensure artists are equipped to survive / sustain their art?
J there are no bystanders, only participants
J supporting the community returns support from the community
J how venues can make it clear in the contracting process that the show is a safe space
Ticketing Tips
from The Englert Staff
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The secondary market (ie StubHub, Vivid Tix) is sneaky and scammy. If something goes wrong with your ticket not purchase from the original website, the venue can't do anything about it.
2 ALWAYS buy tickets directly from the venue.
AVOID sponsored Google search results.
Where it gets tricky: If you search (fill in the blank artist) tickets Englert, sponsored Google results come up first. These are paid for by secondary ticket vendors. Check for the Sponsored tag and avoid, and scroll down and make sure it's the venue website.
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Why NOT secondary and resale tickets?
J The secondary ticket market is damaging to venues, taking money away from venues and artists alike.
J You will overpay. Shows that are not sold out at our venue and have the available seating, or even a general admission show, that may be a $40 ticket, might go for $182 on these websites.
J You might buy a ticket that isn't even real. This is called a spec ticket where a secondary ticket seller sells a ticket they don't have and then go try to find one for you. This might mean your seat doesn't exist day of show, or you might buy a general admission ticket for a show that has reserved seating, for example.
J You help your local arts nonprofit! Buying tickets from our venue helps us continue to bring quality performers to Iowa City. Fees goes directly to maintaining our historic building.
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Learn more about ticketing legislation.
Unfair ticketing practices continues to garner headlines and lawsuits. We're a member of NIVA and its #FixtheTix Intiative, actively supporting a current bill called "Fans First Act."
Andy and Phoebe's love affair with The Englert began long before they became Sponsors. They got married on our stage in 2006 and used to watch movies here, with their friends filling up their popcorn and selling them tickets.
Andy & Phoebe Martin
Why they do what they do :
Phoebe: Being a realtor goes beyond buying and selling houses. It's about creating community and ensuring we support each other. I focus on making clients aware of Iowa City's offerings, helping them find services like landscaping, and guiding their philanthropic interests. My role is to stay informed about the community and provide valuable connections, ultimately building relationships and enhancing lifestyles.
Andy: Our services compliment each other. We don't buy and flip houses; our focus is on removals, historic renovations and finding living solutions. Whether it's upgrading to a better kitchen, helping someone stay in their home as they age, or making a house more suitable for raising a family, the service aspect is the most rewarding part of the job.
fave englert performances : Margaret Cho, Henry Rollins, Lucinda Williams, Kamasi Washington
All time favorite englert moment : My all time favorite Nutcracker moment was when Isaac was a baby, about eight months old. We were in the balcony watching the show, and when the gunshot went off, we both woke up— turns out we had both fallen asleep.
That and getting married on stage, of course.
A LOOK AT
Sometimes, a musician needs to perform in a room where each twang, bluesy guitar riff, and howled lyric fills its high-ceiling wood rafters and cuts through the aroma of smoked meat. That room happens to be Iowa City's Wildwood BBQ and Saloon —just off the city's main freeway is a melodic and mouth-watering refuge. Though the Englert hosts plenty of blues, country, and rock songwriters on our stage, sometimes, a different venue is a better fit for a show. When creating experiences, it's not just about the caliber of the artist, but also finding the atmosphere to best appreciate their artistry. Wildwood provides a laidback, up-close experience that allows for more dancing and less barrier between audience and artist. For soul-blues band Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears, the venue allows the high-energy, passionate vocals of hits like "Bitch, I Love You" to electrify concertgoers. For acoustic songwriter Tommy Prine, the space allows the audience to hone in on the raw emotion of Prine's lyrics. And for Southern rock artist Paul Thorn, the stages emphasizes the humor of Thorn's lyrics to each onlooker's ears. Experiencing a show at Wildwood provides a refreshing raw glimpse at the best songwriting and blues vocals of today, plus, you can never go wrong with dinner and a show.
ENGLERT PRESENTS LIVE @ WILDWOOD
JUL 09 AUG 24 sep 25
BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS
Soul & garage blues
TOMMY PRINE
Singer-Songwriter, and son of John Prine
PAUL THORN
Southern rock & americana
WORDS: ELISABETH OSTER
To know before you go:
The floor of Wildwood is on a first come, first served basis, standing room only. A very limited number of tables will be available for reservation through Wildwood's website. Table reservations do not include admission; Englert show tickets must be purchased separately.
A peek at the menu
There's nothing more classic than a dinner-and-a-show combo! And what could be better than Wildwood's renowned BBQ menu? Here's a taste:
James McMurtry at Wildwood in 2022. PHOTO : JASON SMITH
PRODUCTION BEHIND THE SCENES H
Look at the amazing people behind the scenes that keep the train running! They do everything from making sure the lights are on to making sure your patron experience is perfect.
We are filled with gratitude for our top level members and supporters of The Englert. Our Friends of The Englert are essential in allowing us to present world-class art, serve diverse audiences, and develop programs that innovate and educate.
