Jack has made it! He has been in Hollywood filiming much of December but is back for our NYE show at the Meyer. Come see a rising star with American Idol and Let me be Franks at our annual best of Let me be Franks show at the Meyer theatre Dec. 31st. Show is at 9pm with champagne at midnight party favors and deserts. Let’s bring in the New Year right with Let me be Frank!
Catch “A Frank’s Christmas at Prange’s” every night thru Dec. 23rd and Dec 27th, and 28th at 8pm. Matinee’s at 1pm also on Dec. 19th and 21st. Get your laugh on with Franks!
Thursday December 12th at the Green Bay Distillery Amy Riemer makes her debut after having baby jack two months ago. It’s a “Christmas Tribute” Elvis, Reba and Neil Diamond sing all their Christmas hits at the Green Bay Distillery! For reservations call 920-393-4403 for dinner and show. 6pm dinner 7:30 show!
“A Frank’s Christmas at Prange’s” 2013
This year’s theme keys on Prange’s Christmas window displays.
GREEN BAY, Wis., (WFRV) – In black and white, the song list (below) for “A Frank’s Christmas at Prange’s” tells only a little of what Let Me Be Frank Productions generates on the stage of the Meyer Theatre in downtown Green Bay.
It’s the 14th year for “A Frank’s Christmas.” Shows continue through Dec. 28, with some performances held on the road. Info is at www.letmebefranks.com.
Here’s the show’s skeleton:
Song list
“Silver Bells,” Company
“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” Paul Evansen
“What Child is This?” Kasey Corrado
“Do You See What I See?” Lisa Borley
“It’s Christmas Time,” Frank Hermans
“Jingle Bell Rock,” Tom Verbrick
“Santa Baby,” Kasey Corrado
“I Want You for Christmas,” Pat Hibbard
“How Great Thou Art,” Frank Hermans
“We Wish You the Merriest,” Ben Cahall, Paul Evansen
Holiday instrumental featuring ballet dancers Hailey Lestrud and Kristen Brockman and the band: Dennis Panneck, guitar; Tony Pilz, keyboard; Adam Cain, drums; Pat Hibbard, bass
“O Holy Night,” Ben Cahall
“I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus,” Lisa Borley
“The Little Drummer Boy,” Pat Hibbard
“Deck the Halls,” Company
“My Grown Up Christmas List,” Lisa Borley
“On a Snowy Christmas Night,” Frank Hermans
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” Kasey Corrado
“A Holly Jolly Christmas,” Paul Evansen and Company
If that were the lineup for a concert, it would be an okay concert – mostly songs people know and expect.
Frank’s juices everything up.
Songs seldom are stock versions. For instance, Lisa Borley jazzes up “I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus.” For “How Great Thou Art,” Hermans puts on his Elvis Presley voice – big and strong, and what people like to hear from him. Most songs come with some form of dancing, or little scenes of action separate from the singer.
AND everybody is costumed, with everybody playing an individual character. Most of the performers play figurines from historic Christmas window displays* from H.C. Prange in downtownGreen Bay. Some are in brilliant red-and-green elf costumes, some are helpers dressed in candy-stripe outfits. Santa (Tom Verbrick) is there. Frank Hermans plays Jack Frost, not the mythical frosty/icy guy but a widowed character fromIrelandwho is the creator/caretaker of the window displays and their figurines.
NEW AND ORIGINAL to this production are two ballerina characters. Dressed in festive tutus, Hailey Lestrud and Kristen Brockman are front and center through much of the show. Mostly, they’re there to look at, kind of like music box dancers. But they do have a big ballet dance number and add bits of backup singing and movement and finally speak, with one adding to the comedy.
When Jack Frost/Hermans is not around, the figurines talk and goof around among themselves. Each is an individual character. All want to be alive some time, through a miracle. Around this story, out come the songs, and all together it’s a more than likable event (4½ stars out of 5) that’s in keeping with the popularity of this production every year.
Hermans, as usual, is comically dangerous on stage. Saturday night, he veered from the set course of the show several times with spur-of-the-moment kidding around, and sometimes cast members ran with a joke. That gives the show a spontaneous feel.
Individual singing is solid along the way, with Lisa Borley at times sensational in the dynamic color of her voice.
Jokes big and small are liberally sprinkled. Big: Jack Frost/Hermans’ response to what his Christmas wish is, which won’t be repeated here and spoil its effect. Little: Kasey Corrado’s brain-wave connection to the word “pie,” which to her is a word that’s pronounced the same but is spelled differently – and not many people get the mathematical joke (making it all the more fun for people who do get it; it’s a cosmic thing in keeping with her character).
The show has reverent moments and cute moments, single-focus scenes (Ben Cahall’s “O Holy Night”) and lots of 3-D production sequences with layered singing and much motion from bodies, sound and lights. This is not a little deal at all. Much fun.
*- Neville Public Museum in Green Bay on Friday, Nov. 29, starts “Holiday Memories: Prange’s Christmas Windows.” More on the exhibit and tie-in events are at www.nevillepublicmuseum.org. Frank’s show is a fictional spinoff from the windows story. In the refreshment area lobby of theMeyerTheatre are historic photos from various Prange stores and window displays. One photo dates to 1909. Take a look-see.
LONG DISTANCE: It’s always interesting to find out where people are from who come to shows when Frank Hermans asks during introductions. At Saturday’s show, one woman was fromSan Antonio,Texas.
THE VENUE: The Robert T.Meyer Theatre opened Feb. 27, 2002. It seats approximately 1,000. The building opened Feb. 14, 1930, as one of the palatial Fox movie houses. The theater’s interior aura was its saving grace toward the end of the 20th century, when the building was faced an uncertain fate. The architectural/decorative style is defined as Spanish Atmospheric. The auditorium is designed in the manner of a Moorish courtyard of old. The eclectic mix of architectural styles and colors carries throughout the lobbies. One of the Meyer Theatre’s remaining architectural cousins around the country is the Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts in Sheboygan.
THE PEOPLE: Robert Meyer was president and chief executive officer of Tape Inc. ofGreen Bay. The theater took his name at the behest of his wife, Betty (Janet Elizabeth) Rose Meyer, whose financial contribution at a crucial time helped revitalize the building. The Rose family has a history of deep commitment to and involvement in the well being ofGreen Bay. Robert Meyer died in 1984, Betty Rose Meyer in 2008.
You may email me at warren.gerds@wearegreenbay.com. Watch for my on-air features on WFRV at 6:45 p.m. Thursdays and every other Sunday between 6 and 8 a.m. (usually around 7:45 a.m.)
Copyright 2013 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Opening Night for “A Frank’s Christmas at Prange’s” with be a benefit show for Brown County Hunger and Homeless. Friday November 22nd Frank’s fourteenth original Christmas show opens and $10 of every ticket goes to Brown County Hunger and Homeless. Come enjoy the sounds of the Season and memories of Prange’s Christmas windows. Get your laugh on with Franks!
November 22 – December 28……Ah, the memories. Christmas brings out the child in all of us. Remember the beautifully decorated holiday windows at the old H.C. Prange Department Store? It was a tradition to go downtown after consuming Thanksgiving dinner and stand in line with what seemed like thousands of people to get a glimpse of these detailed animated figurines playing, working, sledding—just having fun. It was pure joy! Most kids wanted to just crawl right into those windows and take part in all the Christmas fun. Gosh, if only those figurines would come to life…..
Well, here’s a tip—buy your tickets now for A Frank’s Christmas at the Meyer because this year’s story is based on the figurines in the Prange Department Store windows and you guessed it—they come to life. “I was talking to a guy recently and found out he was the grandson of H. C. Prange, his name is Henry Carl Prange” says Frank Hermans, head of Let Me Be Frank Productions. “We were talking about the figures in the windows. I told him that I remember vividly as a child standing in line to see them and I’d just stare at them. After talking to this guy my mind was made up. I decided I’d do a show about them.”
Hermans plays the caretaker of Santa’s workshop. His name is Jack Frost. There are a lot of fun and crazy things that happen in that workshop and most of it happens behind Jack’s back because it is then that these creatures come to life. There’s mischief and mayhem with colorful characters, great voices (of course these figurines can sing) and show goers will take a trip down memory lane with references to Bruce the Spruce and the old department store. Santa is there too. We don’t want to give away the ending but we will tell you that a Christmas miracle happens. Yes, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year! This show is family friendly, so bring the kids!
Starring: Frank Hermans, Kasey Corrado, Lisa Borley, Paul Evansen, Ben Cahall, Tom Verbrick, Pat Hibbard, Dennis Panneck, Adam Cain, Tony Pilz, and newbies Hailey Lestrud, and Kristen Brockman
A Frank’s Christmas
November 22, 23, 29, 30
December 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 17-23, 27-28
Tickets: $32
8pm
Matinees at 1pm on Dec. 5, 6, 19, 21
Catch My Big Fat Pulaski Wedding – The Honeymoon is over one more triumphant weekend. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm and also a 1pm Matinee on Saturday! It’s a huge hit! Get your laugh on with Franks!
If you would like to see ‘My Big Fat Pulaski Wedding ~ The Honeymoon is Over’ and support a great cause at the same time… There will be a performance at the Ripley Performing Arts Center at Pulaski High School on Saturday, October 19th at 7:00pm. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased by calling Michelle at 865-4464. This show benefits the Pulaski Music Boosters which supports the band and choir programs. We thank Frank for his support!
http://www.wearegreenbay.com/story/warren-gerdscritic-at-large-review-singing-stellar-in-franks-pulaski-wedding-sequel/d/story/uuxyyVipF0-tSJc-dlOJPw Singing stellar in Frank’s ‘Pulaski Wedding’ sequel, Warren Gerds.
Tickets just went on sale for NYE at the Meyer. The best of Franks from 2013, all in one show! $80 a couple or $45 a person includes: A 3 hour show, party favors, champagne toast, and desserts. For reservations call 920-494-3401 or www.ticketstaronline.com