The Gorton Center in Lake Forest will feature entertainment for all ages this summer.
“We have such a wide range of who we’re trying to serve,” explained Director of Events Ann Wildman. “We always try to keep a diverse mix. I look at different demographics and different genres.”
The season starts at 7:30 p.m. on June 20 with Dueling Pianos, featuring Pianomonium.
“It’s a fun, comedic event with audience participation,” Wildman said. She noted that this is primarily adult entertainment. Tickets are $21-$33.60.
Long-time dueling piano pros Mike Sherman and Robert Deason have been performing as Pianomonium for two years.
“We’re very funny together,” Sherman said. “We engage with each other onstage. It’s almost like we’re siblings. There’s a lot of bickering and messing with each other while we take requests and play the songs for the audience.”
The first act of the show is preplanned. “It’s a lot of performance pieces, a lot of greatest hits — Billy Joel, Elton John, Queen, Bon Jovi,” Sherman said.
At intermission, the audience members are invited to come on the stage and write on a piece of paper the pieces they want the duo to play.
“Then we come back for act two and it’s nonstop chaos,” Sherman reported. “We play everything, mashing songs up — weird, silly things. We crush out as many songs as we can for that second half of the show.”
It helps that the duo knows thousands of songs, Sherman revealed.
Chris Stapleton Tribute: Tennessee Whiskey will perform at 4 p.m. on June 29.
Wildman said that this group has “broad appeal to all generations, with the hope that families will come and bring their young kids.” Tickets are $15.75-$26.25.
Rich Sawyer formed Tennessee Whiskey in 2022 with local Chicago musicians.
“Our intention was to do six shows a year,” Sawyer said. “Once the word got out, it started to get legs of its own and grow. We have traveled the country. We’ve done shows in Vegas, and we’re going to be in the Hamptons this summer.”
Sawyer said that the songs that get the biggest reaction from audiences include “Tennessee Whiskey,” “White Horse,” and “Fire Away.”
They end concerts with a sing-along of that last number. “Everybody gets their phone lights out,” Sawyer said. “That’s usually so loud.”
Sawyer concluded that the Gorton Center show “will be the closest thing to going to a Chris Stapleton concert.”
Back by popular demand is the Cornhole Classic and Concert on July 13 from 4-7 p.m.
“It will be the fourth year for that,” Wildman said. “It’s a fun community event. And now we’re going to have a VIP lounge.” It will include sofas and a private bar. Tickets are $10.50, $63 for Competitive Division Team, and $1,000 for VIP tickets.
Kids will take a trip in song and dance to Miss Jamie’s Farm at 10:30 a.m. on July 19.
“We love to always have good family and young children programming,” Wildman said.
Tickets are $10.50.
“I’ve been doing this for 11 years, and I’ve been doing five hundred shows a year for many years,” said Jamie Martin, who is known professionally as Miss Jamie.
Martin was inspired to share her love of farming with audiences because she grew up on a 600-acre goat and cattle ranch in a small town in Texas.
“It was such an amazing childhood, exploring the creeks and hanging out with the goats, climbing trees, and getting dirty,” Martin said. “Enjoying time with animals and enjoying time with nature was foundational for me. I hope I can bring a little bit of that old-fashioned life to the kids in the city and beyond.”
Martin will be joined by her band.
“The show is mostly nursery rhymes turned farm,” Martin explained. “We do go on a magical journey of their imagination where we get on a school bus and pretend we’re going to the farm.” Once there, they get to imagine they are animals.
“Pre-K to second-graders love this show,” Martin noted. “It’s very engaging. It’s very physically active.”
The kids will learn about where our food comes from and other farm facts. “But mostly it’s singing and dancing and using their imagination,” Martin concluded.
The series closes on July 27 at 4 p.m. with folk music storyteller Pierce Pettis.
“He appeals to those people who enjoy indie singer-songwriters,” Wildman said.
Tickets are $26.25.
Gorton Center is at 400 E. Illinois Road in Lake Forest. For tickets, call 847-234-6060 or visit gortoncenter.org.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.