Anne Lefter said she promised to make the inaugural year of the Goldfarb Center for Performing Arts a season of joy.
“Not only because we need it, but because this community has looked forward to this facility for 40 years. And the realization of this dream should be a time of celebration for all of us,” said Lefter, who is director of the Goldfarb CPA on the Macomb campus of Western Illinois University.
“I have really purposely tried to curate a season that gives us reasons to come together in joy and experience the arts.”
The first event in the Great Hall is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 16. The Milwaukee-based bluegrass band Chicken Wire Empire will be the theater’s debut act.
“They’ve been making a huge splash the last few years, and I really think we caught them right at the moment when they’re going to ascend,” Lefter said.
“I think in a couple of years we won’t be able to get them because they’re going to break big.”
The performance will also kick off this year’s Al Sears Music Festival.
The first-year schedule
Seven professional shows are scheduled for the Great Hall’s first year. The rest of the lineup:
- Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026 — “Gravity” (matinee performance). “Gravity is three women who have all played Elphaba in ‘Wicked’ on the west end. They are all singing songs from their Broadway careers, telling stories, paying tribute to some of the greatest Broadway divas of all time,” Lefter said.
- Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026 — “Magic Rocks” with illusionist Leon Etienne. “It’s a terrific, spectacular show that’s going to show off the full capabilities of the Goldfarb Center. It’s going to be great for the entire family,” said Lefter.
- Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2026 — The touring production of “STOMP,” which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. “This is a piece of Broadway history. It is dance. It is percussion. It is making noise on everything that is not a drum,” Lefter said. “It is a high energy, incredible production.”
- Saturday, Feb. 6, 2027 — “Forgottonia” by Chris Vallillo, featuring the black and white photography of Tim Schroll. “We couldn’t imagine doing this first season without featuring ‘Forgottonia’ and Chris Vallillo. It’s going to be an amazing celebration of the region,” Lefter said.
- Wednesday, March 24, 2027 — “Big Gravity” by TaikoArts Midwest. “This is an amazing opportunity to experience something from another culture and to bring something we’ve never seen in this region,” Lefter said.
- Monday, April 5, 2027 — The Quad City Symphony Orchestra. “For the first time in 20 years, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra is going to go on tour, and they’re coming to the Goldfarb,” Lefter said. The Masterworks VI performance will include Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony and a newly commissioned cello concerto by Michael Abels.
Lefter said she hopes to present more acts per year in the future, once they’ve gotten established and have an idea of what bookings the region’s audiences respond to.
Subscriptions for the first season at the Goldfarb CPA are available at the Western Presents website.
Tickets for individual shows won’t go on sale until August.
Lefter said all of the professional acts coming in are presented under the GCPA’s Gold Series.
Homegrown acts, such as those from the WIU School of Music and the WIU Department of Theater and Dance, are presented under the Purple Series. Some of those will also be showcased in the Great Hall.
For example, the School of Music’s annual homecoming concert will be held on the main stage.
And the Department of Theatre and Dance will hold a major production in April, according to Tammy Killian, who said they will present “Into the Woods,” the iconic 1995 musical.
“Into the Woods, the first act is all of our favorite fairy tale characters, and the second act is all of the gruesome things that happen to them in the woods,” said Killian, associate dean for the College of Fine Arts and Communication.
“It’s definitely not small children appropriate. However, high school students love it as well as adults and friends.”
Construction continues
Lefter said she’s been trying to book this season since January, even while construction of the building continues.
“We have weekly meetings with our really tremendous partners in River City Construction, who have been incredible throughout this process. There are just so many moving parts in getting a brand-new building into the ground and on the ground,” Lefter said.
She said supply chain disruptions and labor shortages have slowed construction, as well as what she called the moving puzzle pieces of the project.
“Because there are certain things that have to be done before other things can be done. Every little bump impacts everything that’s down the road,” she said.
Lefter said there came a time when they decided to just go ahead and book the season. They have backup plans in place in case the building is not completed in time for the season opener.
“We are putting Plan Bs in motion in case we’re not there in September. But certainly — I hate to even say this out loud — but I think by October we can feel really comfortable that we’ll be on that stage, barring tornadoes and monsoons and things,” Lefter said.
A place for everyone to experience the arts
Lefter said they want the center to be a place for children, families, students, and alumni —a place for everyone to experience the arts.
“And to be reminded that we have more in common than what divides us, and there’s nowhere that you experience that better than in live performance in community as you celebrate what it is about being human that is so amazing,” Lefter said.
“We’re excited that it’s time to make all of these things happen.”
Rick Kurasz, Interim Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication, believes the center will strengthen the town and gown relationship in Macomb.
“There’s something for the university, something for our community and the broader region,” Kurasz said.
Tri States Public Radio produced this story. TSPR relies on financial support from readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department please consider making a financial contribution.
