Amplify the Arts board members Bryan Schroeder (left), Ashlee Vitz (center) and T.J. Tincher (right) stand under the marquee of the Walnut Theatre in Brazil. The venue, which opened after World War II, is the base for the group’s effort to bring professional entertainment to rural Hoosiers. Their first show was comedian Ryan Niemiller on Sept. 20, followed by Beatles tribute band Hard Days Night on Oct. 11. Courtesy Amplify the Arts
A line of music fans, mostly of a certain age, wound around the block outside the Walnut Theatre in downtown Brazil last Saturday night. They’d come to hear a band of shaggy haired musicians perform songs like “She Loves You,” “Twist and Shout” and “Yesterday.” Sixty years ago, The Beatles brought those groundbreaking tunes to America during a trio of U.S. tours. But understandably, the Fab Four stuck to major metros, not small Indiana towns of 8,200 residents.
Live, national-caliber entertainment remains rare in rural communities today. Last Saturday’s concert at the Walnut by Hard Day’s Night — a Beatles tribute band from Cleveland, Ohio — was part of an initiative to fill that void.
“Our goal is to bring professional-level entertainment into rural Indiana,” said Brazil resident Ashlee Vitz, one of three Amplify the Arts board members, along with her husband Bryan Schroeder and T.J. Tincher of Greencastle.
That Brazil-based nonprofit group has scheduled a trio of performances at the Walnut, including the Hard Day’s Night concert.
The series began with a Sept. 20 show by Indianapolis comedian Ryan Niemiller, who finished third on “America’s Got Talent” in 2018. Niemiller’s show drew 140 people to the theater. Three weeks later, Hard Day’s Night brought a crowd of 175 fans, with several dressed in Beatles T-shirts and psychedelic attire. Next up is a Nov. 8 concert by Dirty Deeds, an AC/ DC tribute band from northeastern Ohio. This month, the Amplify the Arts board will discuss the next steps. Ticket prices were $16.95 for Hard Day’s Night, and the same for the upcoming Dirty Deeds show. “Not only do we want to bring professional-level entertainment, but we want to make it affordable and accessible,” Vitz said. “For many people in the Wabash Valley, travel is a hurdle and price is a hurdle.” Yet, laughs or foot-tapping joys are just as beneficial to folks in small towns as they are to those in large cities.
Clay County residents have frequented the Walnut Theatre since the post-World War II era. The spot at 22 S. Walnut St. in Brazil was originally occupied by the Sourwines Opera House, which was built in 1909 and later became the Sourwine Theatre. Fire destroyed the Sourwine in 1947, according to The Indiana Album history website. In 1948, the newly constructed Cooper Theatre debuted at that location and became the Walnut. Mark and Gayla Thiemann bought the Walnut nearly four decades ago, after Gayla spotted its vacancy while the couple was driving past. The single-screen theater had been closed for a year when the Thiemanns decided to purchase it. Its schedule ever since has been anchored on movies, shown Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The 800-seat Walnut holds a unique niche. “There’s not a whole lot of one-screen theaters,” Mark Thiemann said. Indeed, among the few others are the Historic Artcraft Theatre in downtown Franklin, Indiana, a 625-seat facility dating back to 1922.
While movies are the Walnut’s staple, the live music of Hard Day’s Night and Dirty Deeds represents a new, or at least recent twist. “I can’t remember that last concert,” Thiemann said.
The Cleveland band Hard Day’s Night — named, of course, for The Beatles’ 1964 album, single and movie — is no stranger to cozy venues.
“We do several smaller theater shows over a year and find most of them very much like Saturday’s show at the Walnut Theatre — a good cross mix of age groups, all big Beatles fans, which makes it easier for us,” said Frank Muratore, who portrays Paul McCartney for the group. “That’s the beauty and privilege we get as an award for performing these great songs by The Beatles.”
The multi-generational aspect of their audiences at live performances — occurring six decades after Beatlemania actually happened — is present in the tribute band’s lineup. Muratore is joined in the foursome by his son Mike, who plays as John Lennon, while jazz-trained John Auker depicts George Harrison and Al Francis handles drums as Ringo Starr.
Complete with Liverpudlian accents and wit, long-haired wigs, ‘60s clothes and vintage instruments, the band has toured the U.S. and abroad since 1996. Last Saturday was its first stop in Brazil, Indiana. “Thanks to all who attended,” Frank Muratore said, “and maybe we’ll be back some day.” Such acts fit the Amplify the Arts mission and the Brazil venue. “I foresee the Walnut Theatre being the main home base as this expands,” Vitz said. She, her husband and Tincher see the Walnut as “a home of live entertainment, with something for everyone.”
Indeed, the Dirty Deeds concert may be followed by an actor trained in entertaining kids, Vitz said.
She visited the Walnut often as a youngster growing up in nearby Center Point. “I saw my first movie there. I had my first date there. It’s full of memories, and now I get to make some new ones,” said Vitz, whose 3-year-old daughter helped with the Hard Day’s Night preparations.
Vitz’s early introduction to the arts included performing and acting, beginning at age 5. She graduated from Northview High School in 2003 and then earned a theater degree in 2008 from Indiana State University, the first of her four college degrees. Vitz also continues to perform in productions at the Crossroads Repertory Theatre on the ISU campus.
Her fellow Amplify the Arts board members also have long ties to professional entertainment. Their network helped bring Niemiller, the comedian who’s also an ISU alum, to the Walnut. They are supported by multiple sponsors and volunteers, which are vital in setting up equipment, securing a rental RV as a green room for acts, ticket taking and other duties.
And the organization could use even more.
“Being a startup is always challenging, and we’re always looking for sponsors,” Vitz said.
The project could help reintroduce the Walnut to folks who’ve not been there for a while, Mark Thiemann, the co-owner, said. Such events lift spirits.
“I think it adds to the quality of life — a little bit of entertainment,” Thiemann said. “Of course, everybody can watch shows now on their phones or at home, but there’s the social aspect of it.”
Conversations between old friends after shows don’t end in the theater lobby. “They’ll take the conversation outside and talk for another 20 minutes or so with people they haven’t seen for a while,” Thiemann said.
That atmosphere is a goal for Amplify the Arts shows.
“There’s a beautiful thing that happens with live entertainment,” Vitz said. “People put away their differences for a while and just enjoy a shared experience, and that’s really beautiful.”
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