entertainment

This week, Nik Wallenda opened his new show in the Gallaxy Theater at Darien Lake Theme Park, and those who have attended the first few shows have been treated to exactly what Wallenda promised -- first class entertainment.

Besides Wallenda and his family performing a high wire act, the show includes performances by dancers, hula hoop artists, a rope gymnast, comedians and jugglers (both the type who toss objects and those who toss each other).

It's Ed Sullivan without The Beatles. It's vaudeville without the travel.

"Me and my wife love vaudeville," Wallenda said. "Her family actually came over from Australia to perform on vaudeville. There's definitely a passion for that. We talked about it a lot and said, 'you know what, let's do a show where we incorporate a bunch of other acts.' "

The idea for the show has been percolating some time, Wallenda said, and after he walked a wire over Niagara Falls, he knew he wanted to come back to Western New York. He said the support he received from the community during the process of getting permission for the walk was so strong, he wanted to do something to give back to Western New York.

From his career in live performance, and with his family's rich history and all of the connections he has with the world's top acts, Wallenda thought he should bring it all together to create a special show.

"I was like, you know let's all get together and make an awesome show for Western New York," Wallenda said. "You heard me at the end, and I mean that, I love this place. I doubt you'll find a show of this volume, this variety at any other amusement park anyplace else in the country, probably not around the world."

At least three times while we talked, Wallenda said, "I love Western New York."

"I get opportunities to perform all over the world, but I love it right here," Wellenda said. "The people love me. I love the people here because they were so supportive."

The 10-week run for the show is the longest Wallenda has stayed in one place in nine or 10 years, he said.

"Ever since I walked over Niagara Falls, I said I wanted to have a permanent place here in WNY," Wallenda said. "A year went by and I was busy, but nobody from Western New York really stepped forward and said, 'hey, we want you here.' The casino offered a little bit. They wanted, but then they couldn't fulfill. So many places reached out, but never followed through, then Darien Lake was like, 'we want to do it. We're going to follow through. Let's do it.' "

Vincent Nicoletti, marketing director for Darien Lake, said the folks at Darien Lake feel really fortunate to bring a show of such world class caliber to Western New York.

What's so cool about it is if you remember Lena, the way she did the hoops, just the music that she used, it had the classic kind of vaudeville sound, but it was modernized with some hip-hop beats," Nicoletti said. "It's a really cool variety show. A lot of people don't know what to expect when they come here for this show. 'What am I going to go see?' and it's such a big surprise. The level of talent they have in each act is just phenomenal."

Wallenda hopes people from all over the region will come out and see the show. He hopes to make it more than a one-summer-and-done event. He wants to keep coming back.

"We put a lot of money into this," Wallenda said. "I'm used to making a lot more money, but to me it was like, I promised to bring something back here, so let's do it, let's do it in a big way, let's do it right and hopefully we'll be invited back."

Performers included: Sergio & Martha Martinez, the Dancing Gauchos; Nik and Erendira Wallenda, swaypoles; Lianna Ashton, hula hoops; Nick Slimick, on silk ropes; Giuliano and Fabio Anastasini, foot jugglers; Ty Tojo, juggler; Nik, Erendira, & Delilah Wallenda, Alec Bryant, Nick Slimick in the finale, a high wire act. Philippe Thibadeau had a recurring comedic role, including an audience participation routine. Ty McFarlan was the MC.

Performances are Tuesday through Sunday at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are free to park guests and VIP packages, which includes a tour after the show, a meet-and-greet with Wallenda and front-row seats are available.

Nick Slimick

Giuliano and Fabio Anastasini

Sergio Martinez

Philippe Thibadeau

Lianna Ashton

Philippe Thibadeau playing the incorrigible romantic in an audience participation routine.

Ty Tojo

The finale.

VIP guests get their picture taken on stage with Nik Wallenda.

There were no arrests reported Tuesday night during the Journey concert at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center.

The Ghost Riders and the Ghost Riders Drum and Bugle Corps put on a unique show Friday night on Main Street.

The bands performed right on the sidewalk next to Larry's Steakhouse (the show's sponsor) and music fans, maybe about 300 hundred of them, gathered around standing or finding seating as best they could.

The music was great, of course.

The Ghost Rider's great pedal steel player Jimmy "Steel" Duvall.

The Ghost Riders and The Ghost Riders Drum and Bugle Corps team up again for another free concert in Downtown Batavia at 7 p.m., Friday.

The venue this time is Larry's Steakhouse -- well, the concert is outside on the sidewalk and Ghost Rider Bill McDonald encourages music fans to bring their lawn chairs.

Larry's will be serving drink and food specials for the event.

(File Photos)

Press release:

Due to logistical issues in moving this concert to the Genesee County Fairgrounds, this event has been rescheduled for Saturday, Oct. 11th, 2014. If you already have tickets, they are still valid.  

If you have already purchased camping, please come camp with us this weekend for FREE and come back during the weekend of Oct. 11th, 2014 to get the full Jam At The Ridge Experience. More details about the activities for this weekend will be posted on our Web site TheRidgeNY.com as well as our Facebook page.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us keep the music alive at The Ridge NY.

Under the direction of Ric Jones, the Genesee Chorale will perform Antonin Dvorak’s "Requiem Mass" on Sunday at St. James Episcopal Church, Batavia.

Featured vocal soloists are Maureen DeGolyer, soprano, Pat Fussell, alto, Mark Ross, tenor, and Jim Ellison, bass.

Tickets for the 4 p.m. performance will be available at the door and are $10 for adults and $8 for students and seniors.

On Friday, the chorale will perform at 7 p.m. in Albion's Pillars Estate in the Grand Ballroom. There will be complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 and available online at geneseechorale.com or at the door. The Pillars is located at 13800 W. Country House Road, Albion.

Press release:

Jam At The Ridge Presents: Josh Thompson In Concert - Performance Location Change

As you may know, a preliminary injunction has been issued against amplified outdoor concerts at Frost Ridge at this time. To fully comply with the court order and meet our commitment to our guests, the Josh Thompson Concert scheduled for June 7th, 2014 at 5 p.m. (gates open at 4 p.m.) is being moved to:

    J W Jones Hall

    366 Leicester Road
    Caledonia, NY 14423
    Maps:  Google   Bing

The firefighters of Caledonia have been very gracious to provide this space and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts. This location is only 14 minutes from camp and is easy to find. If you have any trouble, please come to camp and get a map.

Ticket-holders, please go directly to the venue at the address above.

Campers, please register at the campground and take the FREE shuttle to the venue.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us keep the music alive at The Ridge.

ADDITIONALLY: The attorneys involved in the two lawsuits over Frost Ridge met in conference Friday in the chambers of Judge Robert C. Noonan. The meeting was primarily to go over the calendar of motions and appearances in the case, but attorney Karl Essler was introduced as legal counsel for the Zoning Board of Appeals. Somehow, the ZBA, which has consistently found that Frost Ridge is a legal nonconforming use within the Town of Le Roy's zoning laws, was not notified it was a party to one of the lawsuits. The ZBA was not represented at a hearing that proceeded Noonan's ruling on the current injunction against amplified music and alcohol service at Frost Ridge. David Roach, attorney for Frost Ridge, said Essler will be permitted to file a written argument in the case without opposition from the plantiff's counsel. It's unclear how the additional information might or might not lead to a modification of Noonan's ruling. No date was announced for the next court proceeding.

Veterans and guests at the VA Hospital were entertained this afternoon by The Manhatten Dolls, a group of singers from NYC who perform the great vocal harmonies and songs of the 1930s, '40s, '50s and '60s.

Batavia resident Rashaad Santiago, whom we featured in a story last month, is one of three finalists in the reality TV series "Face Off."

The show airs at 8 p.m. on the SciFi Channel. 

Santiago will be at City Slickers tonight for the season finale to celebrate the event and answer any questions people might have about the show.

Tonight, Yume Asian Bistro, on Veterans Memorial Drive, celebrated the opening of its bar with music played (as a DJ) and performed (vocals and guitar) by Brent Persia. The owners say if music on Friday and Saturday nights after the dinner hour goes over well, they will continue to offer it.

Previously: Pair of young chefs see opportunity in Batavia for Asian cuisine, especially sushi

This is Batavia High School student Ross Chua busting out with his beatboxing talent at the 2014 "Batavia High School Talent Show" last night, which aimed to raise funds for Thomas Ackley, a former student of the Batavia City School District who is fighting cancer (see April 7 article).

Masters of Ceremony Amanda Schelemanow (member, BHS chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society) and Spencer Hubbard (Mr. Batavia 2013) introduced 16 entertaining performances by students and faculty. Here they are (all performances are vocal unless otherwise specified):

Tim Martin and Lauren Dunn, piano/vocal performance of "Little Talks"

Steven O'Brien doing yo-yo tricks (which the event's faculty supervisor, BHS chorus teacher Dan Grillo, called the best he has ever seen in person).

Darneisha Thomas, "Bound to You"

Mason Russ, "Boss of Me" (theme from the TV show "Malcolm in the Middle")

Nephy Williams, "Beautiful"

Kesa Janes, "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" (from "The Phantom of the Opera")

Justin Baiocco, "My My, Hey Hey" (from the Neil Young album Out of the Blue). Baiocco's talent consisted not only of the vocal performance, but also his ability to play the guitar and the harmonica at the same time.

Laura Guiste, "Hallelujah"

Marissa Carbonell, "Oh! Darlin' "

Andrea Gilebarto, "Nightingale" (vocals and piano)

Hannah Bluhm, "If I Die Young"

Dan Grillo, "Good Bye Yellow Brick Road" (piano and vocals)

Rachel Flint and Ashley Williams, "There You'll Be"

McKenna Dziemian, "Set Me Free" (sung in both English and Korean)

And finally, there was the "Faculty Dixieland Band" playing "Down By the Riverside" and "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue"

Dan Grillo (drums), Stuart McLean (bass)...

Sean Krauss (clarinet), Brandon Ricci (trumpet) and Jane Haggett (piano)

Ken Mistler has been booking more live music into City Slickers. Friday night, Erin Sydney Welsh performed. While I was there, at least six people came up to me and said something along the lines of, "Doesn't she have a beautiful voice? Are you going to take her picture and post it on The Batavian?" Welsh does have a beautiful, strong, clear voice. She performed a variety of covers and original songs. Welsh is 18 and a senior at Clarence High School.

When Rod Rankin -- the new general manager of Darien Lake Theme Park -- was a young man, he never thought he'd wind up running facilities with rollercoasters and waterslides.

"If you'd asked me I would have said you were crazy," Rankin said. "I was going to be a high school teacher."

He studied secondary education at the University of Southern California and was working as a production manager at Paramount Pictures when Paramount bought a chain of six entertainment parks. Paramount transferred him to the theme park division. He's been working in and running theme parks for 25 years now.

But it's worked out for the would-be high school teacher. Asked what his favorite part of his job is his first response is that it's working with the youngsters who take jobs in the parks each summer.

"It's the good and the bad of this industry," Rankin said. "You're training a new generation of children every year, because this is really kind of a first job. That's the good part." Then he laughs (Rankin, a big man, has a hearty laugh). "The bad part is you're training a new generation of kids every year."

Rankin replaces Bob Montgomery, who ran the park for two years, but decided over the winter that he wanted to return to his native Canada to pursue opportunities closer to home.

Under Montgomery's leadership, Darien Lake was working on developing more of a local flare, bringing in Anchor Bar to serve wings, serving Weber Mustard and Dippin' Dots. That's a trend that will continue, Rankin said.

Besides hiring Nik Wallenda to provide entertainment throughout the season, Three Brothers Winery has agreed to set up a wine-tasting area, a wine shop and will cross promote Darien Lake with tags on its bottles at retail locations.

Another change coming to Darien Lake is a redesigned menu for Beaver Brothers and Maria's Italian Kitchen. The new menu will focus on lighter fare for health conscious diners, Rankin said. Just this week he hired a new chef to oversee the creation of the new menu.

With Paramount, Rankin started out as a project manager and was involved in rollercoaster development.

He describes himself as a coaster junkie. A native of the Los Angeles area, Rankin had plenty of access to coasters at numerous theme parks growing up, notably, of course, Disney and Knotts Berry Farm (he spent a lot of time at Knotts, he said).

Does that mean there's a new coaster in the works for Darien Lake? He won't say. He did say, "It's really fun when you go into a facility to learn the new coasters and then hopefully, eventually, build a new coaster."

Rankin spent 22 years with Paramount and its successor company, before leaving in 2007 as the Western regional vice president. He's been with Herschend Family Entertainment for four years, most recently as general manager of the company's park in Denver (unrelated side note: Herschend recently acquired the Harlem Globetrotters).

A certified master gardener, Rankin is looking forward to putting down roots in Genesee County.  He was excited that he had no trouble selling his home in Denver. He's looking forward to visiting the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Batavia. His gardening interest drifts toward heirloom tomatoes and roses. In fact, he's started a rose garden at every theme park he's run and Darien Lake will be no different, he said.

Darien Lake Theme Park's opening day is May 10. The park is hiring now for seasonal positions.