Whether old world Paris or modern day Cedar Rapids, a salon is the go-to place to let your hair down.

SPT Theatre’s upcoming A Modern Salon at Brucemore is a cut above tradition, offering friendly twists to the French twists of long ago. Performances run Fridays and Saturdays, Jan. 13 to 28. Tickets are quickly disappearing, with all dates but Jan. 28 already sold out.

The popular event, now in its ninth year, “hearkens back to the salons of the late 19th and early 20th century where artists and literati got together and shared music and art and talked about the issues of the day,” says Doug Elliott, 53, of Cedar Rapids, one of the four founders of the small professional theater known as SPT. “That might not sound fun to people these days, but it’s a lighthearted approach to that same concept.

“We pick a theme each year. This year’s theme is ‘Neighbors,’” he says. “It’s been ‘Time’ and ‘Dreams’ and ‘Memories’ and ‘Home.’ We pursue that theme through music and monologue and tomfoolery.”

“Neighbors” cuts across boundaries, just like the music on the program, spanning the 1950s to today.

“We’re going to explore neighbors in a variety of ways,” Elliott says. “Neighborhoods are defined by relationships or proximity, whether it’s the person next door or a country to the north.”

As always, it’s designed to be an evening of great friends and great entertainment in a great hall, with a great guest. Audience members are encouraged to dress up, but tuxes and cocktail dresses aren’t mandatory. It’s all about an intimate evening among friends.

“It’s really just like going to a party and four show-offs show up,” says Elliot, whose SPT colleagues include Janelle Lauer, Jane Pini and Gerard Estella. All are well-known in local performance circles and beyond.

This year they’re bringing back a neighbor from the north — Jeff Ircink of Wisconsin, who trod the boards at Theatre Cedar Rapids, the Follies and Riverside Theatre in the mid-1990s.

“We’re always trying to introduce audiences to somebody new or reintroduce them to somebody they thought they knew, in a different way,” Elliott says. “We vary between authors and musicians. We’re looking for somebody who can bring something the four of us don’t have. We’ve had actors and a fiddle player. Last year we had Rob Nassif, who everybody thinks of as a composer, but he has a passion for magic, and that turned out to be a surprise entertainment for people.”

Ircink, 47, is an actor, singer, writer, theater- and movie producer. He spent 12 years honing his craft in California before returning to his native Wisconsin in 2009, settling in Greendale, about 20 minutes south of downtown Milwaukee.

He’ll bring a couple of monologues, solo and ensemble singing to the Modern Salon mix.

“I’ve been wanting to work back in Cedar Rapids — 1997 was the last time I performed (there),” says Ircink, who moved to Los Angeles in 1998. “It’s going to be nice to work again with Doug and Jane and Janelle. They’ve got a really decent reputation in town. It’ll be nice to perform there and in front of people who have seen me perform, just not in a while. And at Brucemore, too — what a great venue.”

Ircink lived in Cedar Rapids from 1992 to 1997, starring as Space Punk in “Starmites” (with Lauer and Elliott) and Tom in “The Glass Menagerie,” and Jeff in “17 Days” at Theatre Cedar Rapids. He also performed in “Jack and Jill,” “Blood Brothers” and “Fool for Love” at Riverside Theatre in Iowa City.

His salon appearance will be a departure from all that.

“People really haven’t seen me in this light before,” he says. “I equate the whole night as a Rat Pack-ish night — monologue speaking and singing. A fun night. People will see me in a different light here. That’s what’s exciting about it. I’m really looking forward to it.”

He’s also looking forward to renewing ties with old friends.

“I never stopped keeping in touch since I moved away,” Ircink says. “I didn’t know if or when I’d come back to the Midwest, but I always knew I would be visiting and I didn’t want to have those awkward moments with people.”

“A lot of talented people are in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City and I’ve always thought I wanted to keep these avenues open to write with or perform with. It’s easy to lose touch, but for me, that’s never been an issue,” he says.

Among the many scripts Ircink’s written is “Pass the Salt, Please,” which premiered at an underground erotic art festival in Cedar Rapids in 2007. He’s since turned it into a 13-minute short film starring Academy Award nominee Seymour Cassel and Emmy winner Fionnula Flanagan. It’s been making the rounds of indie film festivals this year, from Sydney, Australia, and Warsaw, Poland, to London, California, Rhode Island, Hawaii and Chicago, picking up awards along the way, including a special citation in Palm Springs.

He also started Babbling Bohemian Productions in 2010 so he can reap the financial benefits of producing his own plays, and otherwise works as a substitute teacher during the school year and a cemetery job in the summer.

“It’s a matter of keeping my head above water,” he says. “Whatever I can do to avoid a full-time job.”

— Diana Nollen

GET OUT

• WHAT: SPT Theatre presents: A Modern Salon at Brucemore
• WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13, 14, 20, 21, 27 and 28 (all but Jan. 28 is sold out)
• WHERE: Great Hall at Brucemore, 2160 Linden Dr. SE, Cedar Rapids
• COST: $40 public, $35 Brucemore members at (319) 362-7375;  includes valet parking, preshow appetizers and wine tasting at 7 p.m., intermission champagne and desserts; evening dress encouraged
• DETAILS: Brucemore.org or Spttheatre.org