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‘Jekyll and Hyde’

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Constantine Maroulis as Henry Jekyll, Laird Mackintosh as John Utterson and Deborah Cox as Lucy in "Jekyll & Hyde"

Ryan Hoagland and Deborah Cox are two minds with the same mission: chasing their Broadway dreams with “Jekyll and Hyde.”

Hoagland, 32, of Cedar Rapids, is playing drums and percussion toys for the musical’s national pre-Broadway tour, coming to the Civic Center in Des Moines for eight performances Tuesday through March 10.

Multi-platinum recording artist Cox, 38, of Miami, plays the female lead in the sexy, blood-drenched show that’s based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s tragic tale of good vs. evil, set in 19th century London.

After Des Moines, the tour moves to Chicago and West Palm Beach, Fla., before opening a 13-week engagement in New York from April 5 to June 30. Cox will continue in her leading lady role, but another drummer has been hired for the New York run. Hoagland is savoring every moment of this odyssey, which began in San Diego back in September.

“This is it — these are the top tier. This is Broadway,” he says by phone from a tour stop in Los Angeles.

The details:

  • “Jekyll and Hyde The Musical”
  • When: Tuesday (2/5) to March 10; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through March 8, 2 and 7:30 p.m. March 9, 1 and 6:30 p.m. March 10
  • Civic Center, Des Moines
  • Tickets:  $25 to $73 at Civic Center Ticket Office, Ticketmaster, 1-(800) 745-3000 or DesMoinesPerformingArts.org
  • Show website: Jekyllandhydemusical.com

In “Jekyll and Hyde,” Cox stars opposite “American Idol” season 4 finalist Constantine Maroulis, who was nominated for a Tony for his star turn in “Rock of Ages,” which came to Des Moines in April 2011.

Deborah Cox as Lucy in "Jekyll & Hyde"

Cox plays Lucy Harris, a prostitute and singer who plies her trades at London’s seedy Red Rat, where Dr. Jekyll goes for his bachelor party. Their lives entwine in a love triangle through all facets of Jekyll’s journey.

His search is noble — to create a potion to rid people of the evil he believes has caused his father to fall into a coma. He tests the chemical formula on himself, unleashing an all-consuming evil known as Mr. Hyde.

“It is a very dark, thought-provoking show,” Cox says. “It’s very suspenseful …. You see a person who really has good intentions and really is striving for something better.”

That theme permeates the surrounding characters, including Lucy, who is seeking a way out of her darkness. The action plays out to a driving musical beat, with such showstoppers such as Jekyll’s soaring anthem, “This is the Moment,” and Lucy’s “Someone Like You.”

Drummer Hoagland, who has played many musicals at Theatre Cedar Rapids, loves the rock and R&B twists to this revamped musical score. He gets to cut loose on Jekyll’s transformation and the song “Alive,” where audiences meet Mr. Hyde.

“It’s really, really rocky and edgy,” Hoagland says. “There’s spots in there where I’ve basically been given the freedom to play whatever fill I want. … I change it up every show that I can. It’s just full-out, whatever-I-feel-like-doing in that section.”

Ryan Hoagland

Back home, Hoagland is married, has a toddler daughter, teaches percussion and coaches high school drum lines. Now he’s the one with the learning curve.

“I’ve learned so much just about everything involved in putting a musical together,” Hoagland says.

“I still have to pinch myself every now and then,” he says, when he realizes, “Ohmigod, I’m actually playing for a Broadway show.”

“It still blows my mind.”

‘Book of Mormon’

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Naive Mormon missionaries learn as much about life as they try to teach, when they're sent to Africa in "The Book of Mormon." This scene is from the hit Broadway show, which won nine Tony Awards in 2011, including Best Musica. The first national tour is coming to the Civic Center in Des Moines for 14 performances Jan. 24 to Feb. 3, 2013.

 

Profanity and blasphemy aside, one of the major players in “The Book of Mormon” says the creators of the raunchy “South Park” and “Avenue Q” have crafted a charming show that parodies not only organized religion, but Broadway musicals, as well.

The laugh-riot that swept the 2011 Tony Awards is making its first national tour, landing in the Civic Center in Des Moines for 14 performances from Jan. 24 to Feb. 3, 2013.

“This show is so frigging brilliant. I’m so proud to be part of this show,” says Mike McGowan, 42, a Sioux Falls, S.D., native and graduate of Drake University in Des Moines.

He plays several roles in the hit musical, including Prophet Joseph Smith, who published the Book of Mormon in 1830 and established what is now The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The actor says Smith is treated like a rock star in the script.

“He’s idolized, because he usually appears as a tool that the missionaries use,” McGowan says, adding that “All-American Prophet” is his favorite song in a show full of peppy, bouncy numbers that harken to everything from “The Sound of Music” and “Up with People” to “Wicked” and “The King and I.”

With a cast of 31, it’s the story of two Mormon missionaries who are sent to Africa, where they try to introduce their lord to villagers oppressed by their warlord. All sorts of hilarity ensues, wrapped around much deeper issues, but also filled with images of horror and pop culture through the likes of Hitler, hobbits, Yoda and dancing cups of coffee.

The details

  • “The Book of Mormon“
  • Civic Center, 221 Walnut St., Des Moines
  • Jan. 24 to Feb. 3; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday
  • Tickets: $35 to $130 at the Civic Center Box Office, Ticketmaster outlets, 1-(800) 745-3000 or CivicCenter.org
  • Warning: Contains explicit language
  • Show website: Bookofmormonbroadway.com

“Part of the charm of the show is that it’s like a Rogers and Hammerstein musical,” says McGowan, son of a Navy musician dad and news anchor mother.

A self-proclaimed theater nerd, he was bitten by the theatrical bug at an early age in Sioux Falls, and moved to New York City 14 years ago, where his  impressive resume includes roles in “The Producers” and “Ragtime” on Broadway and a stint as ringmaster for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. A dramatic tenor, he also sang Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass” with Cedar Rapids native Tim Shew in New York.

“The Book of Mormon” musical is “very old-fashioned in its structure,” McGowan says by phone from a tour stop in Seattle. “Bobby Lopez, the composer, has even said the model is ‘The Music Man,’ which is a very Iowa story — the idea that the stranger comes to town to sell a fake idea, but in end, the idea is real and it works. It changes people’s lives, it buoys their spirits. That’s what happens in ‘The Music Man.’

“That also works because Mormons are such an affable people — so friendly and generous and kind,” he says.

“This musical could be a musical about any religion. It could be about Muslims, it could be about Catholics. But what makes it so quintessentially American and perfect for musical theater is because Mormons have that happy, shiny sensibility,” he says. “It’s a brilliant combination of things that way.”

It is, however, rife with profanity and does poke fun at the Mormon way of life, which could easily draw a backlash of wrath and protests. Instead, the Mormon church has taken the high road in its response to the show.

“Officially, the church is very classy,” McGowan says. “They don’t comment on the show. Actually, in every city we’ve been in, they’ve put out three pages of ads in our playbill, saying, ‘You’ve seen the play, now read the book.’ I think that’s just a smart move, because the more attention they bring to it, the more attention we get — not that we need any. The show’s wildly successful.”

McGowan describes himself as a very spiritual person who was raised Catholic, has left the church, but loves theological dialogues. Most of the Mormons he’s spoken with after performances actually are ex-Mormons. “They appreciate the show on a totally different level,” he says.

“It really boils down to this notion at end of show — I don’t think I’m giving away too much by saying it — that when we talk about religion, number one, it’s really important to have a sense of humor. Number two, it doesn’t matter if stories are made up, if they’re myths. What matters is that they point to something bigger. And number three, instead of waiting for heaven, let’s make this paradise. Let’s make the world a better place and quit focusing on what’s going to happen to us after we die,” he says.

“Those are really the most important things about the show. And it lifts you up when think about it that way. You can be shocked. Life is shocking, and hopefully you’ll have a sense of humor about it.  What’s so brilliant about the show is that these awful, shocking things happen, and you can be terribly offended, but ultimately, these people come to an understanding that’s so, so open-hearted and generous and sweet. I hope audiences leave with that sensibility and are lifted,” he says.

If you haven’t seen the show, he cautions against digging too deeply into the plot points and music beforehand.

“One of the things that’s exciting about this show is to come without too much foreknowledge,” he says.

It’s more fun to just let the music and the story flow over you — to discover all the fun that has made believers out of audiences and critics alike.

“You’ve never seen a musical like this. There are things you’ve never heard in a musical,” McGowan says.

“The show has such a positive outlook. It perfectly balances whatever might shock you.”

Related: Review — ‘Book of Mormon’ is sinfully silly fun

Naive Mormon missionaries learn as much about life as they try to teach, when they're sent to Africa in "The Book of Mormon." This scene is from the hit Broadway show, which won nine Tony Awards in 2011, including Best Musica. The first national tour is coming to the Civic Center in Des Moines from Jan. 24 to Feb. 3, 2013.

REVIEW: ‘Book of Mormon’ is sinfully silly fun musical theater extravaganza

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Phyre Hawkins (from left) gives a fiery African welcome to naive elders Mark Evans and Christopher John O'Neill in "The Book of Mormon," onstage through Feb. 3, 2013, at the Civic Center in downtown Des Moines. (Joan Marcus photo)

DES MOINES – Piety and profanity live in glorious harmony in “The Book of Mormon.”

The hot Broadway musical that swept up nine Tony Awards in 2011 is bringing the word to the masses on its first national tour, including a stop at the Civic Center in downtown Des Moines through Feb. 3, 2013. Friday night’s show (1/25/13) was sold out, so don’t hesitate to grab up whatever tickets are left and head to this heavenly happening.

It’s so good — and so bad.

Shining through all the fresh-scrubbed faces, gleaming Osmond smiles, crisp door-to-door uniforms and heavenly happy melodies are constant reminders that this show is the brainchild of the men who sired television’s “South Park” and Broadway’s dirty muppets, “Avenue Q.”

This surely is Joseph Smith’s spooky Mormon hell dream on stage, but the Mormon Church is turning the other cheek and in three full playbill ads, three smiling faces declare, “I’ve read the book,” “The book is always better” and “You’ve seen the play … now read the book.” That’s a classy response to a play you won’t see going door to door anytime soon.

Once you wipe the smile off your face and work the shock out of your system, the show really does have morally uplifting themes of unity in the face of unspeakable horrors — it’s just that you have to wade through some hilarious horrors to get there.

The details

  • “The Book of Mormon“
  • Civic Center,  Des Moines
  • When: Through Feb. 3, 2013; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday
  • Tickets: $35 to $130 at the Civic Center Box Office, Ticketmaster outlets, 1-(800) 745-3000 or CivicCenter.org
  • Warning: Contains explicit language
  • Show website: Bookofmormonbroadway.com

It’s the story of all that goes awry when two eager young elders, beautiful Kevin Price (Mark Evans) and bumbling Arnold Cunningham (Christopher John O’Neill) are sent to Uganda for their two-year mission to convert the natives to the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All sorts of madness and mayhem ensue when their “Lion King” image of Africa is shattered by the world of warlords, female circumcision and AIDS at all ages.

The show is packed full of “Lion King” homages that would make Walt Disney roll over in his grave, beginning with the jubilant “Hasa Diga Eebowai,” that sounds as carefree as “Hakuna Matata,” but is far from a wonderful phrase. Alas, I can’t translate it in print, but suffice it to say, f-bombs fly openly and hit a target deep within your belly. Like so many moments in the show, it seems wrong to laugh, but you just can’t help it.

What keeps audiences glued to their seats instead of springing for the exits is the utter charm wrapped around all the heinous hilarity. The music is so bouncy and bright, the choreography is so bouncy and bright, the actors are so bouncy and bright and the backdrops are so bouncy and bright, that heck, you just bounce right along, in spite of yourself.

The actors are top-flight. Their resumes are long and vibrant, from Broadway to television and film. Special nods go to Evans and O’Neill — the perfect foils for the foibles unfolding around them. Evans is stuffed full of dreamboat derring-do, and stuffed full of himself, while O’Neill is stuffed with dreams of finally fitting in and proving to his dad that he’s not a screwup. They are simply great actors, great singers and great dancers shining in great roles.

The young elders gather for inspiration in "The Book Mormon," the Tony Award-winning hit Broadway musical making its first national tour. The show is onstage through Feb. 3, 2013, at the Civic Center in downtown Des Moines. (Joan Marcus photo)

Samantha Marie Ware belts out her pathos, hope and glory as young Nabulungi, embracing the word of the white elders who promise deliverance from the fear and desolation of her environment. She and her people live under the constant threat of violence, mutilation, rape and death at the hands of a general whose name is not fit for print, and his henchmen — if the villagers survive the scorpions, mosquitoes and lions. We’re not in Kansas anymore. Or Utah.

The villagers are a colorful lot, mixing their native batiks with ball caps and cutoffs, fearful and dismissive of the missionaries in their midst, yet hungry for the promised paradise. But when Elder Price has a crisis of faith and abandons the villagers, bumbling Elder Cunningham must lead them to their happy days.

Trouble is, he’s never read the Book of Mormon, and he lies like a rug. So the word becomes weird, but in the end, not really that far astray from its original intent. The play the villagers devise to show the visiting Mission President what they’ve learned made me gasp and say, “oh my God” out loud, twice.

So, be forewarned. If you’re headed to the show, you will laugh — a lot. You’ll see big, old-fashioned musical theater production numbers full of tap dancing, sequins, fake smiles and fabulous musicality. You’ll see a Drake University alum — Mike McGowan — glow in his various elder statesmen roles. You’ll see Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmer, devils and coffee cups dancing through “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream.” You’ll hear beautiful ballads and blasphemy.

And in the end, you’ll be converted too.

“The BOM” is the bomb.

 

Related: Heavenly hot Broadway musical making its way to Iowa

REVIEW: ‘War Horse’ is magnificent theatrical achievement

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Andrew Veenstra portrays Albert, riding atop Joey, powered by John Riddleberger, Patrick Osteen and Jessica Krueger in "War Horse." Mount Vernon native Alex Morf will play Albert on Dec. 15 and 16 when the production's national tour comes to the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. (Brinkhoff/Moegenburg photo)

DES MOINES — “War Horse” is even more thrilling on stage than on screen.

The 2011 Tony Award-winning Best Play that inspired the blockbuster movie is a magnificent beast of beauty, power and grace. It opened to gasps, cheers and three curtain calls Tuesday (12/11/12) at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, and continues there through Dec. 16.

The show is even more special for Eastern Iowans, since Mount Vernon native Alex Morf, 32, who was wonderful in a supporting role Tuesday, will step into the lead role for all matinee and evening shows Saturday and Sunday.

While we’re used to seeing Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future this time of year, this play, wrapped in the harrowing trappings of war, has an overarching spirit of goodness, honor and kindness. It’s easily a two-tissue experience as we watch a young English boy fall completely in love with his new foal, Joey, a gift his father gave with much sacrifice.

Boy and horse grow together, developing a bond that transcends time, space and trauma when the strapping horse is sold to the British cavalry at the onset of World War I. Joey is shipped to France to serve as an officer’s steed, but through the bombings and strife, is hurtled into impossible peril pulling field guns, dodging tanks, struggling through barbed wire and staring down the barrel of a gun when it seems he can’t go on.

If you’ve seen the movie, you know how that all plays out. That doesn’t lessen the impact of this marvelous piece of theater at its best. It’s an amalgam of impeccable acting, breathtaking battle choreography, multimedia scenery, driving music and puppetry that blazes new trails.

The first national Broadway tour of "War Horse" is onstage at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines from Dec. 11 to 16, 2012. (Brinkhoff/Moegenburg photo)

Every actor in the huge ensemble is solid and crucial to the success of the show, but it’s the horses and auxiliary animals that captivate your attention. The life-size beasts are larger than life in the way they spring into action. Each of the half-dozen or so horses requires three people at the head, heart and hind, bringing such subtly and elegance to their movements and sound effects that the animals seem like breathing flesh and blood, instead of metal framework and transparent cloth.

The minute we see baby Joey onstage, we understand why Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones of Handspring Puppet Company in South Africa received a special Tony award for their work. And when the actors mount the adult horses to ride into battle or frolic across the stage, the moments are truly monumental achievements.

All of the horse operators are dressed in the early 1900s garb of young men, which is another stroke of genius for the overall stage picture. We know they are there, but they are instantly at one with the animals — including an especially hissy goose — so when the horses charge into battle, we see “real” horses rearing on their hind legs. And we weep at their demise.

Music undulates throughout the show, sometimes through the Song Man, a lilting Celtic narrator and his accordion accompanist, other times through a brass band (where Morf plays a mean, crisp trombone) and several times, from the entire cast. The only permanent scenery is a giant swath of torn paper suspended above the stage, where pencil-sketch scenery is projected in animated form. Stark lighting and blinding bomb blasts engulf the stage and audience in the most intense sensory assault at the height of battle.

This is a play that will never grow old, shedding light on a horrible war eclipsed by ensuing 20th century violence. Above all, it is a story of a love and devotion that knows no cost.

The details

  • What: “War Horse”
  • Where: Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, 221 Walnut St.
  • When: Through Dec. 16; 7:30 p.m. through Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday
  • Tickets: $45 to $90 at the Civic Center Box Office, Ticketmaster outlets, 1-(800) 745-3000 or CivicCenter.org
  • Extra: Alex Morf and musical friends from the show will play a bluegrass concert to benefit the Mount Vernon High School theater program, 8 p.m. Dec. 17, Cornell College theater complex

Related: Mount Vernon native saddles up for ‘War Horse’ lead role

 

Mount Vernon native saddles up for ‘War Horse’ lead role

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Generally, Alex Morf plays a young British lad named David, occasionally a young feisty foal named Joey, but during four matinee and evening performances Dec. 15 and 16, the Mount Vernon native will step into the lead role of Albert in “War Horse.”

The first national tour of Broadway’s 2011 Tony-winning Best Play is charging toward the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines for eight performances Tuesday to Dec. 16.

“We all have to be a jack-of-all-trades,” Morf, 32, now based in Manhattan, says by phone from the show’s current tour stop in East Lansing, Mich. “I play the role of the best friend of the main character, but I also understudy about six roles, including the lead, which I’ll be going on for in Iowa.”

Aside from the fact that family and friends will be in the audience, he feels an extra synergy between the play and his home state.

“Albert is a young boy who grows up on the English countryside. That’s one of the reasons I’m really excited to bring it to Iowa,” he says. “It’s really about people who live in and around farm land.”

The details

Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 best-selling book inspired the play, which opened in London in 2007, and in turn, inspired Steven Spielberg’s 2011 film.

It’s the story of young Albert, who receives a foal from his father. Albert raises the horse he names Joey. They develop such a strong bond that when Joey is sold to toil for the arduous World War I effort, Albert sets out to find his beloved friend and bring him home.

Alex Morf

“It’s really a story about hope against the greatest odds,” Morf says, “and also a story about human beings’ relationships with animals. It’s a really special bond that anybody who’s had a pet or a relationship with a horse or any kind of animal, knows.

“One of the things I love about it — it’s a show that people can see and identify with and love in all parts of the country. We’ve played in the heart of San Francisco and the heart of Dallas … and everywhere we go, people react really strongly to this play. It’s a special thing to be a part of, and it’s going to be really special to bring it to my home.”

The puppets have been hailed as mechanical and emotional marvels wherever the show has traveled. Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones of Handspring Puppet Company in South Africa — the men behind the artistry — were lauded with a special Tony award for their work.

Each horse takes three people to spring to life. They are halfway through their yearlong tour.

It’s an ensemble effort, many rotating in and out of the physically and mentally demanding animal roles.

“The horses are the stars of the show, make no mistake, and they should be,” Morf says. “But, the horses wouldn’t be as interesting without the stories of the human interactions, and likewise, we wouldn’t be as interesting without the horses, so we really try to work together to tell the story.

“It’s a story that really deserves being told …” he says. “It’s been interesting for me, because my grandfather fought in World War I. It’s been neat to get to research the period, because it’s a war that’s often forgotten, especially by Americans. It’s a unique piece of history that still holds a lot of resonance today.”

REVIEW: ‘Billy Elliot’ spins spectacular dance around roughhewn story

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'Billy Elliot' will continue through Sunday evening at the Civic Center in Des Moines.

DES MOINES — Everything you’ve heard about the dance in “Billy Elliot the Musical” is true. It is dynamic and dazzling beyond belief — especially when shooting out of the feet and fingers of a 13-year-old boy.

More than 2,000 cheering audience members rose to their feet before the lights dimmed Tuesday night at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. The national touring show continues through Sunday afternoon and evening. (For details, go to Civiccenter.org)

The beauty of this production, which swept up 10 Tony Awards in 2009 and 81 awards worldwide, is the way you’re barely aware the music and auxiliary choreography are even there. Obviously, you know when Billy is dancing, because it’s so mind-blowing, but everything else just seems to spring organically from the moment and movement.

Elton John’s much-lauded music is so powerful, so strong, so visceral that it just seems to be a natural extension of the story’s many layers of turmoil. The same goes for Peter Darling’s brilliant choreography.

The action, loosely based on the rise of British dance star Peter O’Brien, is set in Northern England in 1984. The region is embroiled in a bitter, sometimes violent strike by coal miners facing down Margaret Thatcher’s efforts to destroy their union.

It’s a hardscrabble life in Billy’s village, where the men work in the mine while the boys lace up their boxing gloves and the girls lace up their ballet slippers after school. Billy’s life changes forever when he stumbles into a dance class one day and reluctantly starts learning the steps, soon leaping into a league of his own.

Completely conflicted about his growing love of the art, he tries to hide his talent from his gruff father and explosive brother. The women in 11-year-old Billy’s life provide the show’s tender moments, as the dotty grandmother who lives with him wistfully recalls her love of dancing with the husband she never loved, and a letter from his deceased mother encourages him to follow his heart.

His dance teacher secretly arranges an audition with the Royal Ballet School, but escalating violence between the miners and the riot police puts an end to that dream — compounded by the furious reaction of Billy’s father, brother and their friends.

This leads to the emotional climax of Act I, when Billy releases his frustration in “Angry Dance,” an explosive tap tour de force to a shattering rock beat as Billy flings himself against the scenery and the riot police. In an earlier Gazette interview, assistant choreographer Mary Giattino describes it perfectly: “His body is in nervous breakdown mode onstage, with tap shoes on.”

Three boys alternate performances as Billy and a fourth is being rotated into the role. Zach Manske, 13, from Woodbury, Minn., played Billy on opening night, displaying a maturity of form and style well beyond his years. His voice, however, is changing, meaning he couldn’t really hit the high notes and most likely will soon age out of the role.

With so many bright spots in the show, from the ragtag hometown troupe of tutus to the powerful men in the ensemble, several performances stand out. Cameron Clifford was every inch effervescent as Billy’s best friend, the no-so-secretly cross-dressing Michael. Job Christenson lurks in the background of most dance scenes as rehearsal pianist Mr. Braithwaite, but gets to unleash his inner diva bit by bit.

The most glorious moment of the show is the gorgeous pas de deux Billy performs with his older self to the soul-stirring drama of “Swan Lake.” As if the sheer beauty of the ballet wasn’t enough, it builds to a stunning aerial climax that leaves the audience as breathless as Billy’s father.

The show, embraced by audiences around the world, is not flawless, however. Some moments seem contrived and the humor forced,  from a tacky, unlikely apron worn by Billy’s father to the grandmother’s penchant for flipping people off, a couple of groin punches and some particularly saucy language by the tween boys and girls. Those touches of gratuitous coarseness and profanity knocked the show down a couple notches from the high pedestal of my expectations. Cheap laughs are beneath the dignity and artistry of this show.

However, there’s no denying the absolutely spectacular dancing, which is really what the show is all about.

 

 

 

 

Hank Williams Jr. to play 2012 Iowa State Fair

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Hank Williams Jr. will play at the Iowa State Fair this summer.

Hank Williams Jr.’s “Taking Back the Country Tour” is the first Grandstand act confirmed for the 2012 Iowa State Fair. Williams will take the stage Friday, Aug. 17.

[Bookmark this link to keep track of all Iowa State Fair events]

The show’s opening act is still to be announced. Additional Grandstand acts will be announced as they are confirmed.

The Iowa State Fair runs Aug. 9 to 19 at the Fairgrounds in Des Moines.

Like country music? Here are some other concerts you might be interested in.