Tom Wopat

press release: 

On December 20, 2015, the Al. Ringling Theatre Friends (ART Friends) will present Broadway singer Tom Wopat and his trio at the Al. Ringling Mansion for two holiday concerts. Wopat, a Lodi native who many remember from The Dukes of Hazzard television show fame, is also best-known for his Broadway role as Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun. 

The ART Friends have continued to present their Live Performance Series concerts at alternate local venues since the theater went dark in June 2015, when the Al. closed its doors for the first time in its 100-year history to undergo a $3.1 million restoration, scheduled to be completed in February 2016. 

Wopat’s two performances are at 3:00pm and 7:00pm at the mansion, located at 623 Broadway St., Baraboo. These holiday shows will be largely acoustic and will feature piano, drums and bass. Admission is $35 for adults, and $30 for seniors and students. 

Musically, Wopat has applied his far-ranging interpretive skills to discovering new interesting musical twists in such Great American Songbook classics as "The Good Life," "The Folks Who Live on The Hill," "Call Me," "Born to Be Blue" and "I Won’t Dance."

Given the breadth of his musical skills, he has adapted easily to different musical styles, performing superbly on early, country-tinged recordings while crafting some of his own songwriting along the way.

“Tom Wopat, like Sinatra in his glory days, makes it all look easy and perfectly natural,” said 

Stephen Holden of the New York Times. 

The two performances are supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board, with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. Tickets can be purchased online at www.alringling.com, or by calling the Al. Ringling Theatre at 608-356-8864. Al. Ringling Theatre Friends is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a center for the arts, culture, and entertainment in a unique historic theatre palace.