Music and magic show to benefit Senior Center

Published 10:00 am Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The Mower County Senior Center has a unique approach to fundraising this year: music and magic.

“This is kind of a Vaudeville-type, old style variety show,” said Matt Rolf, a singer, emcee and instrumentalist in the upcoming production.

The Family Jam Variety Show, which begins 2 p.m. Sunday at the Paramount Theatre, will help raise money for the Mower County Senior Center. Executive Director Sara Schafer said each year the Senior Center brings a different show to raise money.

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“We’ve done it at least the last three years,” Schafer said. “This year, the money is going to be used for programming and the speakers that we bring.”

Audience members can expect the show to switch back and forth between different forms of entertainment, alternating between two families: the Walkers, who present magic and illusions, and the Rolfs, whose forte is music.

“These are two acts that have toured a long, long time separately,” Rolf said. He, his wife, Lisa, and their three children, Collin, Adrienne and Benjamin, make up a group known as Matt’s Family Jam, which has been touring for two and a half years. The Walkers, made up of Blake and Angela Walker and their daughter, Ivie, have been performing magic for 25 years under the name Illusions at Large, he said.

This is the second year the two families have been on the road together, Rolf said. The production will feature a huge variety of music coupled with plenty of illusions.

“It’s a power-packed two-hour show,” he said. “There’s lots of audience interaction, and we give away prizes throughout.”

Schafer said the show welcomes all ages.

“It’s going to be fun for the whole family,” she said.

Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling 800-280-9757. One ticket is $17, two are a total of $30 and three or more tickets are $12 each. A $40 family pass covers everyone in a household.