How many of you take a seat in the auditorium and wonder if it is going to give out? Or how the squeaky stage seems to ruin an event? Well, don’t worry. If all goes as planned, next summer, the auditorium is getting a major face-lift. Green and orange no more!
Nollapalooza is a Bishop Noll music festival and concert series that Paul Mullaney, ‘77, along with Mary Ellen O’Neill, director of Institutional Advancement, are organizing in hopes to raise $40,000 for auditorium renovation during the series.
“When I came to Bishop Noll twenty years ago, the whole auditorium was orange and green–the walls, the curtain, everything. For twenty years, I have slowly tried to ween out the orange and green and now it is finally happening,” says Mrs. Elizabeth Conley, drama teacher.
Hopefully, by the time school starts next year, the auditorium will be blue and gold, according to Conley. The money raised will also be used to update the technical equipment.
Nollapalooza kicks off on October 22nd with the Travis James Elvis Tribute. Recording artist Travis James, a regular performer at the Memories Theatre in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, is also a BNI alum and will perform alongside The Tony Bernard Show, a ‘50s cover band. Tickets are $30.
Nollapalooza will continue for the rest of the school year with one special weekend’s proceeds of the BNI drama club’s productions of Wait Until Dark (Nov. 11, 12) and The Wizard of Oz (March 23, 24) going towards the new auditorium. Tickets for these special performances are $10.
On Dec. 11 at 2 p.m., region musicians will perform a Christmas concert. Tickets are $25. The final Nollapalooza performance will be an all-alumni revue on May 5 at 7 p.m. Tickets for this two-hour variety show will be $40.
Members of the BNI community will also have the opportunity to call in and donate money during either the Elvis tribute show or the alumni revue. Both events will be webcasted by BNI students on ihigh.com/bishopnoll.
For more Information go to www.Nollapalooza.com or call the BNI Advancement Office at (219) 932-9058