Fairfield arts center hosting online shows

FAIRFIELD - The Fairfield Arts & Convention Center will host a series of six online shows this spring before hosting outdoor concerts this summer.

Fairfield Arts & Convention Center Executive Director Lindsay Bauer said the eight shows, which begin Wednesday and last through early June, were the product of the arts center gearing up to show movies in the Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts. One of the arts center's film booking agents notified staff that there was a service the arts center could sign up for where residents could pay for tickets to watch online shows.

'It really fell into our lap,” Bauer said. 'It goes to show that it's not what you know, it's who you know.”

Residents can go to the arts center's website at fairfieldacc.com to see a complete schedule of the shows and to order tickets to view them. The first show in the series is 'Frida La Vida,” a documentary on artist Frida Kahlo. Residents can sign up for various time slots to view the 90-minute film beginning Wednesday and lasting through March 23.

Other films in the series include:

' 'War Horse,” a stage drama featuring life-size puppets, March 31-April 6;

' 'Kinky Boots,” a musical from London's West End, April 14-20;

' 'Secret Impressionists,” an art documentary unveiling 50 previously unseen works, April 28-May 4;

'42nd Street,” a musical from London's West End, May 12-18;

' 'Hermitage: The Power of Art,” documentary on St. Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum, May 25-June 1.

Bauer said the arts center is planning an outdoor summer concert series every other Wednesday from June 2 through Aug. 11. The series will focus on local and regional artists.

'We want to be a place where artists can work and earn a paycheck again,” Bauer said.

Bauer said she and other venue directors in the region are planning a 'sharing agreement” where they will send their local artists to the other one's venue so audiences can become acquainted with all the great singers and musicians throughout Southeast Iowa.

'We want to close the gaps between our communities,” Bauer said.

Bauer said the arts center is planning a return to its normal artist series this fall, the schedule for which will be released in a few weeks.