So much going on!

One of the best things about the past ten days is seeing the variety of people who have come to the BCPA. Each show has its appeal.

Gaelic Storm's terrific February 8 concert was exciting. We've presented Celtic music before, but the Gaelic Storm audience was completely different. The youth and energy of the audience matched that of the band on the stage. It was a high energy night. The band had people up and dancing, singing call-and-response -- like the best night you've ever had in an Irish pub.

The next day, over 600 people attended the performance of The Velveteen Rabbit by Enchantment Theatre Company. Included in this group were several troops of Girl Scouts, for whom we arranged special pre- and post-performance activities, including backstage tours and a special historic look at the BCPA.

This was just the start of the busiest week ever at the BCPA. The Illinois Symphony Orchestra played schooltime matinees on Wednesday, celebrating our 16th president as a part of the Abraham Lincoln Association's "An American Dream" concert. Then they were back on Friday for their Winter Pops Concert.

Thursday was the long-anticipated Indigo Girls concert. Rescheduled from February 1, the crowd was electric, like those two weeks had just added to the anticipation. Opening act Michelle Malone set the stage with a great 45 minute set. Then the Indigo Girls took the stage and played many long-time favorites, including "Galileo," "Least Complicated," "Closer to Fine," and "Dairy Queen," to the delight of the audience members who had shouted out the title only moments before.

Saturday night was a revival of the traditional kind with an amazing concert by the Harlem Gospel Choir. The night got started off on the right foot with a mini concert presented by a children's choir from Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church. The audience (as well as a few members of the Harlem Gospel Choir) stood enraptured as the young, clear voices sang.

I don't think there was a jaw that didn't hit the floor when the Harlem Choir took the stage. Singing a terrific mix of traditional and contemporary spirituals, as well as arrangements of songs by Stevie Wonder and Kool and the Gang, the Choir had the audience up on their feet, clapping along, and feeling the spirit right along with them.

If they'd kept singing, I bet the audience would have stayed ... and perhaps even bought the choir a pancake breakfast at the Kiwanis fundraiser in the ballrooom the next morning.

Tell us your memories of the week. What did you see? What do you wish you'd seen?

It was a great week at the BCPA!