Showmobile will bring show to you

• Showmobile

Contributed The Showmobile, a traveling musical venue, was recently transported to Fat Daddy’s in Alexandria for an outdoor concert. With the Showmobile, even in inclement weather, musicians and their instruments stay dry and protected.

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If you can’t go to the music, now the music can come to you.

The Red Willow Arts Coalition (RWAC) recently purchased a traveling musical venue called the Showmobile. The Showmobile is a self-contained trailer that unfolds to reveal a stage unit.

“We wanted to provide a mobile staging unit that can go to meet people,” said Sandy Susag, treasurer of RWAC. “People who are unable to travel or have no access to transportation can enjoy music.”

In addition to community musical events, Susag hopes that the Showmobile can be brought to such places as nursing homes, assisted living facilities – places at which music can be provided to those with limitations.

The Showmobile trailer is pulled by a truck so it is easily movable to any location. It runs off battery power and has a self-contained power source, lights and a stage area.

“You pull it in and hit the hydraulic button and voila! You have a stage,” Susag said.

RWAC decided to purchase a Showmobile after its president, Chuck Wencl, attended a show last year that had a similar portable stage. After researching for several months, an affordable unit was located on eBay, but had to be picked up in Tulsa, Oklahoma this past March.

Normally around $125,000, the Showmobile was purchased for $14,000 with proceeds from the RWAC summer concert series, grants from Tastefully Simple and REA Operation Round-Up, with the remainder borrowed. Pro-Tainer in Alexandria donated its sandblasting and painting services.

In addition to being used at public community events, the Showmobile is available for individuals or groups to rent for graduations, weddings, parties and other events that provide entertainment. The stage can also be used for theatrical productions.

“Our purpose in securing this unit is to make entertainment – be it instrumental music, singing, presentations, what have you, available to everyone,” Susag concluded.

To rent the unit, call Chuck Wencl at (320) 762-8203.

Tags: variety, features