2019 was a banner year for the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts. The facility celebrated its 5th-anniversary in early December and hosted countless events from the Best of Broadway to the Pittsburg State Jazz Festival and former Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice. This year is scheduled to be another busy year at the center according to Joe Firman, Director of the Bicknell who joined KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro recently on the ‘Crimson and Gold Connection’.

The Best of Broadway returns to Southeast Kansas for another year of award winning performances. The national tour of ‘Finding Neverland’ stops at Pittsburg State for one night only, on Sunday January 26 at 7:30. The production is based on the film that was released in 2004 and starred Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. Firman says that the show has a local connection, with one of the performers hailing from Miami, Oklahoma.

Firman, who helped open the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts over 5-years ago reflects back on what it was like in December of 2014. One of the aspect that he’s most proudest of is to share the facility with local groups that now call the Bicknell home. This includes the Southeast Kansas Symphony which was the first musical group to perform inside of the Bicknell.

If you miss one of the live performances at the Bicknell you can catch up by tuning into ‘Live From The Bicknell Center’ Sunday evenings at 6 and Monday afternoons at 3 on KRPS. It’s a collaboration that has been beneficial for listeners throughout the Four States who perhaps have never been able to visit the center or even Pittsburg State. Behind the scenes, Firman says that the Bicknell’s Technical Director Jonathon Eastman produces the series including the ‘Best of Holiday Extravaganza’ episode which include 5-years worth of performances from the SEK Symphony, the Bells of the Balkans and other local groups.