The Great Lakes Center for the Arts south of Petoskey dubs it “A Season for Dreamers” with everything from Jo Dee Messina and LeAnn Rimes to Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

Diverse Lineup: The Yächtley Crëw and The King’s Singers are part of the 2024 series. (Courtesy Photos)
As summer beckons, so too do the shows at Great Lakes Center for the Arts at Bay Harbor just south of Petoskey.
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Concerts, musical theater, cinematic favorites, comedy and dance mean there’s a party going on all summer long.
Dubbed “A Season for Dreamers,” the performers include The King’s Singers, Gala headliners The Temptations and The Four Tops as part of “Sounds of Motor City,” the Broadway sensation “Mamma Mia!,” Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, return performances by Chris Botti and LeAnn Rimes, and a number of other shows.
“It’s always our goal to be excellent,” says Matthew Kacergis, executive director at Great Lakes Center for the Arts. He says the intention is to book a variety of acts so as to appeal to a wide variety of audiences.
Kacergis also isn’t afraid to take chances and introduce performers who may not be as widely known or whose style might not immediately seem to fit with the well-heeled surroundings of the tony enclave on the shore of Lake Michigan. “We push ourselves as much as possible and give our audience new experiences,” he says.
One means of doing that is changing its subscription model so people can create their own series with as little as three shows.
“People come in and out all summer,” he says, including the entire region around Petoskey and beyond. “Some people come to town for just a week,” but they can subscribe at a reduced rate and see three completely different shows. Subscriber benefits include concessions and ticket discounts, complementary seating upgrades, price guarantees, and early access to upcoming summer and fall seasons.
Among the groups scheduled to perform is Yächtley Crëw, a seven-piece band that recreates the soft rock hits of the 70s and 80s. Music by Michael McDonald, Steely Dan, Hall and Oates, Christopher Cross and other favorites from that era are given new life by the band, which features lead vocalist Phillip Daniel, a.k.a. Philly Ocean.
He says the band came together based around the various members’ appreciation of the genre’s quality and timelessness. “We started it because it’s fun. It’s great music,” he says.
While the term “yacht rock” was originally a pejorative appellation, it was always associated with high quality songwriting, performance and production. Songs like “Sailing,” “Africa,” “Lido Shuffle,” “How Long” and others have proven to have staying power.
Yächtley Crëw is proof, with nationwide tours, even a recording – “Seas the Day” – featuring the original “Sex On The Beach” alongside period hits, all dressed up for today. Speaking of dressed up, the band sports natty yachting attire, with blazers, hats and sunglasses.
Keeping with the theme, the band has adopted similarly silly nautical-inspired sobriquets. Besides Philly Ocean, drummer Rob Jones is Sailor Hawkins, bassist Chaz Ruiz is Baba Buoy, guitarist Thomas Gardner Jr. is his brother Tommy Buoy, backing vocalist Curt Clendenin is Stoney Shores, saxophone/flute player Paul Pate double dips on the celebrity perspective as Pauly Shores, and keyboardist Matt Grossman name-checks one of the genre’s father figures as Matthew McDonald.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: June 15 at GLCFA. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
“We are all lifelong musicians and all been in a multitude of projects. There’s something special about this,” says Daniel. The band formed in 2017, and has been hard at work ever since, though interrupted like everyone else by the pandemic.
The band plays Great Lakes Center for the Arts on Aug. 4.
Kacergis says while he is looking forward to all of the events in the upcoming season, there are some that stand out to him. He is particularly excited about a special Disney-themed project premiering in June. “I am excited about our musical Disney revue. ‘When You Wish’ will be a soaring musical tribute to 100 years of magic with original arrangements of Disney’s greatest hits, created just for the Center.”
The Grand Rapids Ballet brings its production to the center on Aug. 17. “It’s Michigan’s largest ballet company,” he says, and continues the center’s outreach to other arts organizations – and “Mama Mia!” “We’ve been talking about it for years.”
The casts for both “Mama Mia!” and “When You Wish” will come from upcoming auditions. The center will hold auditions for singers and instrumentalists in Petoskey and Detroit for the two shows, and in New York as well for “Mama Mia.”
“The more we build a local talent pool, the more self-produced shows we can do,” says Kacergis.
The series continues into the fall with the likes of Hollywood royalty Luci Arnaz, who performs “songs from my musical past” on Oct. 13.
“I am really, really excited to have Luci Arnaz. She’s had such an incredible career,” says Kacergis, including TV (The Lucy Show, with her mom, Lucille Ball, her own starring vehicle, The Lucie Arnaz Show, and several made for television movies), film (The Jazz Singer) and Broadway, where her credits include They’re Playing Our Song, Lost in Yonkers, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Get tickets and more information online at greatlakescfa.org.
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