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Jonathan Regier (keyboards) and Landon Tucker provide some street music in Virginia Beach. Regier is a 2002 HHS graduate. |
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Michael Woods (left photo) will revive his one-man performance of ?Fully Committed,? in which he plays 35 characters. |
The musical and comedic talents of three former Tabor College students who have been making headlines as professional entertainers will be featured on campus once again when ?Three Fold? performers Michael Woods, Landon Tucker and Jonathan Regier return for three public performances, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 6-8, in the Chapel-Auditorium.
The ?Three Fold? performance series begins at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, with the one-man comedy ?Fully Committed? performed by Woods, a 2005 Tabor graduate who has been acting and doing comedy in Chicago.
A musical concert will follow at 9 p.m., performed by Tucker and Regier, both 2006 Tabor graduates, who have been playing together and separately in Virginia Beach, Va. Regier is a 2002 graduate of Hillsboro High Schol.
Woods will perform ?Fully Committed? again at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7. At 9 p.m. the three actors will perform improvisational comedy together in a revival of the ever-popular Tabor touring troupe, ?Mind Your Head.?
The improv comedy of ?Mind Your Head? will be repeated in a performance at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8.
Tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for current Tabor students. They may be purchased in advance at the Student Life Office or at the door on the night of the performance.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Tabor theater program that helped launch the entertainers? careers.
?It has been rewarding and meaningful to stay in touch with these three and other friends of theirs from Tabor days,? said Judy Harder, associate professor of communications and drama.
?In the course of visiting back and forth these last few years, it seemed the right time for them to come back and perform together on our campus again. All three enjoy performing together and they love to interact with their audiences. I am confident that all who attend will experience fine quality entertainment.?
Harder said the trio is donating their time for this fundraising event.
?They often express their desire to support the arts at Tabor,? Harder said. ?After expenses are covered, proceeds from the weekend will be used to support needs of Tabor theater productions.?
Acting success
Woods has received much attention from prominent theaters in the Chicago area and has been acting consistently since he arrived in town.
Act One Studios reviewed Woods as ?fantastically funny,? adding, ?His physical humor, high stakes commitment, and great sense of humor is a joy to behold.? The Chicago Tribune hailed Woods as, ?a standout character actor? and ?masterful in his (comedic) timing.?
Woods performed ?Fully Committed? as his senior project while at Tabor. In it, he plays a flustered phone clerk taking on more than 35 characters calling for reservations at a trendy New York Restaurant.
?Michael?s performance of Fully Committed was phenomenal while he was here at Tabor, and I have no doubt that his reworking and repeating the one-man comedy will result in another amazing performance,? Harder said.
Following graduation from Tabor, Woods earned a master of fine arts degree in acting from Regent University in Virginia, and roomed for awhile with Tucker and Regier, who took advantage of various music and acting performance opportunities in the Hampton Roads area.
Woods said he is eager to return to the Tabor College stage. ?Tabor College is where I crafted the dream that I am now living out,? he said. ?Coming back to perform at Tabor is a great way at looking back at how far the three of us have gone, where we will go in the future, and where others might dream to go as well.?
Rachel Pederson, also a 2006 Tabor graduate, from Wichita, will be assisting Woods with sound effects during ?Fully Committed.?
Musical duo
Regier and Tucker, meanwhile, have embarked their own solo careers as singer-songwriters?both have solo CDs available?and they frequently perform together. Throughout the summers of 2008 and 2009, they played at Beach Street USA on the oceanfront in Virginia Beach.
Recently they appeared as ?Jonathan and Landon? on the ?Live Music Friday? segment of the FOX 43 TV news program in Virginia Beach.
The ?About? section on his Web site describes Regier as a ?surveyor of moments.?
?He puts into melodies that unusually perceptive glimpse between you and the stranger you walked by today,? it states. ?His words describe that very glance that will tap on your reflective shoulder the moment you sit down to unwind. Jonathan is a musician of perception.?
Regier?s debut EP, ?The Smithson Sessions,? is a snapshot of these moments.
Regier recently finished a number of short film projects as well as playing piano for the Patsy Cline show on the oceanfront. His first feature film, ?The Box? comes out at the end of October, in which he plays one of the black-ops officers.
As for Tucker, the ?About? section on his Web site describes his desire as ?to stir up people to look at life from a different perspective and challenge them to a life well lived.?
In addition to performing, Tucker has been a worship leader for various ministries and is working at Freedom Fellow?ship in Virginia Beach and Williamsburg (Va.) Collegiate.
He recorded an EP during his last year at Tabor with the help of Keith Warkention, a 2007 Tabor graduate. It is available for sale at cdbaby.com.
Times at Tabor
While at Tabor, Woods, Regier and Tucker shared the spotlight in several shows, including ?Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,? ?Twelve Angry Men? and ?The Drawer Boy.?
?Jonathan and Landon also sang in the concert choir and performed musical worship with Crosswise and Share, Prayer & Dare,? Harder said. ?They toured with comedy improv, calling themselves ?Mind Your Head,? and Landon?s work in graphic design further established their reputation as a multi-talented threesome.?
According to Regier, the coaching and experience he received from Tabor, both in music and acting, provided the foundation he needed to pursue his passion as a professional entertainer.
He said he looks forward to sharing the Tabor spotlight again with his former college chums, who have become great professional colleagues.
?I love performing with Mike and Landon,? he said. ?They are so good at what they do that I have full confidence when I?m on stage with them. I know they?ve got my back.?
For Tucker, returning to Tabor is an opportunity to give back to a college that gave so much to him.
?I always enjoy coming back and performing at Tabor,? Tucker said. ?It?s a lot like coming home again. My experiences there helped shape who I am today?the people, the education, the community life.
?Tabor gave me opportunities to grow as a musician and artist and helped give me a solid foundation from which to move forward. I?m happy to give back what I can.?
