Jackson Community College

Blast! promises music and spectacle

Enjoy the music of Blast! when this Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon takes the stage at Jackson Community College’s Potter Center, at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2.

Taking the musical artistry and pageantry of the performance field indoors, Blast! is a unique theatrical presentation that is visually and musically stunning! The show features classical, blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, and techno-pop music as it traces the heritage of color guard, drum and bugle corps and marching band.

Blast! evolved from the drum corps Star of Indiana, which was founded in 1984 in Bloomington, Indiana, by businessman Bill Cook to benefit young people in music education. The Artistic Director James Mason is a lifelong veteran of drum and bugle corps and other musical activities. Star of Indiana became a top finisher among the top 10 corps at the prestigious Drum Corps International World Championships, improving each year until it became the World Champion in 1991. 

Cook and Mason took their show further when, in 1994, Star of Indiana teamed with the Canadian Brass or a 10-city tour of an indoor stage program, “Brass Theater.” The tour was a success, and in 1995 and 1996 Star again teamed with the Canadian Brass for two more tours.  Encouraged by this success, Cook and Mason began work on their organization’s next creative enterprise, creating a wholly new performance and theatrical genre – Blast!

Blast! debuted in London in 1999 and in the U.S. in 2000 to great success. It received a 2001 Tony Award for Special Theatrical Event, and a 2001 TV Emmy for Best Choreography. Today, Blast! has two separate units that perform at California’s Disneyland and in theaters throughout the United States.

Tickets start at $28 and may be purchased by calling the Potter Center Box Office at 517.796.8600, or online at www.jccmi.edu under “Visitors” and “Events.”