Three . . . two . . . one! Happy blah, blah, blah . . . .
Before the singing, the countdown, the parties and the well-intended resolutions that, most likely, will be broken when the second week of 1995 rolls around, one must think of where to party, sing and count.For families, the Downtown Alliance's First Night '95 will offer food, fun, music and gatherings.
John Becker, Downtown Alliance spokesman, said the city's second annual celebration is going to be bigger and better than last year's.
"We've added 11 new venues and doubled the number of performers to make this public celebration twice as much fun as last year's event, which drew approximately 40,000 people," Becker said. "There are 420 volunteers, 45 groups and over 500 performers at 19 different locations around the town. That will climax with music by the Saliva Sisters and fireworks at the Gallivan Center."
In addition to the outdoor dance at the Gallivan Center, New Year's revelers can find intelligent life forms on other worlds during 20-minute star shows at Hansen Planetarium from 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., or they can join in a pickup jam session at the Capitol Theatre and see a 20-screen video project at the Walker Center.
The whole eight-hour celebration begins at 4 p.m. with exhibits and activities in both the ZCMI and Crossroads malls, the Salt Lake Art Center, the Gallivan Center Plaza, Temple Square, Joseph Smith Memorial Building and other venues across the city.
At 5:30 p.m., David Van Alstyne will kick off the night's premier acts with the national anthem in Temple Square's Assembly Hall. Face painting, mask making, singing and dancing are all in the schedule, as well as snow sculptures and a massive Resolution Wall designed by Artistic Services.
"The idea for the Resolution Wall is to allow people to walk up to it and sign their resolutions on it with a permanent marker," said Artistic Services artist John Cook. "The wall will be a 20-foot-long, 8-foot-high slab . . . and will stand on a 40-foot-long, 10-foot-high stage. It will feature walking ramps on either side that will allow access to it. Then, throughout the year, we will take the wall apart and display it all over the valley. The idea is to make each resolution more absolute."
Although the Main Street sidewalks (known as the Main Street Arcade) will be filled with roving performers, Becker said parking and security will not be a problem.
"The city has well over enough parking areas," he said. "We just want everyone to have a good time, and there will also be police and medical aid available if anyone needs it."
A $5 button will serve as a pass to every First Night event, except all church locations, which do not require it. The buttons are available at ZCMI stores and the ZCMI Center information desk, Crossroads Plaza gift wrap, Salt Lake Arts Center and all Dan's food stores. Children under 12 are admitted free.
Here is a schedule of the performances and happenings in this year's First Night:
CHILDREN'S ARTS
Crossroads Plaza:
4-11:30 p.m. - Face painting.
Gallivan Utah Center Plaza, 36 E. 200 South:
4-8:30 p.m. - Face painting.
Salt Lake Art Center, 20 S. West Temple:
4-11:30 p.m. - Cartoon videos.
4-11:30 p.m. - Mask making and maracas.
ZCMI Center Mall:
4-11:30 p.m. - Face painting.
5-10 p.m. - Cami the Clown.
4-11:30 p.m. - Mask making and maracas.
Zion's Bank, 102 S. Main:
4-11:30 p.m. - Children's Art Show.
LITERARY ARTS
Grounds for Coffee, 158 S. Main St.:
The Last Word - poetry and fiction readings
4 p.m. - Jeff Metcalf.
5 p.m. - G. Barnes.
6 p.m. - Leslie Norris.
7 p.m. - Alex Caldiero.
8 p.m. - Tom Jackson.
9 p.m. - Sandy Anderson.
10 p.m. - Hector Ahumada.
Howard Johnson's, 122 W. South Temple:
7-10 p.m. - Storytelling by the Snowflake Story Tellers and the Utah Story Tellers Guild.
Joseph Smith Memorial Building, 15 E. South Temple:
4-11:30 p.m. - The Faces of Utah: A Centennial Portrait.
8:30-9:30 p.m. - Book Speak Theatre Company.
PERFORMING ARTS
Assembly Hall at Temple Square:
5:45-6 p.m. - March of the 50 Nations.
6-6:15 p.m. - Encore Brass (band)
6:20-6:40 p.m. - Mu Phi Piano Quartet.
6:45-7:05 p.m. - Gloriana (choir).
7:10-7:30 p.m. - Brigham Young University Young Ambassadors.
7:35-7:55 p.m. - Bel Canto Singers (organ, violin and piano).
8-8:20 p.m. - Brigham Young University Ballroom Dancers.
8:25-8:40 p.m. - Don & Shawna Gott-fredson Duo.
8:45-9:10 p.m. - American Piano Quartet featuring Paul Pollei, Jeffrey Shumway, Del Parkinson and Mack Wilberg.
9:15-9:35 p.m. - Intimate Opera
9:40-10 p.m. - Taylorsville High School Show Choir.
10:05-10:25 p.m. - Jay Welch Chorale.
10:50-11:10 p.m. - Beehive Statesmen Men's Chorus (barbershop quartet).
11:10-11:30 p.m. - Utah Pipe Band (bag-pipes).
Capitol Theatre Lobby, 50 W. 200 South:
6:30-7:30 p.m. - Kairo by Night (contemporary Middle Eastern dance and music).
7:30-8:30 p.m. - BMWs (polka).
8:30-9:30 p.m. - Zivio (Balkan dance and music).
Cathedral of the Madeleine, 331 E. South Temple:
8-9:30 p.m. - Choir of the Cathedral of the Madeleine.
Crossroads Plaza:
5:30-6 p.m., and 7-7:30 p.m. - Kismet, Stage B.
6-7 p.m. - Keni Yarbro & the Kid Logic Band (rhythm & blues, funk and jazz).
7-8:30 p.m. - Jazz Juerga (Latin jazz).
8:30-9 p.m. - BMWs (polka), Stage B.
9-10 p.m. - Eddi Olauda & Irie Heights.
10:30-11:30 p.m. - Faith Temple Choir.
Gallivan Utah Center Plaza, 36 E. 200 South:
4:30-5:30 p.m. - Megan Peters and Big Leg (folk, blues and rock).
11-12:30 a.m. - Saliva Sisters (musical campiness).
Joseph Smith Memorial Building, 15 E. South Temple:
4:30-5:30 p.m. - Pueblo Nuestro (South American instruments).
6-7 p.m. - Salt Lake Men's Choir.
6-8 p.m. - Matsumoto Bon Bon Dancers, 15 E. South Temple.
9:30-11 p.m. - Vista String Quartet.
Main Street Arcade (up and down the sidewalks)
4-5 p.m. - Born Yesterday (women's vocal trio).
4-5 p.m. - Pueblo Nuestro (South American music).
5:30-11:30 p.m. - mimes, magic, clowns and jugglers.
5:30-6 p.m. - Salt Lake Men's Choir.
6-7 p.m. - New Year's Brass.
7-10 p.m. - Doc Miller's Dixie Band.
7-7:30 p.m. - Maggie Beers & Julie Mark (folk music).
7-8:30 p.m. - New World Mummers (music, dance and comic mimes).
8:30-9:30 p.m. and 10-11 p.m. - Halvar Wallin.
Salt Lake Art Center, 20 S. West Temple:
4-5 p.m. - Klezbros (16th-century Jewish klezmer music).
4-11:30 p.m. - Utah Travelers Gospel Singers.
8-8:30 p.m. - Children's Dance Theatre.
8:30-9:30 p.m. - Maggie Beers & Julie Mark (folk music).
10-11:30 p.m. - Taylorsville High School Show Choir.
Steinway Hall, 156 S. Main St.:
4:30-5:30 p.m. - Cabarga Zalkind & Janove.
7:30-9 p.m. - Utah Opera Company (opera excerpts).
9:30-11 p.m. - Craig Larson Trio (jazz).
ZCMI Center Mall:
4-5 p.m. - Cowdaddies (Western swing and cowboy schmaltz).
8:30-9:30 p.m. - John McEuen (Grammy and Emmy nominee and former banjo player of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band).
VISUAL ARTS
Crossroads Plaza:
4-11:30 p.m. - Dinosaurs at the Crossroads (half-price admission with a First Night button).
First Interstate Bank, 180 S. Main St.:
4-11:30 p.m. - Meet the Artist
Gallivan Utah Center Plaza, 36 E. 200 South:
4-11:30 p.m. - Resolution Wall.
4:30 p.m.-midnight - Waiting for Summer.
Main Street Arcade (up and down the sidewalks)
4:30-11:30 p.m. - Video installation (Dean Witter windows).
Museum of Church History and Art, 45 N. West Temple
4:30-11:30 p.m. - Sacred Connections (Native American art and early pioneer artifacts).
Salt Lake Art Center, 20 S. West Temple:
All day - Salt Lake Art Center Shows.
MISCELLANY
Ice shows
Gallivan Utah Center Plaza, 36 E. 200 South, 5-5:40 p.m. and 8:30-9:15 p.m.
Ice skating (half-price ice skating with First Night button)
Gallivan Utah Center Plaza, 36 E. 200 South.
Joya-E
Salt Lake Buddhist Temple, 211 W. 100 South, 7 p.m.
Legacy (LDS Church history film)
Joseph Smith Memorial Building, 15 E. South Temple, shows every hour and a half between 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Music & family activities
Larice Music Corp., 139 E. South Temple, 4-11:30 p.m.
Musical variety show
First United Methodist Church, 203 S. 200 East, 7-10 p.m.
Hansen Planetarium sampler show (free New Year's Eve shows)
Hansen Planetarium, 15 S. State St., every half hour between 4 and 10:30 p.m.