Friday, November 21, 2008

Ira Glass coming to Sangamon Auditorium, UIS

Host of NPR's This American Life will present "Radio Stories and Other Stories"

Popular National Public Radio host Ira Glass will visit the University of Illinois at Springfield's Sangamon Auditorium, on Saturday, December 13, at 8 p.m. to present "Radio Stories and Other Stories," based on his award-winning Showtime and public radio shows. The sponsors are ACE Hardware and Public Radio WUIS 91.9.

Glass is the affable host and producer of the quirky hit show This American Life, now heard by millions each week and recently adapted for television by Showtime. He travels the country meeting everyday people from all walks of life telling "unexpected stories that happen to be true." Glass will share some of his favorite yarns and answer questions from the audience when he visits Sangamon Auditorium, UIS.

Glass began his career in 1978, when he was 19, as an intern at National Public Radio's network headquarters in Washington, DC. Over the years, he worked on nearly every NPR network news program and held virtually every production job in NPR's Washington headquarters. He has been a tape cutter, newscast writer, desk assistant, editor, producer, and has filled in as host of Talk of the Nation and Weekend All Things Considered. He moved to Chicago in 1989 and put This American Life on the air in November 1995. Under Glass's editorial direction, the program has won the highest honors for broadcasting and journalistic excellence, including the Peabody and DuPont-Columbia awards, as well as the Edward R. Murrow and the Overseas Press Club awards.

Tickets for this event are $42 or $37 and are on sale now. To order tickets visit www.SangamonAuditorium.org or call the Sangamon Auditorium Ticket Office at (217) 206-6160 or toll free at 800-207-6960. Tickets can also be purchased in-person at the Ticket Office, which is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Individual tickets to all Visiting Artist Series and Family Events are on sale now, and tickets to Broadway shows go on sale approximately six weeks prior to each event. Patrons can receive a discount through the Create Your Own Series option by simply choosing at least five events from the Visiting Artists Series, Broadway Series, and Family Events at UIS. Please call the Ticket Office for more information.

About Sangamon Auditorium, UIS
Sangamon Auditorium, located on the campus of the University of Illinois at Springfield, hosts more than 120 performances annually. Also home to the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and Springfield Ballet Company, it is the only auditorium of its kind and size in the Springfield area, with a seating capacity of 2,018. Sangamon Auditorium continues to fulfill its mission of presenting and supporting varied cultural and educational professional arts activities to audiences in Springfield, Sangamon County, and the surrounding areas. The auditorium administrative offices can be reached at (217) 206-6150 or by email at onstage@uis.edu.