Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Widely-known actor and comedian Michael Winslow (Police Academy, Spaceballs, Gremlins, The Love Boat) is bringing his Comedy Show to the Monticello Opera House for one performance only, on Saturday, Jan. 8, at 8 p.m. The show, sponsored by Monticello's 1872 Denham Inn, will feature Winslow as well as special guest performers Mike Elis (host of “Mike on the Mic” radio show), Roger Keiss (of the ABC reality show America's Funniest People) and a surprise, local guitarist who will accompany Winslow on stage for a couple of songs.
A unique aspect of this show is that the performance will be filmed for segments to include in a documentary series that Winslow and Elis are developing about bringing comedy to small-town, historic venues across America. Monticello is their first stop, and cameras will be rolling at a pre-show reception (see below), the show itself and other locations around town as well.
Winslow is perhaps best known for his role as Sgt. Larvelle Jones in the long-running Police Academy franchise. He entertains audiences with uncanny vocal mimicry of everything from musical instruments to animals, and to date he has created more than 10,000 sound effects, which have appeared in video games, cartoons, TV commercials and movie soundtracks. In 2021, Winslow entered Season 16 of NBC's America’s Got Talent as a “voicetramentalist” and made it through to the semi-finals of the competition.
Elis, who will emcee the show on Saturday, says that Winslow recently has become especially interested in doing his comedy acts in old theaters.
“He loves the look, the feel, the crowd,” says Elis. “Opera houses have such a great history and interesting stories about who has performed there.” Winslow and Elis are looking forward to learning about Monticello while they are in town to perform, and then share the experience in their documentary series with a wider audience.
Tickets for admission to Saturday night's show at MOH are $27 per person and may be purchased in advance by visiting www.monticellooperahouse.org or by calling (850) 997-4242. Tickets also will be available for purchase at the door one hour prior to show time.
A VIP Package – available for $57 per person – includes a seat in the VIP/Preferred Seating sections in the front 3 rows of the theater, plus admittance into an exclusive Meet and Greet Reception with Winslow on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. The reception will include a photo opportunity with Winslow and a signed special item, plus refreshments with wine.