Contact: Bruce Conley, News Information Director
Phone: (605) 274-5526
Fax: (605) 274-4903
e-mail: bruce_conley@augie.edu
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September 4, 2003

Viking Varieties Celebrates 50th Anniversary

SIOUX FALLS - Viking Varieties, the show featuring Augustana student talent, celebrates its 50th anniversary during Viking Days 2003.

"The 50th anniversary production of Viking Varieties promises to be a show you will not soon forget," says Emily Drommerhausen, a senior from Albert Lea, Minn., who is co-directing this year's show with Matt Grandbois, a senior from Hawley, Minn. "With a commemorative video and a finale song written especially for the event, this year's show may just earn, and keep, the traditional Varieties title of best, ever."

Originally a show combining student, faculty, and alumni talent, Viking Varieties has evolved into a near-professional production showcasing the best talent Augustana's students have to offer.

Viking Varieties debuted in the old gym - now the Mortenson Center - on the Augustana campus. Because of increasing attendance, the show was moved to the Washington High School auditorium ­ now the Washington Pavilion. Audiences continued to grow and the show moved to the Sioux Falls Coliseum in 1964. It has also played the Elmen Center, the Sioux Falls Arena and the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Sioux Falls.

During a period when Viking Varieties was taken on the road, Augie students performed at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D., World Theatre in Saint Paul, and more than 250 venues in the upper Midwest.

This year there are four performances of Viking Varieties scheduled at the Orpheum Theatre. They are 7:00 p.m. Friday, October 3; 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. Saturday, October 4; and 2:00 p.m. Sunday, October 5.

Tickets go on sale September 10 at the ticket window in the Morrison Commons on the Augustana campus. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students.