Williams Street Festival and More Kick-Off Raue Center Summer Season Today

Raue Center For The Arts is excited to announce it is expanding its summer programming. Raue Center will offer more outdoor programs, theatre and big name acts in the heart of McHenry County.

Raue Center will officially kick off its summer activities with the inaugural Williams Street Festival. The free outdoor festival to benefit Williams Street Repertory will take place today, June 4 and will feature the popular Chicago-area cover band, Modern Day Romeos, as the headlining act.

Raue Center will continue its summer activities with the annual Stargazers Ball, which will move from its traditional fall slot to June 24 and will move from the center to Bull Valley Golf Club.

The following evening, on June 25, rock legend Jim Peterik will grace the Raue Center stage as a solo act. Peterik will perform as part of Raue Center's annual National Piano Conference. In addition to these events, several area dance companies will host their year reviews at Raue Center throughout June.

In July, Williams Street Repertory will produce its inaugural Theater Fest at Raue Center. The fest will run from July 8 to August 6 and will featuring two main stage shows, "Art" and "[title of show]" on a rotating basis. In the midst of the rotating shows, Williams Street Repertory Comedy will perform on the main stage on July 21 at 8 p.m. Two additional acts will round out Theater Fest, with a comedic performance by Jeff Sweet on July 10 and stand-up comic Louie Anderson on July 29.

On August 20, iconic Christian music singer/songwriter Michael W. Smith will make his Raue Center debut. Raue Center will officially close out its summer activities with the third annual Rauetoberfest. The family-focused event will take place September 9-10 at Beyond Stable Farms and will feature music, traditional German food, beer, contests and activities.

Raue Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of all through the arts. For 15 years, they have provided quality programming - striving to make it pertinent, available and affordable to all. As a painstakingly restored, 1920s regional showcase theatre named for its benefactor-Lucile Raue-Raue Center has attracted the finest stars, Broadway shows, musicians and artists. Named on the League of Historic American Theatres, Raue Center is one of the finest examples of restored art and decor in the nation. The 750-seat theatre, located in historic, downtown Crystal Lake, is a gathering place for our region's citizens and has become a true destination. For additional information, visit rauecenter.org, facebook.com/RaueCenter and twitter.com/RaueCenter.