The backstage secret: Bad Angle Events uses fine arts to bring us together

By Cheryl Allen

KALONA

“Since the beginning of human existence, the ways in which we have gathered have changed, but the reasons we come together have not. We are ultra-social creatures who biologically evolved to belong to something greater than ourselves. We need one another, and without strong and lasting connections to family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors, without the relationships we create over a lifetime, we cannot survive, let alone thrive.

“Supporting this core human imperative to live in community is our unique ability to creatively share our thoughts, ideas, and emotions. The success of our species comes down to this: Art creates culture. Culture creates community. And community creates humanity.”

For Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, authors of the New York Times Bestseller, “Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us,” the truth of the above sentences has been verified by extensive neurological research that proves the arts improve our mental health, wellbeing, and social connectedness in myriad ways.

For a local group of eight friends from Wellman and Kalona, no such verification was needed. They just knew.

Carolyn and Atlee Yoder, Kathryn and Randall Ney, Jane and John Schlabaugh, and Donna and Gary Yoder exited the COVID years wanting to reconnect with others. They also knew the perfect space to do so: Hillcrest Academy’s Celebration Hall, built in the early 2000’s with not only the school, but the community in mind.

“This group had it as their brainchild to use Celebration Hall more, because it’s a beautiful facility and it was being underutilized, and we felt like we could work with Hillcrest to use that facility,” Carolyn Yoder says. “[Hillcrest has] been very accommodating and we appreciate that.”

In 2022, the group formed Bad Angle Events, an event production company that launched in October with musical act The Steel Wheels. The Americana group, a local favorite, was followed by The Ted Yoder Holiday Concert in December and Girl Named Tom in March 2023, a nationally known sibling trio who won The Voice in 2021.

The friends’ goal was simply “to foster unity within our community by promoting fine art events,” Carolyn says, mentioning a 2022 Hillcrest Academy newsletter article that more specifically defined their aims as, “to (1) host a wide variety of events such as musical acts both vocal and instrumental, speakers, people sharing interesting life experiences, (2) to provide a chance to sit together with people you may not normally find yourself crossing paths with, but most importantly, (3) to celebrate each other as people.”

Over two years in, they appear to be succeeding. Additional concerts held included Lance and Lea, Anna Vaus, Proximus 5, Torri Weidinger, Authentic Unlimited, Flash In A Pan, Ting Davidson, The Hymn Project, Girl Named Tom for a second time, and Allison Hershberger with Old Man Band. Crowds have shown up and been outspoken about their positive experiences. People who have spent their whole lives in the surrounding areas have discovered Celebration Hall for the first time.

“No matter what’s happening on that stage, I think if it can bring community members together in one space to do a common thing, it is a small step in building that community,” Carolyn says. “It’s about the small interactions and relationships that are built.”

In fact, the group that is Bad Angle Events is growing into a larger ‘community’ as well.

“It started out with these eight people that came together and said, ‘Let’s talk about this, this is something that can happen,’ and now we have new people that have joined our committee: Lee Ebersole, Doug and Candi Schmieder, and Jill Hemachandra. We also have a dedicated supporting cast of over a dozen volunteers,” Carolyn says. “I honestly feel like it’s meeting a need for our community.”

There has been a learning curve for Bad Angle Events, as many of the members have musical backgrounds but not formal event organization experience. They have learned through experience how to find and host performers, a process that requires a lot of lead time and good communication skills. Each committee member has their own role, which include technical light and sound, ticket sales, website management, and green room hospitality.

Not only do they want concertgoers to have a great time, they want performers to have a memorable experience as well.

“A goal that we’ve had from the beginning is that each performer says, ‘Wow, that was a great experience for us,’ not just for the audience, but for them as artists. We want them to leave feeling like this is a great place to perform,” Carolyn says. To that end, they include ‘Kalona baskets’ filled with local treats for each artist to take with them.

Bad Angle Events hopes to branch out into other types of fine arts experiences in the years to come. “It’s a Wonderful Life” will be shown this December 7, introduced by co-star Donna Reed’s daughter, who will share letters from people whose lives were impacted by the film. “We want to make it more of a spectrum of the arts, not just music,” Carolyn says of the group’s future direction.

But at the same time, it seems likely music will remain at the heart of Bad Angle Events, a group named for not only Angle Road, not far from Celebration Hall, but also the show business definition of a ‘bad angle’ as “an audience line of vision to a backstage secret.”

“For me personally, and I’ve seen it over and over through life, music is universal,” Carolyn says. “It’s the common denominator. I think if people can have a positive experience with the arts, especially music, that brings us back to what’s really important in life.”

Bad Angle Events is working hard to finalize the 2025 season.

Bad Angle Events’ next production will be the film, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” to be shown on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Celebration Hall, located at Hillcrest Academy, 1421 540th St. SW, Kalona. This is a free event. For more information, visit badangleevents.org.