A pawtastic cast of four-legged stars will amaze audiences of all ages when The Perondi’s Stunt Dog Experience comes to the Lake Michigan College Mendel Center in Benton Harbor for two big Discovery Series performances at 2 and 6 p.m., Saturday, April 22.
Chris Perondi is the Stunt Dog GuyTM. He and his famous canine companions deliver a high-energy performance filled with amazing tricks, big air stunts, comedy antics, dancing dogs, and athletic feats.
The show includes interactive crowd participation with chants of “higher” and “doggone fun” while audience applause determines the winner of the trick dog challenge. The theatre will even be split into two groups who will cheer on their team of dogs during the “Golden Bone Showdown.”
Taking to the stage with the talented and adorable stars of The Perondi’s Stunt Dog Experience, Diggy the Dog is the human-sized canine mascot of the show. He is always angling to be part of the action in some silly way as he attempts to convince everyone that he is the real star of the show. During the process, laughter ensues as he tries his paws at jumping rope like the four-legged performers and when he begs to do the famous daredevil stunt.
The cast of professional performers, along with over a dozen talented pound pups, bring pet adoption awareness to the forefront. All the dogs in the performance have been rescued from shelters from across the country. The mission is to promote animal rescue and pet adoption, encourage spaying and neutering, and inspire people to spend more time with their pets.
Director Chris Perondi has been entertaining audiences of all sizes since 1999. He has produced more than 9,000 shows during his career with appearances at performing arts theaters throughout the country and at major theme parks including Dollywood, Knotts Berry Farm in Southern California, the Indianapolis Zoo, and Six Flags America.
These canine stars also have been featured on “The Tonight Show,” “Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “Queen Latifah Show,” Animal Planet’s “Pet Stars,” worldwide during the annual Rose Parade, “The CBS Early Show,” and many more. They have even starred in commercials and have been featured on the news and in magazines across the country.
Reserved seating tickets starting at $20 for The Perondi’s Stunt Dog Experience are on sale now at www.TheMendelCenter.com, by calling 269-927-8700, or by visiting the Mendel Center box office in person. The box office, located in the Grand Upton Hall Lobby and accessible from parking lot 3 off Yore Avenue, is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and one hour before events.
This event is part of the Mendel Center’s Discovery Series and is funded in part by the Gast Young People’s Performance Endowment. This activity is supported by the Michigan Arts & Culture Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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About the Lake Michigan College Mendel Center
The Lake Michigan College Mendel Center raised the curtain on its first Mainstage season performance in the fall of 1992. Since then, it has presented Mainstage season performances to more than half a million patrons in the 1,559-seat Mendel Center Mainstage Theatre. Grand Upton Hall, first opened in 1979 and fully renovated in 2019, is a 13,700-square-foot venue serving the community as the host site for meetings, banquets, trade shows, weddings, and other celebrations. The 229-seat Hanson Theatre, which was renovated in 2020, hosts numerous Lake Michigan College Visual & Performing Arts Department performances as well as a variety of Mendel Center and community events.
The Mendel Center is 30 minutes from Niles and 40 minutes from the Kalamazoo and South Bend areas. It is located on the Lake Michigan College campus at 2755 E. Napier Avenue, Benton Harbor, Michigan, one mile east of I-94 (Exit 30) and one mile west of the US 31 Bypass (exit 24). Its GPS mapping address is 1100 Yore Avenue, Benton Harbor, MI.
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Mendel Center 2022-2023 Season Sponsors
Stage Side Sponsors: 1st Source Bank, Honor Credit Union, Huntington National Bank, Kruggel Lawton CPAs, Meijer, Silver Beach Pizza, Silver Harbor Brewing Company, Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council, Sturgis Bank, TPC Technologies, Wales Wealth Management Group, Whirlpool Corporation.
Platinum Sponsor: Brookview Montessori School, CK Catering, Hungerford Nichols CPA + Advisors, Imperial Furniture, Insurance Management Services, JVIS USA, Pier 33, Siena Heights University, United Federal Credit Union, Wolf Financial Advisory.
Media Partners: 97.5 Y Country, 98.3 The Coast, The Herald Palladium, The Lake 95.7 MailMax, News/Talk 94.9 WSJM, Rock 107 WIRX, Sunny 101.5, SuperHits 103.7
Preferred Partner Hotels: The Inn at Harbor Shores and The Boulevard Inn & Bistro
Posted February 17, 2023