• DesIn celebration of the U.S. Navy's 250th Anniversary and the Navy Band's centennial, the United States Navy Concert Band, Sea Chanters chorus and Cruisers popular music group join forces for a series of performances across Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. The program will feature a variety of musical selections including traditional wind band repertoire, Broadway showstoppers, pop and patriotic favorites, meant to connnect with audiences of all ages. In addition to the musical selection, the performances will highlight the work of our Sailors at home and around the globe, the Navy's rich history and heritage, and honor our veterans. All Concerts are free and open to the public but ticket reservations are required.

  • CLICK HERE to go to the ERMA BOMBECK section.

    The touching one-woman comedy titled after Bombeck’s long-running newspaper column, is a candid commentary of her life that made her the champion of suburban housewives everywhere.

    Tickets available now. Date TBD soon. Check back.

U.S. Navy Band National Tour 2025

Venue: First Baptist Church of Opelika, 301 S. 8th Street, Opelika

March 19, 2025 | 6:00 - 7:30 CST

All Concerts are free and open to the public but ticket reservations are required. Click HERE or on the button to go to the Reservation page.

To celebrate 100 years of service to America, the United States Navy Concert Band, Sea Chanters chorus and Cruisers popular music group join forces for a series of performances across Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Florida, March 11 – April 2. Performance details can be found by visiting the band’s website at www.navyband.navy.mil

All concerts are family-friendly events, meant to connect community members across the country with their Navy. Combining three of Navy Band’s elite ensembles will create a dynamic musical production featuring traditional wind band repertoire, Broadway showstoppers, pop and patriotic favorites, sure to delight audiences of all ages.  

In 2025, the United States Navy celebrates 250 years of defending freedom and protecting America's interests around the world. As the premier musical organization of the U.S. Navy, the United States Navy Band is honored to mark this historic milestone throughout the year bringing the Navy where ships can’t go, telling the Navy story, instilling pride and patriotism and representing the professionalism of more than 330,000 active-duty Sailors serving around the world 24/7.

Concert Band

The United States Navy Concert Band, the premier wind ensemble of the U.S. Navy, presents a wide array of marches, patriotic selections, orchestral transcriptions and modern wind ensemble repertoire. As the original ensemble of the Navy Band, the Concert Band has been performing public concerts and participating in high-profile events for more than 95 years.  

Collaboration with celebrities has become a hallmark for the Concert Band. The band was featured with Arthur Godfrey of NBC radio fame in 1927. Gene Kelly was guest star for the first episode of "The Navy Hour" radio program in 1945, which the band produced for an astounding 23 years. More recently, the band featured guest artists Tony Curtis and Gregory Peck. In 2002, the band was filmed performing "America the Beautiful;" the performance was broadcast by the NFL prior to each game during opening week. In addition to national concert tours and an extensive local concert season, the Concert Band has been featured internationally at military tattoos and festivals in Oslo, Norway, Stockholm and Quebec City, Canada. In 1996, the band was honored to participate in the 300th Anniversary of the Russian Fleet in St. Petersburg, Russia, and in the Baltic International Festival of the Fleets in Kaliningrad, Russia. Recognized as one of the finest wind ensembles in the world, the Concert Band is in constant demand by the nation's foremost musical education organizations, such as the American Bandmasters Association and The Midwest Clinic.

Sea Chanters

The Navy Band Sea Chanters are the United States Navy’s official chorus. The ensemble performs a variety of music including traditional choral music, sea chanteys, patriotic fare, opera, Broadway and contemporary music. The Sea Chanters regularly perform for the public in the Washington, D.C., area and throughout the United States while on national tours. At home in Washington, they perform for the president, vice president and numerous congressional, military and foreign dignitaries. In 1956, Lt. Harold Fultz, then the band’s assistant leader, organized a vocal group from the Navy School of Music to sing chanteys and patriotic songs for the State of the Nation dinner. Recognizing the ensemble’s immediate success, Adm. Arleigh Burke, then Chief of Naval Operations, transferred the group to the Navy Band, named them the Sea Chanters and tasked this all-male chorus with perpetuating the songs of the sea. In 1980, the group added women to its ranks and expanded its repertoire to include everything from Brahms to Broadway. 

Cruisers

The U.S. Navy Band Cruisers, the Navy’s premier popular music group, features eight of the Navy's most dynamic performers. Formed in 1999, the group takes its name from the Navy's versatile, flexible, multi-missioned ship – the Cruiser – and the band lives up to its namesake with the capability of playing a variety of musical genres ranging from jazz standards, rhythm & blues, classic rock, adult contemporary and pop, as well as original material. This elite group has engaged and excited audiences of all ages throughout the U.S. and abroad with world-class musicianship and high energy, fun-filled performances. 

Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End

Venue: Southside Center for the Arts, 1103 Glenn Street, Opelika

New Date Coming in MARCH, 2025 | 7:00 CST

 

Southside Center for the Arts

1103 Glenn Street, Opelika

 
 

Kristy Meanor in Erma Bombeck’s: At Wit’s End

The touching one-woman comedy titled after Bombeck’s long-running newspaper column, is a candid commentary of her life that made her the champion of suburban housewives everywhere.  

“The show is full of Erma’s famous one liners that audiences will remember from the columns taped on their mother’s refrigerators,” said Wetumpka Depot Players Artistic Director Kristy Meanor.  “The material is perfect for all generations to enjoy together because her wit is timeless. While Erma was a major voice of the '60s and '70s,  millennials and beyond will appreciate that some things really haven’t changed that much.  Mothers today still are seeking that perfect balance between home and career.”

“I grew up reading her books and appreciated her humor long before I was a wife and mother, “ said Meanor who has played the role of Bombeck in various productions in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi since 2017. "Throughout my life, I have embraced Erma’s mantra- ‘If you can’t make it better, you had better laugh at it.’  Working on the piece, which is really just one hilarious monologue, I have come to appreciate that not only was Bombeck delightfully honest and funny, but she was at the forefront of being a voice for women in her support of the Equal Rights Amendment. In addition to the humor, there are also poignant moments that really champion Erma not only as activist and journalist but also as an incredible woman who helped ease the isolation we sometimes feel in our homes raising kids. She told tough truths but found the humor that got us through them.”

KRISTY MEANOR - Wetumpka Depot Players

Kristy Meanor inhabits the role in an extended monologue that traces the ups and downs of suburban home life that inspired Bombeck and triggered her career as an unlikely journalist -- a career that started small yet mushroomed to a syndicated column in some 900 newspapers, the writing of 15 best selling books, a successful lecture circuit, a stint on ABC's "Good Morning America", and a passionate support of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Kristy Meanor is the Artistic Directorfor the Wetumpka Depot Players and a Region Representative for the American Association of Community Theatres. She is also a Past President of the Alabama Conference of Theatre. Kristy has spent a lifetime in theatre as an actor, director, designer, and playwright. A Storm Came Up was born out of her appreciation for Doug Segrest's novel of the same title. With his support and collaboration, the stage adaptation has had a fully realized production (2022- Wetumpka Depot Players). The production won top honors when entered in several festivals and was one of 12 productions to perform at AACTfest2023 in Louisville, Ky. The script was also a top 12 finalist in AACT's new play festival in 2022.

director Jeff Langham with Kristy Meanor