The Weidner Center of the Performing Arts has presented an astounding array of performances from Broadway to chamber orchestras to pop acts and numerous family events over its 20 plus years on the UW-Green Bay campus. In celebration of UW-Green Bay’s 50th Anniversary, listed below in no particular order is a compilation of the 50 best shows to ever grace the Weidner Center’s stage.
1. Yo-Yo Ma
![YoYo Ma](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/yoyo-ma.jpg)
2. Jerry Seinfeld
![jerry-seinfeld](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/jerry-seinfeld.jpg)
3. Julie Andrews
![Julie Andrews](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Julie_Andrews.jpg)
4. Robert Goulet
![Robert Goulet](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/robert-goulet.jpg)
5. Ray Charles
![Ray Charles](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/ray-charles.jpg)
6. Tony Curtis
![Tony Curtis](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/tony-curtis.jpg)
7. Ann-Margret
![Ann Margaret](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/ann-margaret.jpg)
8. Willie Nelson
![Willie Nelson](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/willie-nelson.jpg)
9. Tony Bennett
![Tony Bennett](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Tony-Bennett.jpg)
10. The Phantom of the Opera
![Scene from Phantom of the Opera](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/phantom-opera.jpg)
11. Miss Saigon
![Logo for Miss Saigon](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Miss-Saigon.jpg)
12. Maya Angelou
![Maya Angelou](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Maya-Angelou.jpg)
13. Anne Murray
![Anne Murray](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/anne-murray.jpg)
14. James Taylor
![James Taylor](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/james-taylor.jpg)
15. Bonnie Raitt
![Bonnie Raitt](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Bonnie-Raitt.jpg)
16. Tim Conway & Harvey Korman
![Tim Conway and Hargey Korman](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/conway-korman.jpg)
17. B.B. King
![BB King](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/BB-King.jpg)
18. Madeline Albright
![Madeline Albright](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Madeleine-Albright.jpg)
19. Itzhak Perlman
![Itzhak Perlman](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Perlman.jpg)
20. David Copperfield
![David Copperfield](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/david-copperfield.jpg)
21. Victor Borge
![Victor Borge](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Victor-Borge.jpg)
22. George Carlin
![George Carlin](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/George-Carlin1.jpg)
23. John Denver
![John Denver](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/john-denver.jpg)
24. Wynton Marsalis & The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
![Wynton Marsalis](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/wynton-marsalis.jpg)
25. Mannheim Steamroller
![Mannheim Steamroller](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/mannheim-steamroller.jpg)
26. Johnny Cash
![Johnny Cash](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Johnny-Cash.jpg)
27. Marie Osmond & Donny Osmond
![Marie and Donny Osmond](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/marie-donny.jpg)
28. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
![Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Frankie-Valli.jpg)
29. STOMP
![Stomp](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Stomp.jpg)
30. Blue Man Group
![Blue Man Group](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/blue-man-group.jpg)
31. John Mellencamp
![John Mellancamp](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/John-Mellencamp.jpg)
32. Oak Ridge Boys
![Oak Ridge Boys](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/oak-ridge-boys.jpg)
33. Kenny Rogers
![Kenny Rogers](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Kenny-Rogers.jpg)
34. Cats
![Cats, the Musical](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/cats-musical.jpg)
35. Lady Antebellum & Jason Aldean
![James Aldean and Lady Antebellum](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/white-antebellum.jpg)
36. Riverdance
![Riverdance](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/riverdance.jpg)
37. Les Miserables
![Les Miserables](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/LesMiz-OneDayMore.jpg)
38. Jeff Dunham
![Jeff Dunham and puppet](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Jeff-Dunham.jpg)
39. Lily Tomlin
![Lily Tomlin](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/lilly-tomlin.jpg)
40. Johnny Mathis
![Johnny Mathis](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Johnny-Mathis.jpg)
41. Peter, Paul and Mary
![Peter, Paul and Mary](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Peter-Paul-Mary.jpg)
42. Jim Gaffigan
![Jim Gaffigan](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/jim-gaffigan.jpg)
43. Celtic Woman
![Celtic Woman](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/celtic-women.jpg)
44. Bryan Adams
![Bryan Adams](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Bryan-Adams.jpg)
45. Kenny G
![Kenny G](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/Kenny-G.jpg)
46. Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
![Scene from Beauty and the Beast](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/beauty-beast.jpg)
47. Rent
![Scene from Rent](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/rent.jpg)
48. Jeff Foxworthy, Ron White, Larry the Cable Guy & Bill Engvall
![Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy, Ron White, Bill Engvall](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/fox-larry-ron-bill.jpg)
49. Garrison Keillor
![Garrison Keillor](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/garrison-keillor.jpg)
50. Gordon Lightfoot
![Gordon Lightfoot](https://50.uwgb.edu/files/2015/02/g-lightfoot.jpg)
Sorry, I disagree wholeheartedly on the Yo-Yo Ma at No. 1. I wanted to ask for my money back at that one.
The concert was billed as YO-YO MA and the Silk Road Ensemble and it would have been more accurately been SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE with Yo-Yo Ma. It was almost entirely ensemble playing and, remarkably, very little that highlighted the Cello. He might have done one very brief solo number at the outset, but then was just one of many thereafter.
Now, the group he assembled was excellent, the music was beautiful. But when you pay $75 to see Itzhak Perlman, for instance, you don’t get 90 percent symphony orchestra and 10 percent Perlman. The “Yo-Yo Ma” show was not.
I was lucky to be at most of them and hope more will come. I thought the night with Gregory Peck should have been included!