WHAT: "Vaudevillian Stages" is the type of show that the Fitzgerald Theater was built for: A classic two-balcony vaudeville house, built in 1910, The Fitz played host to the vaudeville circuit in its earliest days. During the genre's heyday, from the late-19th Century to the 1930s, acts would include music, comedy, athletic feats, magic, trained animals, operatic arias, Shakespeare, banjos, acrobatics, and, yes, plate-spinning.

Some say vaudeville is dead. "Vaudevillian Stages" says these rumors are premature. The show's mission is to seek the widest range of talents—unique, eccentric, modern and archaic—to create a show that will wow and amaze a new generation of vaudevillian fans.

Producers of "Vaudevillian Stages" solicited acts for an audition this past April and selected 17 of the 75 applicants for callback auditions. Of these 17, a crop of distinctive acts were chosen to appear as part of the June 2 show: Mongolian acrobats Circus Manduhai; the talented young singer Isabella Dawis; The Twin Cities Harmonica Trio; the uniquely-gifted pianist Michael "The Hook" Deutsch; Paul Metzger, master of the 21-string banjo; savage comedian Brian Beatty; Jared "Yodelboy" Mason; and manualist (don't ask) Scott Richardson.

These unique and wondrous entertainers will join a cast of featured talent: tap dance sensations The Ausland Brothers; aerialist Risa Cohen; international guitar luminary Tim Sparks; the charming musical ensemble Dreamland Faces; and a rare live appearance by star of stage and screen, Ned Beatty.

The show will be directed by Tom Lieberman, artist and producer with more than 30 years of experience in radio, television, stage and screen. Lieberman has been a frequent musical contributor to A Prairie Home Companion, and served as executive producer and music supervisor of the feature film Sweet Land, named one of the "Top Ten Films of 2006" by The Los Angeles Times and The Village Voice.

Other unique elements of "Vaudevillian Stages" will include screenings of vintage variety performances from the Bob Deflores Film Collection and an effervescent soundtrack provided by The Fitzgerald Theater's Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Organ.

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, June 2

WHERE: Minnesota Public Radio's The Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul

TICKETS: Tickets for the performance are $29, $25 and $20. MPR members receive a discount.