Happy New year from all of us at the Grand Opera House!

I'm Joe Ferlo, executive director of The Grand.

For the past seven years, we've engaged the community with a little experiment we call the Top 100 Preview. It's a multimedia presentation of 100 artists who are available for the upcoming season. We then ask you, our friends and patrons, to help select the artists that will appear on our stage.

This year, for the third year in a row, the Top 100 has taken on a slightly different flavor thanks to our partnership with The Oshkosh Northwestern --- and the entire Top 100 Preview is available on-line, so you can vote at your leisure and help us identify acts for our Grand reopening season. Last year, over 18,000 individual ratings helped me select the artists on our current season.

We've broken the artists down into 8 categories, and your job is to simply click on each performer and tell us whether you would like to see them at the Grand in Oshkosh (give them a thumbs up) or don't (thumbs down) and feel free to add in any additional comment you may have on the act.

The categories are:

♦ A-list - the biggest names we can afford to book and still keep ticket prices relatively low.

♦ Comedy - individual Comedians and improv groups.

♦ Dance - Groups from traditional to modern and everything in between.

♦ Family & Variety - Fun and imaginative acts for children of all ages (including adults). There's magic, mystery, and even Vaudeville.

♦ Favorites - acts we're considering bringing Back to The Grand for a return engagement.

♦ Holiday - From music to theater, there's something for everyone's taste. "Holiday" at The Grand includes events themed towards our new Grand Goes Gothic offerings in October.

♦ Music - You want rock, folk, a cappella, even polka - everything is being considered.

♦ Theatre - Everything from touring tributes to a local production.

We know there is something for everyone on this year's Top 100 Preview. And while we can't guarantee the highest vote getters will automatically be a part of our new season, I can say that in the past 7 seasons, a majority of our acts are chosen based on how well they performed on the Top 100.

Also, if there's someone you don't see on the list, each category has a place for you to write in a suggestion. Don't hesitate to do that, as several of the acts on this season's Tope 100 are direct results of write-in suggestions!

So, sit back, pretend you're in my chair, and let us know what you think. Thank you for taking the time to have your voice heard and to help us select performers for the Grand 's 2012-13 Season. Be sure to forward the link to this page to your friends, and encourage them to make their voices heard as well.

Thank you to again to The Oshkosh Northwestern, and everyone who takes the time to tell us who they want to see perform at The Grand Opera House! Happy Voting!

♦ Visit the Grand's web site: www.grandoperahouse.org