Beth's Books - TA DA! Special Events

TA DA! Special Events

Event Director business card

Event Publicity business card

Guinness "Book of World Records" #1: The World's Largest Tap Dance, 10/15/1979, a TA DA! Special Event Photo: Center of front row of 1,801 tap dancers who opened the Hennepin Center for the Arts 10/15/1979, into the Guinness "Book of World Records"; L to R: two granddaughters of ex vaudevillians; Herbie Berkus, ex-Vaudevillian; Beth Obermeyer, Event Director; Loyce Houlton, Founder, Artistic Director, Minnesota Dance Theatre; Edward Holmburg, MDT Board of Directors; Judy Larson, Tap III, MDT. Event sponsored by the Minnesota Dance Theatre, tenant of the center; Event Concept, Direction by Beth Obermeyer, TA DA! Special Events; Publicity, Top That Event Publicity

World's Largest Tap Dance, 10/15/1979; Guinness "Book of World Records"; 15 to a row, rows A-Z, AA-ZZ, through Row QQQQQ-1. Numbers on backs for Guinness book verification, signatures provided by row. Tap shoes required; dressed in anything red, white and/or blue

World's Largest Marching Band, 10/12/1981, Guinness "Book of World Records;" Beth, Director; Dr. Frank Bencriscutto, U MN, Conductor; Meredith Willson (The Music Man), Guest Conductor: 2,512 marching musicians

YouTube 1801 Tap Dancers

World's Largest Tap Dance, 10/15/1979, Minneapolis MN (front row); Guinness "Book of World Records": 1,801 tap dancers in unison, Beth, Director

Mass Break Dance, "Pioneer Press," St. Paul; in front of St Paul YWCA; Beth, Director 4/17/1984

World's Longest Danceline, Guinness "Book of World Records," Metrodome, Minneapolis; 512 dancers; Beth, Director MN Vikings 25th anniversary half-time party

Ripley's "Believe It or Not": World's Longest Tap Dance Distance Record; Guinness "Book of World Records"; Minneapolis Metrodome; Beth and daughter Kristin, 1983 Aquatennial Parade, Minneapolis; World Distance Tap Dance Record 4.1 miles; Guinness “Book of World Records”

234 4-yr-olds from Head Start open the 6th Street Transit Station, Minneapolis, 5/21/1987 singing "The People on the Bus"; Beth, Event Director

234 4-yr-olds from L side

Bridgeman's Ice Cream Parlors/Land O Lakes won a "Forbes Magazine" Business in the Arts Award for the Bridgeman's Night at the Nutcracker and Loring Park Nutcracker events 10/18/1991

Recognition, "Minnesota Woman’s Year Book" Advisory Board 1983-1984

Governor’s Office Certificate of Appreciation 6/3/1990

State of Minnesota certificate of Registration TA DA! Special Events 10/18/1991

State of MN certificate of Registration TOP THAT! Event Publicity 10/18/1991

Tap Teacher Recruitment Form for the mass tap dance event

Great Shake, St Paul; Guinness "Book of World Records" 1981

Sha Na Na Photo Shoot recruitment 11/1986

Houlton "Nutcracker Fantasy" 26-year reunion, State Theatre, Minneapolis; Beth, Director 1992

Christmas Craft Show, Hyatt Hotel, Minneapolis 11/1983; 11/1984

Bridgeman’s "Night at the Nutcracker," Loring Park, Minneapolis, St. Paul 12/1980

St. Paul mayor leapfrogs in Frogtown 10/1980

Directing a mass Mary Tyler Moore Hat toss; 10/20/1987

Mass Break Dance, front of St. Paul YWCA, St. Paul 4/17/1984

"Symphony for Survival" Members MN Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Beth, Event Director 5/1984

Guindon Cartoon, Star Tribune, 10/1979 "How are the tap dancers going to get to work?"

Guest Soloist, "Prairie Home Companion"; page from script: played "Stump the Taps"; soloed with Butch Thompson, pianist Dec 31, 1983

MN Festival of the Book, 1988, Sponsored by Friends of the St. Paul Public Library; Beth Obermeyer, Director 10/30/1988

"Tap Day" promotion for Gregory Hines' film "Tap!" Beth Obermeyer, Director, for Nemer Fieger PR 1/21/1989 City Center, Minneapolis, 1/21/1989

World's Longest Bucket Brigade, June 6, 1981, Lake Street Council; Beth Obermeyer, Director

Decade-long 1979-1982 correspondence with Eleanor Powell, 40s film star 1979-1982

Mass Break Dance, St. Paul YWCA; Beth Obermeyer, Director 4/17/1984

Cartoon: "The coroner says he was tap-danced to death." "Minneapolis Tribune" Hennepin Center for the Arts 1,801 tap dancers; Director Event: Beth Obermeyer Faculty, Minnesota Dance Theatre 10/16/1979

"Minneapolis Star" article by Beth Obermeyer

MN Festival of the Book, 10/1989; Beth Obermeyer, Opening Event Director, festival sponsored by The Loft Literary Center, sponsor

w Barbara Flanagan, "Star Tribune" columnist, her first retirement party

"Mpls St. Paul" magazine article on the Performing Arts Archive, U MN; features Beth's donated papers March 2025

"Mpls St. Paul" magazine, cover March 2025

TA DA! Special Events official photo, 1982

Star Tribune photo for article, cover, Variety

MN Festival of the Book, Director, 1988, for Friends of the St. Paul Public Library

Panel, Ecstasies and Influences, Cowles Center Minneapolis

History of Tap Panel; Ecstasies and Influences: Joe Chvala, Ellen Keane U MN, Beth, Kaleena Miller, Rick Ausland

Poster: The Cowles Center, Minnesota Dance and the Ecstasies of Influences, Part 5, History of Tap Twin Cities

Wanted Poster: 26th Reunion, Loyce Houlton's "Nutcracker Fantasy," Minnesota Dance Theatre, December 1992, State Theatre, Minneapolis; Beth, Director

100 dancers from Sue Matson's Stage Door, Coon Rapids, fill the atrium, International Market Square, Minneapolis, for a corporate event; Beth Obermeyer, Event Director

A Star Tribune Sunday Magazine interview, January 1987; Twin Cities

TA DA! Special Events anniversary

TA DA! Special Events Skyway News Page 42

YWCA News Release

One of five new units for the St. Paul Winter Carnival Parade for WCCO-TV, directed by Beth; Norwest Bank unit

Kappa Alpha Theta Magazine; 1982; photo with Meredith Willson, composer, "The Music Man," when he came to Minneapolis to Guest Conduct the World's Largest Marching Band, 10/1981; Beth, Event Director

The Great Shake, newspaper articles; Guinness "Book of World Records"

Poster, Minnesota Christmas Craft Sale, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Thanksgiving weekend, 1983; Beth, Director

Winter Carnival parade unit; Beth Director

Review: St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch; Sha Na Na Video Shoot; Beth, Costumed Crowd Recruitment

Poster: St. Paul YWCA Mass Break Dance

Article, Star Tribune, Minneapolis, The Great Shake; Guinness "Book of World Records" Beth, Director

Article, "Star Tribune," Twin Cities; Mass Break Dance, YWCA St Pau; April 1984; Beth Obermeyer, Director; Diane Norman, Community Development, YWCA St. Paul

Article, "Skyway News," 234 Head Start pre-schoolers sing "The People on the Bus" to open a transit station, Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis; Beth, Event Director

Helicopter view, 1,801 tap dancers, opening Hennepin Center for the Arts, Minneapolis; Opening, Business Salutes the Arts Week, Minneapolis; Beth, Event Director 10/15/1979

Star Tribune, article, cover and back pages, Variety Section; Photo, The World's Largest Marching Band, October 12,1981; Beth, Event Director

w Mayor Rybak, Minneapolis Speaker 100th Birthday Hennepin Center for the Arts

w Mayor George Latimer, at Mickey's Dinner, Minneapolis host Celebrity Dog Sled Race WCCO AM radio

Tapping Santa, Butler Square

The Gazette

Tapping Nutcracker: Snowflakes; 12/1979

St. Paul Winter Carnival

Metro/State News

Mayor Fraser, Minneapolis, leads seventy-six trombones to kick off the Summer Pleasures Parade, sponored by "Mpls St Paul” Magazine and WCCO-TV

Flowers, Summer Pleasures Parade, sponsored by Mpls St. Paul Magazine and WCCO-TV

IMG_3009

Mpls St.Paul Summer Pleasures

Pioneer Pre Earth Day

Mower sunny-day silliness

Super Bowl half-time proposal, had a pop-up artist create a visual for every new scene.

Don Del Fiacco column, October 1979: "The Tappety Tap of Many Feet. (1,801 tap dancers 10/15/79, Hennepin Avenue)

Don Del Fiacco column, St Paul Pioneer Press, "Going on at Great Lengths"

Skyway News "Snapshot: Beth Obermeyer”

Kappa Alpha Theta Magazine; "Big is Her Thing"

Minnesota History Magazine; book review, "The Biggest Dance; A Miracle on Concrete" by Beth Obermeyer

Midwest Book Award Finalist, one of three, Autobiography/Memoir, "The Days of Song and Lilacs," by Mary Beth Sartor Obermeyer, North Star Press, 2011

Program, Midwest Book Award, May 8, 2013: "The Days of Song and Lilacs," Finalist, one of three, Memoir

"Lake of the Isles Living" Magazine, Home Section p 14; July 2016; Beth Obermeyer home

"Lake of the Isles Living" Magazine, Home Section, p 15; Beth Obermeyer home

"Lake of the Isles Living" Magazine: Home Section, p 16, July 2016

Professional in Residence, Iowa State University, Fall 1992, Beth Obermeyer, Journalism graduate 1964. Paper Cutting by Linda Emmerson, ISU 1961

"Visions" Magazine, Iowa State University, 1992; Crossword Puzzle, 30' x 30', placed on ISU campus, a TA DA! Special Event, Beth Obermeyer; puzzle clues by Iowa State University students, Greenlee School of Journalism; Linda Emmerson, ISU '61, letter graphics

"Iowa State Daily" article, Crossword Puzzle on Main Campus, 30' x 30'; clues by ISU students, Greenlee School of Journalism; a TA DA! Special Event by Beth Obermeyer, ISU '64; Linda Emmerson, ISU '61, graphics, Fall 1992

"Des Moines Register" article, "Those are some big words they're usng". 30' by 30' crossword puzzle on main campus, Iowa State University, clues by ISU students, Greenlee School of Journalism; graphics by Lina Emmerson, ISU '61; a TA DA! Special Event, Beth Obermeyer, ISU '64

"Lake of the Isles Living" Magazine, Neighbors Section

"Lake of the Isles Living," Magazine, pp 11, 9, Dance; July 2016

Cover, "Lake of the Isles Living," July 2016; article on Beth Obermeyer, Journalist, Dancer; Home by husband Thomas Obermeyer, architect, July 2016

Article, "A Life of Music," Mason City, Iowa "Globe Gazette," by Kristin Buehner

At the Barre in Butler Square; publicity by Beth Obermeyer, Events Director, Butler Square, downtown Minneapolis MN

Minnesota Dance Theatre company studio, 1979 on, The Cowles Center, previously Hennepin Center for the Arts, as it was originally when the building was built, a Masonic Center, 528 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis MN. MDT also uses hen space as a salon performance space, a multi-story space with a small stage on each end.

Letter from Loyce Houlton, Artistic Director, Minnesota Dance Theatre, to Beth Obermeyer, MDT faculty,

Portrait, Loyce Houlton, Artistic Director and founder, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Minneapolis

Homer Hanky for MN Twins, World Series 1987, produced by Star Tribune

Banner for rally for MN Twins World Series 1989, in front of Steve Schussler's Jukebox Saturday Night, downtown Minneapolis, Beth Obermeyer Event Consultant

Using a bat for a cane, Pat Pivec, (R), ex-vaudevillian, tap dances o "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," at the MN Twins Rally, World Series, in front of Jukebox Saturday Night, downtown Minneapolis

The committee for a benefit for the MN Opera, held in the downtown Minneapolis train depot soon to be torn down, meet with the piano accompanist, seated font left, and Beth Obemeyer, back row right, Entertainment Director

Beth Obermeyer, soloist, "Prairie Home Companion," playing Stump the Taps with Garrison Keillor, impromptu, to "Clair de Lune," "Minnesota Rouser,", "Amazing Grace," and "Washington Cannonball," Butch Thompson, pianist and conductor of the PHC Tap Orchestra.

A large office party for downtown workers, Minneapolis, Beth Obermeyer Entertainment Consultant to Minda Associates

The Corporate Chorus Line performs their dance at a very large office party, Christmas week, downtown Minneapolis, Beth Obermeyer choreographer

Judging panel, Aquatennial Queen, includes a past Veishea Queen, 2nd from R, a past Aquatennial Princess 2nd from left, and Guest Judge Beth Obermeyer, center

Target carts and Target employee cart pushers line up for their routine in the Minneapolis Aquatennial Parade, Beth Obermeyer parade unit routine choreographer and leader, for Robert Peterson Event Company

Presentation to Target by Robert Peterson Event Company, unit to be choreographed and led by Beth Obermeyer

Target's shopping cart parade unit ready to perform, Beth Obermeyer, choreographer and unit leader, for Bob Peterson Event Company

The Great Lake Street Red Stripe Trike Trek opened the 1982 Lake Street opening to summer, Beth Obermeyer Trike Trek Director

Two members of the Minneapolis City Council lead the Lake Street Red Stripe Trike Trek in a double tricycle, Beth Oermeyer Trike Trek director

A winter Groundbreaking for Edinborough, Edina MN, a multi-use development, happened indoors, with Edina community groups perorming on four walls of balconies on four floors, including roller skaters, beach ball bouncers, other outdoor sports, while Andahazy Ballet had dancers on the main floor, and Barbara Brooks, pianist. Beth Obermeyer TA DA! Event Director for Oxley Marshall Public Relations

Recruitment post card for Minnesota Dance Theatre "Nutcracker Fantasy" cast reunion. Beth Obermeyer Event Director

Norwest Bank parade unit, St. Paul Winter Carnival

Banner leading 76 trombones that led the Summer Pleasures Parade, Minneapolis

A brigade of snow plows led the St. Paul Winter Carnival Parade

A symbolic lighting of the flame to end the St. Paul Winter Carnival, meaning warmer weather ahead, a WCCO-TV event ending the television program of the parade.

Three break dancers featured in Prince's film "Purple Rain" dance the Aquatennial Parade, a Beth Obermeyer unit arranged for WCCO-TV

100 dancers from Sue Mattson's Stage Door dance school form a Synchronized Snowflake unit for the St. Paul Winter Carnival, a unit arranged by Beth Obermeyer for WCCO TV

Close up of center rings of children, each representing a sport or arts group who circled the Snow White from Disney for a 90 second performance of "It's A Small Small World," for WCCO-TV, Minneapolis Aquatennial Parade. Concept and choreography by Beth Obermeyer. Red vinyl intersection cover background courtesy of a MN Vikings Half-Time, "Love Makes the Difference" for the United Way, directed by Bob Jani; half-time coordination by Marilyn Nelson; Beth Obermeyer local producer; Paul Ridgeway, logistics

Child violinists from MacPhail Center of Music, Minneapolis, form a marching unit for the Aquatennial Parade, one of five new parade units for WCCO-TV coordinated by Beth Obermeyer

Two full-page caricatures, Beth Obermeyer dancing: "Star Tribune," cover, Variety; Butler Square newspaper, "The Gazette"

Cover "US Magazine"; featured article and photo Beth Obermeyer TA A! Special Events

Norwest employees after St. Pau; Winter Carnival Parade, completed routine with cards

Minnesota Vikings Stationery, early 1980s; Beth Obermeyer, Entertainment Director, MN Vikings; directed three new half-times/season, Metrodome, Minneapolis, not marching bands, included excerpts from the "Nutcracker Fantasy."

First Professional Vikings Cheerleaders, 1984, Beth Obermeyer, Jorja Lynn, Sue Mattson, judges; 600 auditioned, 18 minimum age; previous MN Vikings cheerleaders: St. Louis Park Parkettes, St. Louis High School. Stock photo

Minnesota's First Festival of the Book Deemed a Success September 1988

Minnesota Festival of the Book Launch Featured in St. Paul Pioneer Press June 1988

Minnesota Book Awards and Festival Committees 1988

Program cover, the first Minnesota Book Awards, 1988; Garrison Keillor, emcee

Program: A Book Affair, opening event, Landmark Center, St. Paul and Rice Park, 1988; includes list of participants, map

Poster: first Minnesota Festival of the Book, 1988; sponsored by the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library

Rehearsal, The Tap Dance Concerto, Minnesota Orchestra, Beth Obermeyer soloist, toured 1978-1979

"Tap Dance Concerto," Minnesota Orchestra, Henry Charles Smith conducting; Beth Obermeyer, soloist, 1978-79

Back cover, magazine mailed to Hennepin County, Iowa, residents; Author Beth Obermeyer, Heritage Series, 2012

Title Page; U MN Archives

Beth Obermeyer papers for U MN Archives, p 1

"St. Paul Pioneer Press" column by Don Del Fiacco announcing the 1,801 tap dancers who would open the Hennepin Center for the Arts, October 15, 1979.

"St. Paul Pioneer Press" column by Don Del Fiacco outlining several mass people events by Beth Obermeyer listed in the Guinness "Book of World Records."

Article, "Kappa Alpha Theta Magazine," on large-scale Guinness "Book of World Records " events directed by Mary Beth Sartor Obermeyer, '64, Iowa State University, Gamma Pi chapter

Review, "Minnesota History Magazine," of "The Biggest Dance; A Miracle on Concrete," by Beth Obermeyer, North Star Press, the saga of the uprising of 1,801 tap dancers to open the Hennepin Center for the Arts, Minneapolis, MN, October 15, 1979

Poster, Professionals in Residence, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 1992: Beth Obermeyer, Gary Sutton, Jl, '60

Paper Cutting by Linda Emmerson, presented to Beth Obermeyer, 1960 alum, Professional in Residence, Iowa State University, 1992, Greenlee School of Journalism

"Visions Magazine," Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa; clues and answers to giant crossword puzzle presented on the lawn, central campus; event provided for Greenlee School of Journalism students by Beth Obermeyer; clues by students

Iowa State Daily covers giant crossword puzzle on central campus, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa; concept and puzzle materials by Beth Obermeyer; clues and letter production and staging by Greenlee School of Journalism, 1992

MN Vikings United Way Half-Time, field covered by squares of red vinyl reversed to white, "Love Makes the Difference," Director, Bob Jani, Los Angeles, Overall Coordinator, Marilyn Nelson; Local Producer, Beth Obermeyer; Logistics, Paul Ridgeway

Finale, Half-Time, MN Vikings, by the United Way: "Love Makes the Difference." Bob Jani, Los Angeles, Director; Marilyn Nelson, Producer; Paul Ridgeway, Logistics; Beth Obermeyer, Local Director

MN Twins World Series Rally in front of Juke Box Saturday Night, Steve Schussler, Director; Beth Obermeyer, Entertainment

The Great Shake; Candidate Bill James

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