07/09/91
CONTACT: Stanford University News Service (650) 723-2558
STANFORD -- Oscar-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg, ABC News "Nightline" host Ted Koppel (AM '62), Grammy-winning singer Bobby McFerrin and Bay Area rockers The Doobie Brothers will headline the Sept. 30 Stadium Spectacular in a dazzling finale to a year-long Centennial Celebration.
The 100-minute show at Stanford Stadium will feature a giant-screen journey through a century of university history and will include live appearances by internationally renowned performing artists, public figures, and Stanford alumni, plus fireworks and laser technology.
Among the other participants will be folk legend Joan Baez, cabaret performer Michael Feinstein, jazz fusion group Hiroshima, gospel singer Edwin Hawkins and flutist James Galway. Silicon Valley pioneers William Hewlett and David Packard, former San Francisco 49ers and Stanford Coach Bill Walsh, two-time Olympic decathlon champion Bob Mathias, former Stanford and 49er quarterback Frankie Albert, and former Stanford football coach John Ralston also will make appearances, along with other Stanford personalities.
The Stadium Spectacular aims to bring together more than 50,000 alumni, students, faculty and staff members, and Bay Area residents to share in the celebration of Stanford's first hundred years.
"This event will provide a level of drama and pageantry that people won't soon forget," said Centennial Director Stephen Peeps. "More than that, however, this is our way of welcoming Stanford's friends and neighbors throughout Northern California into our Centennial celebration."
The show will be produced, in consultation with University Events and Services and the Centennial Year Office, by Eventures, the New York-based firm that produced the 1990 Goodwill Games opening and closing ceremonies in Seattle, and the Coca-Cola Centennial in Atlanta.
"If you think about all there is to say about Stanford -- its colorful history, its academic traditions, its role in the development of the American West -- you begin to realize how challenging this event will be," said Eventures President Barnett Lipton. "We are honored to play a part in the closing of Stanford's first century."
'The Stadium Spectacular aims to bring more than 50,000 alumni, students, faculty and Bay Area residents together to share in the celebration of Stanford's first hundred years.
Tickets go on public sale July 15 at the Stanford Stadium Gate 2 ticket window (open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday) and at all BASS outlets. Phone orders will be accepted at 723-1021. The prices are $25 for general admission, and $15 for Stanford students, faculty and staff, and anyone 18 and under. Centennial Circle seats on the 50-yard line are available for $100.
Revenue from ticket sales and corporate sponsorships is expected to offset the costs of the show, as well as other Centennial Year events, according to university officials.
The history of Stanford University began in 1885, when Leland and Jane Stanford signed the university's founding grant. They established the school as a memorial to their only son, Leland Jr., who died at age 15 of typhoid fever. Stanford University opened its doors to students on Oct. 1, 1891.
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