“Or lots of sweets if you want to start the New Year’s resolution the next day,” David Rackley, co-chair of Opening Night, added with a laugh.
Organizers of the Opening Night last year added the New Year’s Eve Cheers liquor store in Bicentennial Park, where adult attendees can toast next year. Open to partygoers with bracelets 21 years or older, the heated tent will feature wine, beer and champagne and a new photo booth for people to savor their memories.
“It will continue right in front of the final stage, so you can have a drink and enjoy watching the final band,” Roper said.
![The fireworks exploded on opening night in downtown Oklahoma City on December 31, 2014. [The Oklahoman Archives]](https://i0.wp.com/cdn2.newsok.biz/cache/w620-98d714f5411d5a5437380ca83ea1ee20.jpg?w=560&ssl=1)
Live entertainment
Live entertainment begins at 7pm at eight nearby indoor stages, which will feature a featured event that will feature sets of 45 minutes per hour until 10:45 p.m.
“It’s a short walk from each other,” Lewis said. “The Final Stage is the only one outdoors … and the places we are in allow a crowd of people to enjoy it.”
The diverse lineup includes the long-running favorites of the OKC Improv Opening Night at the Noble Theater at the Oklahoma City Art Museum; jazz and blues singer Chandra Graham in the museum’s Founders Hall; the comic banjo player Lucas Ross in the theater on the fourth floor of the downtown library; independent rockers Don’t Tell Dena in the library atrium; the one-man band Mike Hosty in City Hall lobby; the CliffDiver rockers in City Hall boardrooms; the magician Joe Coover at the Freede Little Theater Civic Center; and the Latin pop band Orquesta D’Calle at the Sala dels Miralls Civic Center, where the children’s area will also be set up.
“I think David and Leah have done a great job with their performing arts committee, along with Seth, also trying to find performers who are extra-special and who aren’t necessarily on everyone’s radar,” Dolese said. . “People just trust us. They know they’ll see something probably magnificent that they may not have even seen before and they’ll come anyway, whether they know the name or not.”