Year-end columns are for wrapping things up.

But for 2023, the biggest “thing” is just getting started.

Early in the year, Warren native John Zabrucky reached out, wanting to know if anyone locally might have the interest and ability to create a science fiction museum here. He was willing to donate hundreds of pieces his company, Modern Props, had created for film and television as the foundation for such a venture.

I got the call because I had interviewed him in 2020, but the idea is becoming a reality because of the generosity of Zabrucky and the tenacity of Trumbull County Historical Society Executive Director Meghan Reed and her staff and board.

It’s impossible to look back on 2023 and not have my memories dominated by Zabrucky’s initial call, traveling to southern California to see the collection first hand, dining with Zabrucky’s family and his best friend (Jerry Casale of Devo), watching the first of 10 semi-trailer trucks being unloaded here and opening boxes filled with prop weapons and other recognizable pieces with the anticipation and excitement of a 5-year-old on Christmas morning.

There’s a tremendous amount of work (and fundraising) still to come to make this project a reality, but the progress since that initial phone call is astounding.

Just as surprising, at least to 13-year-old Andy, would be the idea of walking through an art museum with the lead singer and guitar player of his first favorite band – KISS. That happened in August when Paul Stanley took a break from KISS’s farewell tour to attend a reception at the Butler Institute of American Art for the first museum exhibition of his paintings.

Not all of the local entertainment news was happy. Several well-known figures in the arts and entertainment community died in 2023, including W.D. Packard Concert Band Conductor Stephen L. Gage, longtime WHOT-FM DJ A.C. McCullough and Opera Western Reserve founder David Vosburgh.

But the year was filled with memorable performances, both on theatrical and concert stages.

“Rent” at Powers Auditorium stands out most because it was a true collaboration involving so many different factions of the arts community.

Millennial Theatre Company had an impressive run of big musicals with “Avenue Q” and “Sweeney Todd” at Hopewell Theatre and “The Spongebob Musical” at Youngstown Playhouse. And I had great fun at Trumbull New Theatre’s productions of “Disaster” and “Young Frankenstein,” and Rust Belt Theater Company’s “How the Drag Queen Stole Christmas.”

I’m still thinking about the Playhouse’s mind bender “The Flu Season” nearly two months after watching it, and the main stage production of “Misery” was filled with dramatic tension.

We have a page full of concert photos in this week’s Ticket, but those images represent a tiny sampling of the many shows that played in the area in 2023

Some of the ones that Bob Jadloski photographed I didn’t attend, and many of my favorite concerts in 2023, if I have any photos at all, they were quickly snapped and semi-in-focus from my phone.

One of my absolute favorite bands – Drive-By Truckers – played Packard Music Hall in September. Judging by the attendance, most of y’all didn’t care, but I had a great time (so good that my photos were terrible).

Going to concerts never has been more expensive. According to a news release from one ticket reseller, the median price to see the top 10 most expensive tours of 2023 ranged from $288 (Garth Brooks) to more than $1,000 (Adele).

Thanks to my job, I got to see a couple of shows that might have been in the top 20 pricewise — Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and Pink, both at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse — and both were wonderful.

Springsteen’s show triggered more emotions than I expected; Pink delivered pure spectacle while simultaneously making me appreciate her catalog more than I did before entering the arena. And Peter Gabriel delivered perhaps the most artful concert I’ve ever seen with his November show at the same venue.

But a good time listening to music doesn’t require a three-figure ticket. Few shows matched the nonstop groove E.U. delivered at the Warren Community Amphitheatre at the Trumbull County African-American Achievers Association Festival (free with donations collected at the gate) the ’90s hits of the Gin Blossoms at DeBartolo Commons in Boardman at the Ribs-N-Rock Festival ($7) or the Latin rock and funk of the Labra Brothers at Birdfish Brewing in Columbiana in August (no cover charge).

Westside Bowl continues to offer the most interesting and eclectic range of music in the Valley, providing a venue for local artists as well as nationally touring acts.

For performers with local ties, Robert “Kool” Bell was honored in his hometown before Kool & the Gang’s concert at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre, a huge crowd greeted a reunited Left End (minus deceased lead singer Dennis Sesonsky) at Packard Music Hall and Glass Harp fans got to hear some the band’s earliest recordings thanks to the efforts of the Peppermint Productions’ Gary Rhamy and the Peppermint Pals (Dean Anshutz and Anthony LaMarca). Leavittsburg native Jerry Douglas, a 15-time Grammy winner, played shows at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park and The Kent Stage in 2023.

And the year is not over. I’m heading to The Kent Stage Friday to watch Red Wanting Blue and Labra Brothers (a pairing I saw at Westside Bowl back in March), and polka icon Del Sinchak will play his final gig on New Year’s Eve.

See you in 2024.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.