Summer Music "Reels" at Rockford!

By Guest Blogger, Sydney Schumacher, Public Relations Assistant, Arts in Media

Celtic Harvest, one of the appearances at the Rockford Tower Summer Concert Series, describe themselves this way: “Most of the songs we play you’d hear if you darkened the door of an Irish pub or two.” And it’s true…I think. The band consists of Kelly Crumpley, fiddle and whistle; Jan Crumpley, flute(s) and whistle(s); Kathy Doyle, vocals and piano; Jim McGriffin, guitar and banjo; and Mike Nielsen, bass, second guitar and occasional accordion.

The third song of their set was the first one to catch my ear; it was a lament for a lover, filled with fantastic harmonies and a flute/fiddle point-counterpoint melody line that was resounding. They followed this up with a few Irish reels, which were fun, little skip-y songs filled with pep and feeling. For these, I give props to the flutist and whistler, who flawlessly executed the runs and scale increments. They did a few “songs about redemption” which were a bit more mellow (though not as slow as a lament), through which they tried to engage the audience with prompts to clap and sing along.  

For a moment of technical difficulty, they filled in what would have been silence with a traditional Irish Lament played on the whistle. This was absolutely my favorite moment of the performance, only topping the reels by a little bit. The song was poignant and beautiful; deep-reaching and just barely outside the realm of what I would term ‘haunting.’ One drawback of the family-friendly outdoor venue presented itself in this moment: It’s tough to enjoy a concert when half of the audience is not there for the music, but to chit-chat, play with their dogs and run with their children. But, that’s the nature of a concert such as this. 

The next song — one “about the transition of shoes from hand-made to machine-made” — was saucy and proved that the Irish really will make anything into a song as long as they can dance to it, or perhaps sing along! The final tune was one that almost everyone should recognize — Danny Boy, Oh Danny Boy. A fine way to end, not only because it captured the audience’s attention with the familiar, but also because Ms. Doyle did a fantastic job on the vocals.

A Jazz Trip with Clifford & Dee Dee

By Guest Blogger, Sydney Schumacher, Public Relations Assistant, Arts in Media

The DuPont Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, held in Wilmington’s Rodney Square, is clearly a crowd favorite. When I arrived Saturday evening (the last night of the festival which ran June 18-23), the square was absolutely packed. The group on stage is Hiromi: The Trio Project with Anthony Jackson and Simon Phillips, and they have all eyes on them.  Hiromi is a jazz pianist from Japan who fell in love with the genre after years of classical music training. Her fellow bandmates, Anthony Jackson and Simon Phillips, show off their talents on supporting instruments. Their music is sans vocals, but the energy and enthusiasm of Hiromi is completely infectious, and listening to her play ’70s style jazz is fun and engaging. Overhearing people around me, I found two consistent comments: “She is the cutest person!” and “Look how much fun she’s having!” Unfortunately (for me), I was late arriving and only got to enjoy a song and a half, but that was enough for me to prove their musical prowess!

Next up, and the closing act for the festival, was a group who travelled all the way from the Virgin Islands—Dee Dee Bridgewater and her band. Ms Bridgewater, the lead singer, has a fantastic, old-school, smoky jazz voice and a talent for scat, which is harder and harder to find in jazz artists. Backing her up was a pianist, an upright bass player, a drummer, and a reeds/flute player. Aside from Ms. Bridgewater, the latter was my favorite.  He had sharp, fast fingers and a wonderful, soulful sound. In my opinion, it’s hard to be a saxophone player. The sound of that instrument isn’t always pleasing, and can make or break a song. However, the player in Ms. Bridgewater’s band (whose name I didn’t catch) did a magnificent job, and I could’ve listened to a performance of him alone. They did a few Billie Holiday songs, an Ella Fitzgerald or two, and what sounded like a few originals scattered in. My favorite was when Ms. Bridgewater announced they were going “off-the-cuff, unrehearsed” with a version of Joy Song, to honor Clifford Brown, the namesake of the festival. This song is fast-paced and packed with words, and she warned the crowd, “I’m gonna try to get these lyrics…but if I can’t get ’em, I’m just gonna scat!” Her effort was impressive; she made it through the first bit splendidly but then got a bit tongue-tied, playfully exclaiming “Oh shoot!” and scatting the rest of the song—which was just as enjoyable, because she does it so well! Hopefully, Dee Dee Bridgewater and her band will be traveling back to Wilmington more often.

Take Your Hair-Hopper Friends to See Hairspray!

Hairspray is based on John Waters’ fun-loving 1988 film, in which the auteur director explored early 1960’s pop culture, integration, and high hair in his hometown of Baltimore, MD. In the early 2000s, Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Mark O’Donnell, and Thomas Meehan wrote the Broadway musical based on Mr. Waters’ original screenplay and it became a Broadway hit. The Delaware All-State Theatre (DAST) is now producing the musical in Newark, DE. DAST gives students throughout Delaware the chance to showcase their theatrical talents in an annual large-scale musical production. In this production, the students tell the zany and sentimental story of a fictional trailblazer, Tracy Turnblad.  

You know you’re in for a real treat when the curtain opens and our large teenage heroin Tracy (Amanda Garcia-Walker) sings “Good Morning Baltimore” and introduces us to her city and some of its most colorful residents. We soon find out that Tracy and her best friend Penny Pingleton (Emily Freebery) aren’t very concerned with school, but are more fascinated by the “Nicest Kids in Town,” the exclusive teenage Council Member dancers on The Corny Collins Show (an American Bandstand like TV show based in Baltimore). The TV show host Corny (Chad Michael Jervis), and his Council Members, led by star couple Amber VonTussle (Lydia Stinson) and Link Larkin (Nicholas Michael), entertain teenaged Baltimoreans with their exuberant dance moves.

Tracy learns of an opening on the Show when one of the Council Members has to suddenly leave.  She decides this is her moment and that she’s going to skip school to audition for the spot. Understanding what it’s like to be a “big girl” and how people can sometimes be cruel to larger people, her seamstress mother Edna (Ben Walker) tries to discourage her daughter from auditioning. However, Tracy’s novelty store owner/inventor father Wilbur (Gregory Wolf) encourages her to follow her dream, and she does. Auditioning for the show doesn’t turn out exactly as Tracy plans; the Show’s “crabby” and sinister producer Velma (Bridget Carrow), who also happens to be Amber’s mother, thwarts her chances of becoming a Council Member, due to Tracy’s size. Velma also crushes the dreams of an African-American teenage girl who also attends the audition. Excusing her based on her skin color. 

Although Tracy may not have landed a spot on the Show, she did meet her dream-boy Link and she also realized her real mission in life after seeing the treatment of the African-American young lady – desegregating Baltimore. By the way, Tracy’s favorite day of The Corny Collins Show is “negro-day.” Once a month Motormouth Maybelle (Colleen Scott), an African-American record storeowner, hosts the Show with only African-American teenagers, including her son Seaweed J. Stubbs (Andre Revels), dancing in place of the Council Members. Tracy thinks everyday should be “negro-day” and that all the kids should be able to dance together.

Undeterred, Tracy goes back to school where she is placed in special education, due to her high hair. In her new class she meets Seaweed and he introduces her to hip dance moves that she can use to get Corny’s attention at her school’s dance that he’s hosting.  Does Tracy’s plan get her the spot on the Show? Will she and Link become boyfriend and girlfriend? Will she desegregate Baltimore? I don’t want to spoil all the FUN, so you will have to go see this toe-tapping musical to get the answers.

Jeffrey Santoro directs some of the most talented teenage performers in Delaware! His cast exudes excitement as they sing and dance across the magnificent set by Scenic Designer, Stefani Hansen. The uber-talented Miss. Garcia-Walker perfectly captures Tracy’s always-optimistic personality, while Mr. Walker easily transforms into Tracy’s loving mother Edna. His great comedic timing and Lucille Ball look leaves the audience in stitches! It takes a real man to play a woman. Unfortunately I can’t mention every stellar performance in my piece, but I would be remised if I didn’t mention two actresses, Miss Carrow as the villainous Velma and Miss Scott as the idealist Motormouth. Both young ladies bring their A-game and give exceptional performances with their respected musical numbers.    

Don’t miss this family-friendly extravaganza that everyone will enjoy; my 8-year-old friend Meara was enthralled by the show! Hairspray runs through July 1^st at the Thompson Theatre in the David Roselle Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Delaware. For information and tickets, visit www.dastonline.org.