An Evening at a British Music Hall: Blog

Mr Joseph Birchak

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 20:43:21 GMT

Joining the BMH troupe in 1979 and having had the opportunity to work with this company and with this material o'er these many years continues to be a most remarkable highlight in my life.

I have had the great fortune to have spent a good number of years working in the Theatre, both on stage and off. Little that I have accomplished compares to the shear joy and pleasure it is to work in this show. My hope is that the fellow members of this troupe as well as the many many people who have seen this show over the years have shared that joy.

Thanks for the memories yet to come.

Mr Glen Longenhagen

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:36:24 GMT

Glen Longenhagen hails from Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. Our "cockneyed" percussionist first got started with AN EVENING AT A BRITISH MUSIC HALL back in 2004, when his ex-bandmate Robert Fahringer (cf. "Chairmen") contacted him about the need to add some "OOMPH!" to the show.

Glen enjoys performing with the ensemble, and even adds a line or two himself when needed.... "Chuck 'em out, Sarah!"

He's also the lead guitarist and keyboard player for the Lehigh Valley-based rock band Common Bond, said to be one of the area's BEST classic rock bands (well, said by the members of the band, anyway!). Visit Glen at his band's website, www.Commonbondband.com

(Webmaster's note: Check out that website! Rippin' rock n roll!!)

Mr Chris Simmons

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:22:34 GMT

Chris has been a performer and musician for over 39
years. As well as producing AN EVENING AT A BRITISH
MUSIC HALL for the past 33 years Chris has also played
fiddle, mandolin and concertina in several folk bands
and ensembles.

Chris has also appeared as an actor in plays such
as: Threepenny Opera, Playboy of the Western World,
Diary of a Madman, A Christmas Carol, The Hostage, and
The Rivals. Chris also produced two plays for radio:
Agents by Sholem Aleichem and Days of the Turbins by
Mikhail Bulgakov.

As well as appearing on the stage, Chris has

written, researched and published articles on Music
Hall, 19th century Irish-American actor Edward
Harrigan and a number of articles on late 19th century
Irish-American Vaudevillians.

(Webmaster's note: Mr Simmons was overly modest in the preparation of his resume, which could go on at much greater length with descriptions of his many artistic achievements over the years as actor, writer, producer, musician and scholar. He's a man of unbounded humility, and a really fine fellow.)

A recent accolade

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:03:40 GMT

from Frank Cullen -
publisher of VAUDEVILLE TIMES and curator of the
American Vaudeville Museum:

13 June 2007

"Hello Chris Simmons,

This letter of appreciation is long overdue. Last
night I again watched the "double feature" EVENING AT
A BRITISH MUSIC HALL tape that you provided the AVM.
It was delightful.

I have seen other's recreations of Music Hall and
thought them lacking in bite and irreverence. Some
were even cloying, like the sentimental and puerile
revivals of vaudeville shows. I must say that I found
this too true of Music Hall entertainments I saw in
London. Too often these evocations look like Disney did
them.

You have assembled a solid pit band and a cast of
genuine talent and diverse personalities. ...

I think it is a tribute to your talent, perseverance
and the quality of your shows that you have attracted
a loyal audience to support your efforts all theses
years."

Thank you, Mr Cullen! We all greatly appreciate your very gracious comments. Please come see us perform this autumn in Bethlehem!

Miss Caroline Leland

Wed, 23 May 2007 18:15:33 GMT

Being a part of such lively entertainment as An Evening at a British Music Hall has opened Caroline’s eyes to the huge wealth of material waiting to be worked over. In the past she has performed a range of contralto roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas with the Savoy Company of Philadelphia, Thespis Players of Media, Arden Singers of Delaware and the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Chester County. Mad Margaret, Ruth, Buttercup and the Duchess of Plaza Toro are some of the personages whose psyches she has plumbed. Character roles such as Veta in Harvey, Mamita in Gigi, and Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit for various community productions, have contributed to her enjoyment of treading the boards. The Concert Operetta Theater of Philadelphia provides Caroline with opportunities to portray eccentric royalty from around the world with the role of the Duchess Anastasia in The Student Prince coming up. In the summer of 2007 she will take part in a Gilbert and Sullivan song program for a Pocono community. For Caroline, An Evening at a British Music Hall provides her with an endless parade of rich characters waiting to be explored.

Harrigan and Hart

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:35:50 GMT

A CELEBRATION OF HARRIGAN AND HART

As a sort of sidebar to performances of AN EVENING AT
A BRITISH MUSIC HALL, members of the cast (Chris
Simmons, Murray Callahan and pianist "emeritus" Sandy
Graham) have presented programmes of songs witten by
Edward Harrigan and David Braham. Edward Harrigan
(1844-1911) was a New York City born song writer,
Variety (Vaudeville) performer and playwright who,
with his partner Tony Hart (born Anthony Cannon, 1854-1892), was among the founding fathers of
American Musical Comedy. David Braham, Harrigan's
father-in-law, wrote the music for most of Harrigan's
popular hits.

   Harrigan's songs, sketches and plays chronicled
life among the denizens of New York City's tenements:
the Irish (primarily), the Germans, Jews,
African-Americans and others.
   Over the past four years Chris Simmons and Murray
Callahan have presented programmes of Harrigan/Braham
material in New York City - at the 2003 West Along The
Road Festival sponsored by Glucksman Ireland House  and
in 2004 at New York University's Skirball Arts Centre.
   In the Spring of 2007 a full length Harrigan
programme is planned in conjunction with the Celtic
Cultural Alliance  of Bethlehem, Pa., utilizing the cast
and resources of AN EVENING AT A BRITISH MUSIC HALL.

A Brief History of the BMH

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 05:17:08 GMT

Though AN EVENING AT A BRITISH MUSIC HALL is 32 years
old, its origins are not quite lost in the mists of
time. I am the show's producer, director and - I
suppose - "impresario". This, unfortunately, calls up
images of myself in top hat, fur collared overcoat and
"robusto" cigar. Not quite the reality.

AN EVENING AT A BRITISH MUSIC HALL (hereafter to be
refered to as BMH for brevity's sake) sprang into
being from my desire of many years to produce a full
length evening of music hall material. I had often
subjected friends and family to my music hall
warblings but had never found a way to make the dream
of a full length production a reality.

After University I performed in various theatre
companies and played violin, concertina and multiple
other instruments in a folk band based in the Lehigh
Valley region of Pennsylvania. Gradually, I introduced music hall
numbers into the band's repertoire.
Using the band as the foundation and with the
addition of a magician (Terry LaSorda - then
performing under the cognomen of "Rubashov, The Little
Wizard"), and with the band's banjo player, Roy Smith, as
Chairman, the first BMH was presented at Lehigh
University in 1974. The audience's reception was so
enthusiastic that future performances were assured.

In 1976 the BMH, by now coalesced into a full-
fledged theatrical company, began performing at a
newly established folk club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania called Godfrey Daniels
(after W.C. Fields' pet screen epithet) . These
performances quickly became a yearly event - proving a
boon both to the club and to the growing BMH company.

Over the years a fine complement of performers,
musicians and other company members were added to the
BMH roster. Currently active members include: comic
monologuist and sketch actor Alex Barry; resident
red-nosed comedian Joe Birchak; longtime member and
chanteuse Ms Murray Callahan; Bob Cohen, a specialist in
the numbers of George Formby, Sr. as well as lyrical ballads;
Ms Caroline Leland, specialist in comic numbers and
Gilbert and Sullivan songs; and Ms Peachy Stone, comic
vocalist and custom costumer; all ably backed by our talented trio, Ms Valerie Schoenk, pianist, drummer Glen Longenhagen, and our indefatigable trumpet
player Rick Weisman (himself the possessor of a
Vaudeville lineage: His uncle, "Tucker, The Singing
Violinist", performed on the Vaudeville stage). Bob
Fahringer fills the show's most important
position - that of Chairman. Some of the above named
artistes have been with BMH for over twenty years.

Other performers who have graced our stage in the
past include: Thom Shafer, comic vocalist; Ms Cora Hook,
a performer in the Ella Shields/Hetty King/Vesta
Tilley male impersonation tradition; Ms Rebecca Skelton,
serio-comique; Ms Vicki Sunshine, clog dancer; Ms Paula Ferry, cockney comedienne; Mark Marcante, comic vocalist; and John
DiJulio (ditto). The Chairman's gavel has been wielded by
the late Michael Hodges, Jack Ferry, Bill George, and
the late Tim Roche - all past chucker-outers.

Over the years our songs have been instrumentally enhanced by former orchestra members Bruce
Gibson, longtime pianist with the troupe;
Dr. Sandra Graham, past pianist, arranger and vocal coach; Ms Liz Johnson, petite pianista; Jeff
Biro, drummer and percussionist of allsorts;
L.A. Williams,
slide trombonist; the late Jerry Bastoni, upright bassist; Evan Conyers, clarinetist; and the spousally related tandem of Rusty and Nancy Neithammer, on banjo and clarinet, respectively.

Along with the many songs presented in a typical
BMH evening are the sketches and monologues; some not
performed since the death of their original
interpreters: "The Disorderly Room" (Tommy
Handley/Eric Blore), "Parker, P.C., or, Discharged
From The Force" (Charles Austin), and "The Johnson
'Ole" (Capt. Bruce Bairnsfather).

Our song repertoire has been greatly enhanced by
the efforts of friends such as Max Tyler, Historian of
the British Music Hall Society, Tony Barker, publisher
and editor of MUSIC HALL magazine, and John Whitehorn,
formerly of EMI Archives, London, England.

BMH has been presented to appreciative audiences in Philadelphia and New
York City, and at various locations in southeastern
Pennsylvania and New Jersey - as well as in a number
of venues in the Lehigh Valley, Pa.

So, like "Topsy" in UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, AN EVENING AT A BRITISH MUSIC HALL has
"growed" and prospered. Perhaps, like old soldiers,
music halls never die - they just fade away; I should,
however, like to think there is life in the old dog
yet.

Chris Simmons

Mr Alex Barry

Sun, 29 Oct 2006 14:48:26 GMT

Mr Barry has been a member of the cast for these oh so many years..... something over 20 anyway. He began as a British Music Hall wannabe, and was originally cast by Mr Simmons as a light board operator and stage hand. His first duties on stage were to pre-set the Chairman's table by lighting candles and pouring a glass of wine before the show began, and then making a show of sweeping off the stage. This was done of course in elaborate costume and make-up, which ever since has been a hallmark of his subsequent performance career.

Recognizing Mr Barry's tin ear and inadequacy as a vocalist, Mr Simmons gradually moved him into the demanding position of comic monologuist, and early "bits" included "The Caretaker", a role in which he shared the stage with a live, squirming, and not always cooperative black cat named Shadow. An early role he recalls fondly (cough, cough) was "Camoflage", in which he was bunged into full WWI military garb including gas mask, beneath which his face was a ghastly color of green (due to make-up, not dyspepsia).

His variety of costumes over the years have included full evening dress with cape (and sometimes an ape mask), tunic and tights (sans codpiece) for "Robin Hood", the excruciatingly authentic uniforms of various British expeditionary and military forces, London bobby, sailor (shipwrecked and otherwise), footballer, Beefeater, gentlemen, fops and cads of various stripes and persuasions, and more. He's worn wigs, goatees, false beards, dundreary sidewhiskers and monocles. One may reasonably wonder if all these attempts at disguise are an effort to unfairly conceal his matinee idol visage from legions of adoring fans, including a few females, but actually the reason has to do with the conditions of the federal witness protection program.

Mr Barry's other stage experience has included acting, directing and designing for numerous college and community theatre productions in Pennsylvania and New York, independent professional work with area repertory companies as performer, designer and technician, and a bit of work with industrial, independent and Hollywood filmmakers, but don't search for him on IMDb.

He currently resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a different black cat, this one named Guinness.