Harrigan and Hart

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:35:50 GMT

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

An Evening at a British Music Hall: History

Harrigan and Hart

A Brief History of the BMH