An Evening at a British Music Hall: Meet the Members of our Troupe

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.)

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.

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.