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For video
of several recent performances at Union Hall Theater, visit
www.chesterhillohio.com.
Lennon Orchestra show
of Nov. 11 (see below for
audio and video tracks!)
No River City
show of October 28th
Chesterhill Harvest Festival
Local Talent Showcase / Open Stage
event of September 23, 2006
Union Hall Theater gets a Baldwin grand piano
November 12, 2006 (updated November 30, 2006)
The Lennon
Orchestra drew a standing ovation last night for their authentic,
powerfully emotional renditions of favorite and obscure Beatles tunes.
Moving effortlessly from intricately harmonized
ballads to blues-powered rockers, the band showed their deep familiarity
and fondness for songs by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison.
Beautiful vocals by Joey Hebdo, Kevin Shima,
Junebug and Catfish were complemented by Catfish's virtuosic lead guitar
and supported by the tight rhythm section of Dave Baer and Junebug.
Kevin and Joey added depth with keyboard and rhythm guitar,
respectively.
Highlights of the show included the opening Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Fixing A Hole, While My Guitar Gently
Weeps, Something In The Way She Moves, and Oh, Darling. But what
really brought down the house was the finale: the medley from
"side 2" (for those who remember vinyl) of Abbey Road.
THIS JUST
IN:
You can hear live audio from this show at
Junebug's site. AND, you can see video from this show at
http://www.chesterhillohio.com/.
Whether you caught this show and want to hear
more, or you missed it, you can catch these
guys one more time this year at Lennonfest at the Union Bar & Grill in
Athens on Dec 2nd. Click on Junebug's site above for details.
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October 29, 2006:
Atlanta's
No River City
gained some new fans last night as a result of their stellar performance
at Union Hall Theater. It was twangy, funky, soulful, moving --
what more could we ask for? Even if you missed the show, you can
still hear their music by following the links at
www.norivercity.com (some content submitted by
their fans may not be suitable for children).
Hurry up and buy their excellent CD, This Is Our North Dakota,
while copies are still available. And watch for a new CD and
a new EP to issue soon. We look forward to their eventual return
to Union Hall Theater.
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October 8, 2006:
Chesterhill was hopping on October 7th! The
Chesterhill Harvest Festival
included an all-day
Farmers' Market, an arts and crafts show, craft demonstrations, a
wonderful quilt show, antiques, food, pumpkin carving, children's
activities, horse and buggy rides, and bingo sponsored by the
Chesterhill Lions Club. All proceeds from the Festival benefited Union
Hall Theater. Meanwhile, the Marion Fall Homecoming took place at
the Chesterhill Community Center. Softball and basketball
tournaments and a fund-raising auction were followed by a dance with the
Crossroads Band rocking the house, country-style. Proceeds from
the Homecoming will be used to provide a new heating system for the
Community Center.
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September 24, 2006:
 Last
night's
Local Talent Showcase / Open Stage
was another big success for Union Hall Theater. An
enthusiastic audience witnessed a truly outstanding array of talent.
To get the ball
rolling, host John Wetzel was joined by Jonah Powell, making a brief
return from his new home in Traverse City, MI. John and Jonah gave
improvised renditions of tunes by Hank Williams, Little Feat, Willie
Dixon, James Taylor and others on acoustic and electric guitars and
harmonica.
 Next,
we had a very special treat: Laura Geier and Angela Leising, both
graduate students at the Ohio University School of Music, gave a
stunning performance of six Romanian Folk Dances by Béla Bartok
which had been transcribed for violin and piano. Laura and Angela's own obvious enjoyment spread
quickly to the audience. It was not necessary to be knowledgeable
of Classical music to appreciate the incredible control that these women
had over their instruments and the highly accessible literature that
they chose for us to hear.
 Bob
Rothwell, with his deep baritone voice and precise guitar picking,
entertained us next. From his large repertoire, he selected
several bluesy songs with lyrics full of the wisdom, humor and
spirituality that we have come to expect from Bob.
David Roberts of Bartlett gave the most authentic
rendition of musical styles that one might most readily associate with
Chesterhill.
 With
smooth flat-picking and a beautiful, deep voice, he covered tunes by
Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Jr. and the like with the soulfulness that
they deserve.
 It
was worth the wait to hear singer-songwriter Mari Purdum deliver six of
her skillfully crafted songs toward the end of the evening. Her
bubbly personality and lovely voice were nothing less than infectious.
Her lyrics, drawn from a unique Asian-American (or is it
Asian-American-Hillbilly?) cultural perspective and telling of extensive
life experience, ranged from hilarious to deeply moving.
The next Local
Talent Showcase / Open Stage event is scheduled for March 24, 2007.
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October 28, 2006:
A
Baldwin grand piano
is now on the stage at Union Hall Theater! This instrument will
enable us to broaden our programming to include Classical concerts and
recitals.
Renowned pianist,
Professor Richard Syracuse will play a recital in Union Hall Theater
to dedicate the new piano on April 15, 2007 at 4:00 pm.
Details will be announced on this site. A graduate of the Julliard
School of Music, Mr. Syracuse has won numerous competitions and awards,
and toured extensively in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, and
the Middle East.
The instrument was originally constructed in the
1930's in Cincinnati. Baldwin pianos of this vintage are highly
regarded. It was completely refurbished in 2006 and is shown here
just before leaving the re-builder's shop.
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