More American folk music
to be celebrated at dinner theatre
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — The Presque Isle Community Players enjoyed last year’s dinner theatre celebration of American folk music so much that they asked musical director Rod Thompson if they could do something similar this year.
His answer was a resounding, “Yes.”
“I thought I’d do it once and it would be done,” Thompson said, “but they did very well last year, so they asked if we could continue on. I went back and started looking at songs that were a little more popular. This time around we picked songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s and included some more current folk artists like James Taylor and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
“We also added a little bit of some of the different genres. We included ‘Man of Constant Sorrow’ from the movie, ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ which is really an old, traditional country/folk/bluegrass song,” he said. “We included some traditional songs by Bob Dylan and Arlo Guthrie, and I found one old song (“Bound for Higher Ground”) by a group called the New Journeymen. I googled them and it turns out they were three of the four Mamas and the Papas. We’re going to do one (“Dream a Little Dream of Me”) by Cass Elliot, so we definitely have more of a mix of the traditional folk music and the commercial pop people.”
“American Folk Music: The Celebration Continues … Will the Circle be Unbroken” will be held Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 28-29 and Nov. 4-5 at The Crow’s Nest in Presque Isle. A social hour will begin at 6 p.m., dinner will be served at 7 p.m., and the performance will start at 8 p.m.
With songs such as “Fire and Rain,” “Our House,” “Puff the Magic Dragon,” “The Times They Are a-Changing,” “Grandma’s Feather Bed,” “Mr. Bojangles” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” the upcoming dinner theatre is sure to feature something for everyone.
“The rehearsals have just been a hoot. Everyone’s laughing and enjoying themselves a lot,” said Thompson, noting the Players have been rehearsing since late August. “The mix of songs is going to be familiar to a lot of people. There are songs that are going to make you tap your foot, and hopefully sing along. I think people will appreciate that diversity and variety.”
The musical review will feature several solos, a few small group songs, and a couple of duets.
“One good thing is this year we’ve added more musicians,” said Thompson. “We have a string bass player that’s going to play on all of the songs, we have a banjo player, a violin and a mandolin player this year, as well. We really expanded the musicality this year.”
The dinner menu will include beef pot roast and vegetable pasta.
Thompson said tickets are still available for all the shows. Tickets are $24 per person and are available at the Aroostook Centre Mall’s Information Desk, Goin’ Postal and at The Crow’s Nest.
The performers this year include Jim Derosier, Twink Derosier, Jeremiah Donovan (bass, mandolin), Doug Drew (violin, mandolin), Mike Eisensmith (guitar), Sandy Gauvin, Frank Grant (guitar), Martha Grant (percussion), Debbie Lamont, Cissy Libby, Carolyn Michaud, Gene Michaud, Elaine Moody, Melbourne Smith (banjo, harmonica), Claudia Stevens, Sherry Sullivan, Rod Thompson (piano, guitar, bass) and Mary Warren.
“We have a beautiful set that Jim Derosier designed this year that’s the outside of a cabin and the band is on the porch of the cabin and the singers will be down in front of the porch,” said Thompson. “It will be like coming to a porch party. Everybody’s invited so come along and bring your own jug.”
