ECHOES OF THE HOLLYWOOD

A musical walking tour of Gowanda, NY’s 100-year-old Hollywood Theater.

TICKETS HERE

Synopsis

We tour through the Hollywood Theater chronologically from roughly its origins to its current state.

1. Beginning in the lobby, we hear ‘Tickets’ from the clerks of old.

2. At the bar and concession stand, we hear ‘So Many Sweethearts’ about all the romantic dates the theater has seen over the decades.

3. A brief moment of chaos ensues from the basement, as a tribute to the workers who used to shovel coal in the furnace to heat the building.

4. We see a figure appear—is it a ghost? He represents someone who used to work at the theater and might still be looking after it today.

5. We enter backstage to hear ‘Decline’, a song about the aging and weathering of the building and its near-demise.

6. Ghostly tones and voices swirl around to signal the rebirth of the pipe organ, but not in the way you might expect.

7. A tribute to the Harley Happening at the Hollywood (later the Hollywood Happening): a percussion battery on motorcycle parts. No Harleys were hurt during the making of this performance…

8. Who is upstairs? A known ghost of the theater appears as the ‘Girl in the Yellow Dress’.

9. We travel upstairs to the balcony and see our office workers of old hard at work pushing through contracts and paperwork.

10. A ‘Rebirth’ of the theater is in order- a full-ensemble piece with texts from Gowanda residents.

Cast and Crew

Dana Anderson, tour guide and singer

David Bernabo, drums, percussion, lights

Sally Bozzuto, singer, percussion

Mark Fromm, tenor, bassoon

Nathan Hall, composer, director, baritone, keyboards

Kimberly Merrill, soprano, production manager, GCS musician coach

Jacob Swanson, soprano sax, equipment assist

GCS High School musicians: Madison Bortel, Isabella DeGolier, Hayleigh Hooper, Evelyn John, Richard Kuras, Kate Regan, Helena Wallschlaeger

Trevor Napoli, lights (Saturday afternoon), assist