In your June 13 issue you described an upcoming cabaret performance called Sondheims Broadway under the direction of Fay Jacobs. Thank you for the information; it sounds terrific! Sondheim always presents challenges, but hes almost always worth the effort to surmount them.
It is interesting to me, as a musician, that in West Side Story and in Gypsy (one of the shows mentioned as source material) he was the lyricist, not composer, working with Leonard Bernstein and Julie Styne, respectively. Perhaps collaboration with the older masters in these shows helped him develop his unique style. I hope the performances are successful and that they sell out.
I was disturbed by a quote of Fay Jacobs in the article: "Rehoboth and Lewes have quite a bit of live music....area needs stand-up comedy and music reviews...I hope we can be instrumental in starting a tradition here." This suggests to me that you are not aware of BayStar Production, Inc, our bustling, struggling professional theater company. We have been active in Rehoboth since 1991, performing musical theater productions, reviews, and comedy theatre first at the Bay Center in Dewey Beach, and for the last five years at the Sea Horse Restaurant in Rehoboth. We also perform murder mysteries on the Queen Anns Railroad, Lewes, and reviews on the Rehoboth and Bethany Beach bandstands, and have donated performances to Rehoboth and Georgetown in parades, and to the JIM Fund and Sussex County AIDS Committee at PRIDE.
We have produced many shows in Rehoboth or Dewey Beach since 1991, including: The Fantasticks, Jesus Christ Superstar, South Pacific, Greater Tuna and many, many musical reviews. We currently perform Chapter II, the Neil Simon comedy, each Thursday and Friday evening and will run two reviews (Kissing Country, a tribute to and a spoof on country music, and All I Need is a Girl, a Broadway review including music by Sondheim) concurrently throughout July and August. Steel Magnolias is scheduled to begin the third week of August.
Thank you very much.
Richard Eckerd Music Director, BayStar Productions
CAMP note: We spoke with Mr. Eckerd and explained that the article says Fay Jacobs is "responding to local residents comments about the need for more live musical comedy and cabaret entertainment." We did not intend to imply that no other groups are performing musical reviews. Many of our closest friends are often featured in BayStar Productions musicals. Unfortunately, with very little money available for them to publicize their shows, they are often overlooked as a source of entertainment. Fay Jacobs, or any of our regular contributors, would be happy to review their productions, if offered the opportunity to participate as other media representatives.
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6/27/97 Issue. Copyright 1997 by CAMP Rehoboth, Inc. All rights reserved.