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NEWS - Spring 2008
Good Ol' Girls
RADIO GALS News
River Rats
The Ballad of Jack McCoy
Merchants Lunch on YouTube
Sheet Music
Good Ol' Girls This spring I was music director for Cape Fear Regional Theatre's production of GOOD OL' GIRLS. The production was directed by Bo Thorp and featured Liza Vann, Libby Seymour, Cassandra Vallery, Gina Stewart, Pamela Bob, and Kendra Goehring. The band consisted of myself on keyboards, Guy Unger on electric guitar, Jeff Stone on drums and Steve O'Connor on bass. I had to actually "lead" the band, something I'd never done. I've been in bands for years but never had to count things off, and think about conducting tempos, head nods for stingers, and buttons. I got through it though, and hopefully didn't confuse my bandmates needlessly. 
"Good Ol' Girls" was written by Lee Smith and Jill McCorkle, and features the music (arranged by Joe Newberry and Julie Oliver) of songwriters Matraca Berg and Marshall Chapman.  FMI: (Pictured in photo at left, l-r Liza Vann, Libby Seymour, Cassandra Vallery, Gina Stewart, Pamela Bob, Kendra Goehring - cover design by Shani Lewis)
Technical director and Scenic Designer: James Rogers, assisted by Terry Remer and Damian Lugo. Lighting Designer: Eric Winkenwerder. Choreographer: Kendra Goehring. Stage Managers: Michael Thrash and Jessica Morse. Production Coordinator: Matt Musselwhite. Scenic artist Maxine McCoy. Company Manager Nicki Hart and Back Stage Manager Elizabeh Watson. Sound man: Bill Barker, and follow spot ops: Zeb Russell and Eddie Waters. Photographer: Bobby Moody. The CFRT production of Good Ol' Girls was filmed by UNC-TV on April 21st for broadcast on North Carolina Public Television later this year. The filming was produced by Donna Campbell and Georgann Eubanks of Minnow Media. The technical director for the filming was Mike Sheehan. Mike and I go way back. He was drummer for the Southern States Fidelity Choir and one of the original DIAMOND STUDS. We all had a lot of fun the night of the filming. Lee Smith, Jill McCorkle and Paul Ferguson were in the audience, along with many friends and fans, including the mayor of Fayetteville and several politicians.
River Rats  Speaking of Cape Fear, Bobby Moody gave me this photograph that he'd taken in l995 during the CFRT production of Woody Guthrie's AMERICAN SONG. That's me playing the guitar and sitting on the crate. (l-r behind is Sandol Astrausky, Jon Parsons, and Lynn Davis.)
I've worn overalls and flannel shirts in practically every other show I've ever been cast in. It's the river rat look; a lot of "stage musicians" seem to get put in these togs. Goes along with the acoustic roots music thing I guess. I'm not complaining, merely observing. Overalls can cover a variety of faults.
The Ballad of Jack McCoy
Jon Singleton sent me the lyrics of the following song written by Tommy Thompson. Tommy used to sing it as a solo number during our shows. Jon had taped a performance one evening long ago at the Red Fox Inn in Bethesda Maryland. Jon learned the song and now performs it himself. Thanks to Jon we now have these words once again and can enjoy the humor and poetry of Tommy's brilliant ballad. If memory serves me well, Tommy used to credit Isaac Bashevis Singer as the source of this story.
"The Ballad of Jack McCoy"
music & lyrics by Tommy ThompsonYou Scorpios and Libras, Aquarians as well
You helpless earthbound mortals whose fate the stars compel
You Capricorns and Cancers, I'll sing you of the night
How saucy Jack McCoy did save the starry heavens bright
Now Jack became an orphan at the moment of his birth
For the labors of his borning laid his mother in the earth
His dad then wed a widow wife and cursed be her name
For the way she treated Jack McCoy it was an awful shame
Now the widow kept a rooster running free about the house
She swore that he possessed the soul of her long departed spouse
She talked to him and called him "Roy" and fed him ham and grits
While Jack McCoy ate table scraps and cleaned up rooster shit
One night as Jack lay dreaming of a plate of chicken stew
His feast was interrupted by a "Cocka-doodle-doo!"
Jack scrambled to his attic window naked as a rock
Silhouetted in the moonlight
on the chimney stood that cock
The stars were shining brightly, what stars there did remain
Old Roy'd been pecking out the stars like corn or any grain
He'd just gobbled out the North Star when Jack crawled out through the night
And grabbed that chicken by the leg and swung with all his might
Jack swung that chicken 'round his head in elliptical course
The stars returned to heaven by the centrifugal force
The rooster crowed for midnight and the rooster crowed for day
And the rooster crowed for mercy when he crowed his life away
Just then the dawn was breaking on that cold outlandish night
The stars blinked twice, in thanks to Jack, and vanished in the light
And the villagers who gazed upon the rooftop of McCoy
'Midst a cloud of chicken feathers saw a smiling naked boy
And now you've heard my story how Jack did save the stars
Several minor asteroids plus Mercury and Mars
Jack still proudly wears the scars of the blows he got that day
And the rooster's now a rock star making millions so they say
Sheet Music (piano/vocal, instrumental/chord charts, & choral) is now available for "Merchants Lunch" -- "The Ace" -- "Hard Times Come Again No More" -- "Home Is Where the Heart Is" -- "Dear Mister Gershwin" -- "Argonne Wood" -- "That Wicky Wacky Hula Hula Honka Wonka Honolulu Hawaiian Honey of Mine" -- "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" -- "How Does A Glass Eye Work?" -- "Cimarron Cyclone" --
"Shining Down" -- "Melancholy" -- "Thoroughly African Man" -- "Watson Come Here I Want You" -- "Three Guys" -- "Matinee Idol" -- and many many others --
at Mike's Sheet Music
RADIO GALS News California's Rialto Community Players production of RADIO GALS won 9 Inland Theatre League awards for 2007, including one for director Diana Combs.
The Raleigh Little Theatre will be presenting RADIO GALS this summer. Auditions for that production are being held April 7 & 8th. FMI
Concerned citizens and child welfare advocates in Lawrence County, Arkansas, have banded together to try and build a childrens' shelter for the growing influx of displaced children in that area. A recent local production of RADIO GALS and donations from Pulaski Bank patrons have helped raise 32K for the cause. >>Times Dispatch article.
 Merchants Lunch on YouTube Someone has posted a video of Merchant's Lunch,on YouTube. I believe it is from a cable tv show hosted by David Holt, from the middle '80s.
It sure is wonderful to see Tommy again, looking good and sounding great! To view, click on YouTube screen at right.
Other songs from the same concert included are "The Parting Hand", "I Crept into the Crypt", and "It Ain't Right".
Yesterday's Papers:
Fall/Winter 2007
Summer 2007
Spring 2007
Winter 2006/07
Fall 2006
Summer 2006
Spring 2006
Fall Winter 2005
Summer Fall 2005
Spring Summer 2005
Fall/Winter 2004/05
Summer 2004
Winter/Spring 2004
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