"Cool, Cool Cats and the Sound of the City" presented by Tod Campbell and Firehouse Center for the Arts

This fascinating retrospective is a multi-media look at the history of Newburyport from the 1930s to the 1980s through the music that was being played here.

Join us for two incredible evenings of live performance featuring musicians who have played on such storied Newburyport stages as The Sportsman's Lodge, The Grog, The Stagecoach Tavern, and 10 Center Street for over 65 years.

A vibrant backdrop of audio and video recordings, as well as live narrative, bring the local scene alive as the audience travels on a musical journey from the dance-band era to the rise, in turn, of the singer-songwriter, fusion, folk-rock, and punk.

Featured performers, onstage and on video, include Bill Plante and son Bill Plante, Les Harris Sr., Bill Madison, Albert Lamar and son Albert Lamar, Roger Ebacher, Parker Wheeler, Doug Johnson, Henry Welch, and Mark Anderson. The music of Charlie Bechler, Charlie Mariano, Osmosis, Fred Click and the Cadillac Cowboys, TimeStream, Kenny Girard, Paul MacNeil, the Welch Anderson Band, Doug Johnson, and others will also be presented.

The Newburyport musical tradition lives on after the show! Both performances will be immediately followed by a hoot. Friday night's hoot takes place on the Firehouse stage; Saturday's will be held on the second floor of The Grog. Musicians are invited to bring their instruments.

This original production is directed by Tod Campbell and written by Bruce Menin. Its musical directors are Roger Ebacher and Bill Plante. It has been co-produced by Tod Campbell and the Firehouse Center for the Arts.