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Chris Simmons

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We are a cast of talented artistes dedicated to the re-creation and promotion of the great age of British Music Hall entertainments.
Here you'll find links to a variety of sites replete with information and resources for the Music Hall aficionada/o

An Evening at a British Music Hall

'ello 'ello!  We hope you'll enjoy looking through our site and learning about our troupe.  Please leave a message, and thanks for visiting!
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Debbywrote:
  You have done a very nice job on this site. Kudos!  Hope you continue to bring these performances to appreciative audiences for many years to come!!
June 26
July 13

Mr Joseph Birchak

Joining the BMH troupe in 1979 and having had the opportunity to work with this company and with this material o'er these many years continues to be a most remarkable highlight in my life.
I have had the great fortune to have spent a good number of years working in the Theatre, both on stage and off.  Little that I have accomplished compares to the shear joy and pleasure it is to work in this show.  My hope is that the fellow members of this troupe as well as the many many people who have seen this show over the years have shared that joy.
Thanks for the memories yet to come.
June 22

Mr Glen Longenhagen

    Glen Longenhagen hails from Catasauqua, Pennsylvania.  Our "cockneyed" percussionist first got started with AN EVENING AT A BRITISH MUSIC HALL back in 2004, when his ex-bandmate Robert Fahringer (cf. "Chairmen") contacted him about the need to add some "OOMPH!" to the show.
 
    Glen enjoys performing with the ensemble, and even adds a line or two himself when needed.... "Chuck 'em out, Sarah!"
 
    He's also the lead guitarist and keyboard player for the Lehigh Valley-based rock band Common Bond, said to be one of the area's BEST classic rock bands (well, said by the members of the band, anyway!).  Visit Glen at his band's website, www.Commonbondband.com
 
(Webmaster's note:  Check out that website!  Rippin' rock n roll!!)

Mr Chris Simmons

   Chris has been a performer and musician for over 39
years. As well as producing AN EVENING AT A BRITISH
MUSIC HALL
for the past 33 years Chris has also played
fiddle, mandolin and concertina in several folk bands
and ensembles.

   Chris has also appeared as an actor in plays such
as: Threepenny Opera, Playboy of the Western World,
Diary of a Madman, A Christmas Carol, The Hostage, and
The Rivals. Chris also produced two plays for radio:
Agents by Sholem Aleichem and Days of the Turbins by
Mikhail Bulgakov.

   As well as appearing on the stage, Chris has
written, researched and published articles on Music
Hall, 19th century Irish-American actor Edward
Harrigan and a number of articles on late 19th century
Irish-American Vaudevillians.
 
(Webmaster's note:  Mr Simmons was overly modest in the preparation of his resume, which could go on at much greater length with descriptions of his many artistic achievements over the years as actor, writer, producer, musician and scholar.  He's a man of unbounded humility, and a really fine fellow.)
  
June 18

A recent accolade

from Frank Cullen -
publisher of VAUDEVILLE TIMES and curator of the

American Vaudeville Museum:
            
                                      13 June 2007

"Hello Chris Simmons,

This letter of appreciation is long overdue. Last
night I again watched the "double feature"
EVENING AT
A BRITISH MUSIC HALL
tape that you provided the AVM.
It was delightful.
I have seen other's recreations of Music Hall and
thought them lacking in bite and irreverence. Some
were even cloying, like the sentimental and puerile
revivals of vaudeville shows. I must say that I found
this too true of Music Hall entertainments I saw in
London. Too often these evocations look like Disney did
them.

You have assembled a solid pit band and a cast of
genuine talent and diverse personalities. ...

I think it is a tribute to your talent, perseverance
and the quality of your shows that you have attracted
a loyal audience to support your efforts all theses
years."   

 

Thank you, Mr Cullen!  We all greatly appreciate your very gracious comments.  Please come see us perform this autumn in Bethlehem!



May 23

Miss Caroline Leland

Being a part of such lively entertainment as An Evening at a British Music Hall has opened Caroline’s eyes to the huge wealth of material waiting to be worked over.  In the past she has performed a range of contralto roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas with the Savoy Company of Philadelphia, Thespis Players of Media, Arden Singers of Delaware and the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Chester County.  Mad Margaret, Ruth, Buttercup and the Duchess of Plaza Toro are some of the personages whose psyches she has plumbed.  Character roles such as Veta in Harvey, Mamita in Gigi, and Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit for various community productions, have contributed to her enjoyment of treading the boards. The Concert Operetta Theater of Philadelphia provides Caroline with opportunities to portray eccentric royalty from around the world with the role of the Duchess Anastasia in The Student Prince coming up. In the summer of 2007 she will take part in a Gilbert and Sullivan song program for a Pocono community.  For Caroline, An Evening at a British Music Hall provides her with an endless parade of rich characters waiting to be explored.

 
There are no photo albums.
VAUDEVILLE OLD AND NEW: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF VARIETY PERFORMERS IN AMERICA