Here's your comprehensive guide to the family-friendly entertainment being presented Monday night as part of Canfield First Night 2013. The event will start Monday with a dinner theater at A La Cart Catering on Lisbon Street.
A La Cart Catering
SideKicks, performing a 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. show, is comprised of four talented women that sing barbershop harmony and love to make people laugh. The women are Laura Covell, a tenor from Poland; Jennifer Fogle, an elementary teacher from Pittsburgh; Donna Knapp, a baritone, a retired school teacher also from the Pittsburgh area; and Jean Forti, a bass from Zelienople, Pa., who is a professor at LaRoche College in Pittsburgh.
The four women have been singing together since 2006. Their mission is to eliminate the 'normal' and bring smiles to the faces of every person that happens to be captive (some by choice) in an audience somewhere and Canfield First Night will not be an exception.
Canfield Village Middle School, Wadsworth Street
CVMS will host a variety of children's entertainment for Canfield First Night. The Village Theater in CVMS will feature David the Great Magic Show at 6 and 8 p.m. Karmel Apple will perform at 7 p.m.
The front gym will host bounces for some indoor fun and Lights, Music and Big Balls in the school's back gym, which is a playland of fun.
Continuous entertainment will include clowns, face painting, caricaturists, balloonists, and stage shows with Porgie the Clown and Jocko the Clown.
Lord of Life Church, North Broad Street
Entertainment at Lord of Life will be split between the church hall and the sanctuary. The hall will host Youngstown Connection at 6 p.m.; Burke's Irish Step Dancers at 7 p.m.; Liz Rubino Studios at 8 p.m.; Stage Left Theater Arts Academy at 9 p.m.; and Gulfo and Sylvester at 10 p.m. with a performance called "Friends for Life."
In the sanctuary, performances will begin at 6 p.m. with Up Close and Personal with Morgan and Madeline. They will be followed with 7 and 9 p.m. performances by Adreanne Zeleny, with her finger-style guitar folk music.
Filling the 8 and 10 p.m. slots in the sanctuary will be J.D. Eicher and the Goodnights with their pop / rock blend. The group, made up of J.D. Eicher on vocals and guitar, Dan Prokop on the keys, Jim Merhaut on bass, and Ryan Kirk on drums / percussion, have been touring the country with dynamic stage performances make them a must-see.
Presbyterian Church, West Main Street
The Presbyterian Church will kick off performances at 6 p.m. in the church sanctuary with organist Adam Zagotti. Zagotti is the organist and music director at Trinity United Methodist Church in downtown Youngstown. He is the sixth organist to grace the bench of the "Mighty Moeller," Trinity's world-class pipe organ. He is an active organist, conductor, French hornist, choral singer and concert organizer, as well as being a student at the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University.
Following Zagotti at 7 p.m. will be composer Carol Ann Smolka. Smolka is a senior music composition and music history major at Youngstown State University's Dana School of Music. She enjoys writing and singing various genres of music. Her first piece for string orchestra, "Images of Helen Keller," was premiered last spring during the Dana New Music Festival Gala Concert at St. Columba Cathedral. Smolka's music is innovative, yet accessible and she possesses a unique ability to plumb the depths of emotion in her music while appealing to a wide audience.
Parlormuse is scheduled in the sanctuary at 9 p.m. Parlormuse is a side project of internationally renowned musician Gavin Goszka, who has had his music featured in television programs such as "Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People of 2002," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," "The Today Show," "Monday Night Football," "NBA on TNT," Syfy's "The Possessed" and Halloween-themed specials on the Travel Channel. As Parlormuse, Gavin takes the audience back to Victorian era salons, featuring music of that era in an updated fashion. The result is an intriguing blend of styles that is sure to delight and surprise.
Following Gavin's performance at 9 and 10 p.m. will be String Theory and Harper Kirk and Sarah Clark. Harper Kirk (aka Kirk Kupensky) is joined by his talented student Sarah Clark for a musical feast-the joy of hearing two harps in concert. Sarah had studied under Kirk for three years and is the first harpist to hold a position in the Youngstown Symphony Youth Orchestra. She was awarded a scholarship to attend the American Harp Society National Conference and also performed second harp with the Greenville Symphony in works of Debussy and Stravinsky. The pair will present a program of solos and duo works for harp.
In the Presbyterian Church hall, performances will include 7 and 9 p.m. performances of Carol Weakland's "Scarlet Letter" and at 8 and 10 p.m. the dancers will be as light as a feather as artistic director Abby Alter leads the Ballet Theatre Shenango Valley in providing professional presentations of both classical and contemporary dance and theatre works. The celebrated dance theatre had teamed up with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra recently in a full length performance of Tchaikovsky's beloved Nutcracker ballet.
Old North Church, Herbert Road
Old North Church will be divided into three performance areas, beginning with Worship Center where pianist Alice Nicolas will perform at 6 p.m. followed by Cahal Dunne at 7 p.m. and again at 9 p.m., and Everyday America (a Sugarland tribute band) with shows at 8, 10 and 11 p.m.
In the Old North Great Room, the schedule includes The Penn-Ohio Singers at 6 and 8 p.m., Liz Rubino and James McClellan at 7 and 9 p.m. with a show titled "Moments With You," and at 10 and 11 p.m. County Mayo Irish Band.
County Mayo began when four musicians met at the St. Rose Irish jam session more than 25 years ago. After a couple of years and a couple of gigs, the band was formed. Members Bill Davis, Marcy Meiers, Bill Lewis and Ted Miller have a mainly Irish song list, but they have been known top throw some Scottish, Canadian, Australian, some Irish -American and some American folk songs into the act.
The third show area at Old North will be in the Family Life Center. The performances begin at 6 p.m. and again at 8 p.m. with Just US, 7 and 9 p.m. for the Dickey White Band, and Shooting Star karaoke at 10 and 11 p.m.
Just Us is an all-female, multi-faceted, multi-genre singing group bringing you versatility through both personal and vocal styling. Although separately, the girls can account for over 20 years of vocal and theatrical performance experience. Just Us, the group, only began singing together in early 2012. They perform everything from pop, jazz, rock 'n roll, R&B and even country.
The final venue for Canfield First Night 2013 will be the big countdown and fireworks display that will be set off from Canfield Township Park next to Old North Church. First Nighters can park in the church parking lot to view the spectacle.
To get from one venue to another, buses will be running a continuous schedule.