It was an ordinary day. Leaving the Mt. Gretna Open-Air Playhouse after watching our second concert of the week at the neat little playhouse in the hills of Mt. Gretna.
This year six concerts offered shows that featured groups such as "The Jersey Beach Boys," "The Everly Brothers Experiences," and "Lennon Live Presents John with George in Concert." Carol and I along with our friends Jeannie and Hal visited twice during the first week and saw the Beach Boys and Lennon Live shows. The playhouse holds quite a few people, but both shows which we attended had plenty of empty seats due to the closeness of the chairs and COVID-19. Some wore masks while others chose not to do so. We have been attending the concerts for many years and have heard numerous concerts that displays musicians that are every bit as good as the performers whose songs they perform. We actually did get to see Ricky Nelson's sons in concert a few years ago who performed all of his most famous records. Seems that attending concerts at Mr. Gretna during the cicada Festival has become a staple for music lovers who are all close to the 50 age bracket and above.
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| The Mt. Gretna Playhouse |
Gives all of us the chance to relive the music when Rock & Roll was king and you could actually dance to the music. Concerts such as these had their beginnings in churches and family homes and were born in jazz halls in the early 1900s. The concerts that we have seen at Mt. Gretna over the past many years were fueled by the birth of rock and roll. As Rock and Roll became more popular and musicians rose to celebrity status, demand for live shows took off. Promoters saw the opportunity to make money and draw big crowds when they featured the big name artists. Who could ever forget Woodstock that had over 40,000 attendees. I believe that number was underestimated, but that's what is published. As for my wife and myself, on August 25, 2005 Carol and I attended a concert at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia that featured Jimmy Buffett. Something that I will never forget!
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| Advertisement for the music festival |
Now, the groups that were featured this year, and during most years, at Mt. Gretna don't feature the original musician, but performers, both individual and groups, that sound and at times look like the original performers. From our seats near the rear of the playhouse, John Lennon looked very similar to the real John Lennon, but "The Beach Boys" and "Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons" would have a tough time claiming they were the real musicians at an airport check-in.
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| Faux John Lennon |
Seems that every year Mt. Gretna Playhouse tries to bring shows that are affordable for their audience of old-timers as well as good entertainers who try their best to perform and look like the original performers, many of whom are no longer living.
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| Faux George Harrison |
At times the volume is a bit high, but for those in the audience that are totally hard of hearing, they can once again relive their good 'ole Rock & Roll days when music was actually music! Hey...I know some of you disagree with that last statement, but you try to dance to some...no most...of the music today and see how you do. Well, I'm still singing along in my head to a few of the songs we heard a little over a week ago. Perhaps it's because the volumn of the musicians was so intense that it caused the leaves on the trees outside the playhouse to drop while they are still green. But...the ringing I still have in my head does help me to sing along as I drive my car to the doctor to have my hearing checked. Luckily the show ended close to 10:00 PM so everyone in the audience could head home to bed. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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