RTYs Summer Showcase keeps summer nights swinging at Tuscora Park
June 20, 2011
309
Blues. Jazz. Big brass band. Theater. Comedy. Each new season at Tuscora Parks RTY Summer Showcase brings a diverse variety of entertainment genres, sure to please a wide audience base.
We look for what the people want to hear, noted Sam Hitchcock, an RTY employee who produces the Summer Showcase. We take suggestions from the audience, and try to mix it up to give them a wide variety of different entertainment. Weve got big band, weve got concert band. Last year we added some bluegrass with the Stockdales, too. We have classic rock and roll, just something for everybody. The crowd is very responsive. When you think about it, with money being tight these days, this is about the only place you can go to hear free entertainment, particularly of this caliber.
Musician Kelly Goodrich was slated to bring his four piece band, Rhythm Kings, to the Tuscora Park amphitheater on June 19. Although crowds began arriving early for the 7 pm show, a storm moved into the valley and the mix of heavy rain, lighting, and thunder caused the show to be cancelled just after the sound check.
Weve played here before, and had a great time. We have a lot of fans that tried to come out tonight, but we will be back, said Goodrich as he peered at the dark sky above the amphitheater. This venue is great. Its the best, especially for me coming home after so many years away that makes this Showcase so very special.
The Rhythm Kings are pretty diverse musicians, who come together through the things we have in common. Its everything from 50s rock and roll, to a little bit of country, to maybe a touch of jazz, some blues, and a lot of pop music that we do our own way. Anything we can share with the people here.
The Summer Showcase is totally funded by the generosity of the community.
Im happy to say, that for the past few years, we have been 100% funded on the acts themselves. But we also have insurance premiums to pay, advertising costs for radio and printed publications, and we have flyers that we have printed and distributed all over the county, said Hitchcock. Pepsi is a corporate sponsor, and they give us money to help offset some of our costs. We have businesses, organizations, and individuals who are show sponsors. There are a lot of things sponsorship does not cover, so we rely on goodwill donations. That seems to do well. We pass plastic buckets at every show for donations, and we pretty much break even, or maybe a little over that. Of course, any profits that we make above and beyond expenses goes right back into the production, he explained.
The band shell and amphitheatre seating has been a popular venue for musical, comedic, and other acts over the past 14 years that the Showcase has been in existence.
We entertain over 16,000 on the hill every year, noted Hitchcock. Normally we have about 15 or 16 shows, but because of all the requests, and requests by sponsors, we have increased our number to 19 shows this year. Different shows attract different people. We always have several hundred people here, and tonight we were expecting 400 to 500 people, even with rainy weather.
This crowd loves everything, and that makes it really special, commented Goodrich appreciatively. RTY, and Sam and his staff, and the park staff and everybody who is involved in this; this is what keeps music alive right now. This type of venue, where a family can come, is such a great place to hear music.
Sundays at 7 pm, and occasional Saturdays, county residents are sure to find a wonderfully entertaining evening at Tuscora Parks Summer Showcase. A full schedule of Summer Showcase events can be picked up at the park office, or found online at www.rtysummershowcase.com.
