Archive: Arts & Entertainment

June 23 -- The First Congregational Church of Ithaca's Junior Choir will be performed the musical "Moses" at the United Church of Christ's 50th Anniversary General Synod in Hartford, Connecticut.  The 11:00 a.m. presentation in Bushnell Park is part of 'Synod in the City'.   There were between 200 and 300 people in the audience, sitting on blankets or lawn chairs or standing.  The General Synod is the national annual meeting of the UCC.  Many special components have been added in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Church of Christ (UCC), . Featured speakers include Bill Moyers, Vanessa Redgrave and Barack Obama.

The performance was in Bushnell Park in the center of the city. It was 75 degrees, sunny and very windy. The park was set up for a large festival, with food vendors, a large stage with security fencing all around, 20' tall speaker towers and dozens of port-a-johns. There was a huge, professional sound system with techies swarming the stage area. Several of the children had to be equipped with head sets or lapel mikes. They had to deal with sound checks and quick costume changes in a totally new stage setting. This is a very young cast, with children between 6 and 13 years old.