We don’t visit the Clemens Center very often. And that’s a mistake on our part.
*What sparks this observation is our recent enjoyment of a performance the Platters, the Drifters, AND the Coasters… three singing groups whose dulcet tones inhabited the airways of the 1950s and 1960s with songs such as “Down by the Boardwalk,” “Do the Locomotion,” “Let’s Do the Twist,” “Sentimental Journey,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” and many, many more. They were rock and roll, with a touch of rhythm and blues.
*The crowd was overwhelmingly (ahem) our age, old enough to remember getting these performances first-time and first-hand on hi-fi’s and transistor radios. We saw only two very young people, and the place was packed. The last words of the performance were, “Rock and roll is here to stay!” Which seems a safe bet.
*Besides concerts, Clemens is also a venue for plays and musicals… “The Sound of Music” is coming up soon… by top-level professional touring companies. A few years ago they deepened and enlarged their stage, giving them the opportunity to book in shows such as “Les Miserables” or “The Phantom of the Opera,” where the huge, elaborate sets are half the show.
*There are also numerous school performances at various age interests, which is a real blessing for area students, giving them a chance to experience professional theater and music. We had a similar experience growing up in Rhode Island, where the school systems took advantage of Trinity Square Repertory Company and the American Shakespeare Theater. Those were life-changing opportunities.
*The Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes makes its home in the Clemens Center.
*Clemens Center (originally Keeney’s Theater) goes back almost a hundred years, and from time to time they book in a silent movie. Today it’s often forgotten that the studios commissioned scores for those films, and the sheet music accompanied the film cans. Theater orchestras accompanied the films.
*Or sometimes the music was a solo tour de force by a single musician. When Clemens Center has a silent movie, the theater organ rises up from beneath the stage. The organist performs the entire score, without a break, through the whole movie, in full view of the audience. The organist gets a standing ovation at the end, and the organist deserves it.
*Once a venue for vaudeville and silent movies, the theater was ravaged by floods in 1946 and 1972, then condemned for highway expansion. Local agitators and fund-raisers saved it and reopened as a non-profit in 1977 with a perfomance by Ella Fitzgerald.
*Even with a large crowd and a downtown setting in the heart of Elmira, we found it very simple to get into the dedicated parking garage ($3 for the evening), then to get out again and be on our way afterward. It’s only a few steps from garage to theater and back, though we will note that the elevator was out of order, AND that some floors were missing an out-of-order sign, which created some frustrations and some slow-downs. On the other hand, some people kept pressing the button even WITH an out-of-order sign right there. So you never can tell.
*The rest of the ’18-’19 Broadway Series includes Cinderella, Chicago, Jersey Boys, Something Rotten, and The King and I. Seasonal performances for the next two months include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical; Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes Holiday Concert; The Nutcracker in Motion; Common Time Choral Group – a Holiday Celebration; and the Annual Arctic League Broadcast. Plus there are school performances, comedy clubs, and more. Really, you should check it out.