"The Spirit of Vaudeville" Comes to the Watchung Arts Center

“The Spirit of Vaudeville” celebrates the ingenuity and individuality of the old time vaudeville performers. It takes place in the waning days of vaudeville when the jazz age was in full swing and the Charleston was all the rage. The show, created by multi-talented musician, Richard Stillman, comes to the Watchung Arts Center on Saturday, April 16 at 8 PM. Accompanying Mr. Stillman will be guitarist, Flip Peter. The evening will include a dessert reception and the opportunity to meet the performers.

“The Spirit of Vaudeville” tells its tale through banjo strumming, eccentric tap dancing, vaudeville stories, ukulele and mandolin solos, and wacky Charleston dances that include the Yiddishe Charleston, the Russian Charleston and the Scottish Charleston played on the Highland bagpipes. Some of the characters in the show were actual vaudevillians such as Roy Smeck, Ukulele Ike, Will Rogers and Sir Harry Lauder and some were created by Mr. Stillman. The show has a lively quality but there are poignant moments as well. The audience will leave the theater with their hearts a bit lighter because they have just been touched by the spirit of vaudeville.

Richard Stillman won the best concert award for The Spirit of Vaudeville at the 2014 United Solo Theater Festival in NYC. He was featured on the premier episode of the PBS TV series, Shining Time Station. Richard received critical acclaim for his performance in Lady Be Good at the Kennedy Center and the Goodspeed Opera House. On Broadway he played the Clerk of Oxford in Canterbury Tales and understudied Mummenschanz. Regional shows include: Hamlet with Rip Torn & Geraldine Page, Take It from the Top with Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee, Twelfth Night with Jean Marsh & Ellis Rabb, Midsummer Night’s Dream and Man of La Mancha. Richard also worked as an actor/musician/composer for The Grapes of Wrath as an Equity guest artist. His Dixieland band opened for Jim Henson & Kermit the Frog. He has also performed at the New Jersey Storytelling Festival and the New Jersey Folk Music Festival.

For more than 20 years Richard has been touring his own shows to theaters, schools, and festivals. He has written music & lyrics for several story theater musicals that he tours with actor Jonathan Luks. He works with nationally acclaimed storyteller, Gerald Fierst in the storytelling and music duo The Mythmakers. Their programs include Stories From Around the World, Monsters & Minstrels and American Tall Tales. He also performs shows with guitarist Paul Byrne that include The Irish Balladeers, Pecos Bill Rides the Oregon Trail and A World Mosaic of Music & Dance.

Mr. Stillman also teaches various musical instruments and has taught workshops in acting, music, dance and storytelling. In addition he plays with his Country/ Bluegrass, Dixieland, Irish, Italian and Hawaiian bands. Richard holds a BA degree in theater from Dartmouth College and a teaching artist certificate from Columbia University. He studied further at A.M.D.A. & at Michael Howard Studios. Richard works with Encore Performing Arts and is a member of Artists Without Walls and the Beacon Hill Musicians Guild.

Flip Peters has been performing as a guitarist and singer since the early 1970s. He has been a house musician at The Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, The World Trade Center, The Plaza Hotel, The Waldorf Astoria and many other top venues in the New York area, and has performed with many of the top freelance Jazz and Classical musicians in the New York Metro area. Mr. Peters has performed all over the country with bands led by Peter Duchin, Skitch Henderson and others. He has backed up acts including Soupy Sales, Florence Henderson and Allen & Rossi and has played in bands opening for artists such as The Mamas and the Papas; Crosby, Stills and Nash; and Wilson Picket. In addition to performing in Richard Stillman's Spirit of Vaudeville, Flip performs regularly with Rio Clemente, Marti Sweet and Sweet Music, Larry Maltz, singers Scot Albertson, Dana Reedy and others. Flip also maintains an active teaching practice, teaching in several private schools and at County College of Morris.

Tickets are $16 in advance, $20 ($18 WAC members, $10 students) at the door. Tickets may be purchased online at watchungartscenter.eventbrite.com. Tickets may also be purchased by mail or by visiting our office during gallery hours (Tues-Fri noon -5 PM; Sat 10AM – 3PM).

The Watchung Arts Center, located at 18 Stirling Road in Watchung on the Watchung Circle, is a multi-disciplinary arts facility serving Watchung, the surrounding communities and the Tri-State Area. To obtain more information about upcoming performances, classes and workshops, and monthly art exhibitions, please visit WatchungArts.org or call 908-753-0190.