Ted The Fiddler’s Bigtime Birthday Bash a Big Success

How do you spend your birthday? If you're Ted The Fiddler you do what you love in front of those you love (and some strangers, too) at a place you love.

Ted The Fiddler, a musician for more than 40 years, works at The Colonial Theatre as a technical director, and one night a year – on his birthday – he gets the place to himself.  Last night, on the day he turned 58, Ted The Fiddler once again invited in local artists and dancers, showed a cartoon, read poetry and held an all-out jam session to celebrate.

"On my birthday they let me do what I want," Ted The Fiddler told the crowd.

The night kicked off with a poetry reading and then a dream sequence. Ted The Fiddler was surrounded by dancers from the Feet First Dance Troupe and then woke to a giant singing snowman, who doused the floor in glitter and belted out "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas."

That snowman turned out to be Ted The Fiddler's friend Kris Yeaworth, son of The Blob director and a musician himself. Yeaworth, sans snowman suit, got up on stage to sing a few ballads, old and new, and some original songs mixed in with old classics.

"I'm an old softie inside," Yeaworth said. "I cry at supermarket openings."

Ted The Fiddler then joined him on stage, with his fiddle, and together they played and shared in some friendly banter.

"Ted will be in key and I will be in the neighborhood," Yeaworth joked.

Following a cartoon showing and an intermission, the Feet First Dancers retook the stage. The performance mixed up the tempo of the show and the dancers, all in pink, bounded across the stage.

Next up, it was Ted The Fiddler's favorite part – the jam session. Joined on stage by a bass player and guitarist, Ted The Fiddler shared stories and gave only passing glances to a set list at the edge of the stage. The band members shared jokes and friendly banter.

"This is a jam session on my birthday," Ted The Fiddler said. "You never know what'll happen."

Ted The Fiddler's Big Birthday Bash happens every year on Dec. 23. The proceeds go to the Association for the Colonial Theatre.