U.K. choral sensation, Men Aloud, makes U.S. television debut

The award-winning, best-selling U.K. singing ensemble Men Aloud is about to take America by storm with its first performance special, Men Aloud – Live From Wales. Men Aloud’s big sound and high-energy choreography have captivated international audiences ever since the group’s triumphant win as Britain’s best choir in the BBC’s hit competition/reality series Last Choir Standing. But make no mistake; Men Aloud is not your typical choir. The 20 young singers are introducing audiences to the centuries-old, men-only Welsh choir tradition with their rousing repertoire of traditional and classic pop hits, from Broadway to Tom Jones.

Filmed November 2009 at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, Men Aloud – Live From Wales features special guest performances by opera star Bryn Terfel (Great Performances), musical theatre actor John Owen-Jones (Les Misérables) and pop icon Bonnie Tyler. Lush arrangements include “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “MacArthur Park,” “All By Myself,” and selections from popular musicals including Guys and Dolls, Miss Saigon and Porgy and Bess.

Men Aloud was formed in 2000 by Music Director Tim Rhys-Evans, National Choir Master to National Youth Choirs of Wales and Great Britain, to encourage younger men to get involved with the beloved Welsh tradition of male voice singing. Appearing regularly on radio and television and topping the U.K. classical charts, Men Aloud is now a bona fide sensation throughout Europe. The group has recorded two albums, each of which is certified Gold in the U.K., and their second album, Band of Brothers, won this year’s Classical Brit Album of the Year Award. With Men Aloud – Live From Wales they are poised for U.S. stardom.

Song List
“O Verona”

“It Ain’t Necessarily So” (from Porgy and Bess) featuring Bryn Terfel

“Don’t Rain on My Parade” (from Funny Girl)

Tom Jones Medley: “It’s Not Unusual,” “Green, Green Grass of Home” and “Delilah”
“MacArthur Park”
“Bridge Over Troubled Water”
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” featuring Bonnie Tyler

“All By Myself”

“Bui Doi” (from Miss Saigon) featuring John Owen-Jones

“Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat” (from Guys and Dolls)

“The Rhythm of Life” (from Sweet Charity)

A co-production of the BBC and International Media. Executive Producer: Gustavo Sagastume. A presentation of WLIW21 in association with WNET.ORG.

Confirmed airdates

Recorded July 2, 1977 and locked away in the archives of legendary promoter Bill Graham ever since, Wolfgang’s Vault Presents Day on the Green 1977 features performances by Grammy Award-winner Peter Frampton and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Produced by Bill Graham and directed by Eric Christensen, the historic concert was one of several Day on the Green summer festivals presented by Graham at Oakland Coliseum Stadium in Oakland, California from 1973 to 1991.

Wolfgang’s Vault Presents Day on the Green 1977 captures Frampton at the height of the fan frenzy that followed his record-breaking 1976 album Frampton Comes Alive, which made him a household name and remains one of the top-selling live albums of all time. His charismatic performance features hits “Baby I Love Your Way,” “Show Me the Way” and “Do You Feel Like We Do.”

Listen to “Baby I Love Your Way”

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s performance showcases the band just three-and-a-half months before the tragic plane crash that took the lives of lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines and his sister, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines of the Honkettes. Van Zant dons a Neil Young t-shirt during the set, which features a six-minute version of “Sweet Home Alabama” – the band’s response song to Young’s “Southern Man” and “Alabama,” which were both critical of southern politics, and epic closer “Freebird.” Allen Collins handles most of the five-minute solo, while Gary Rossington plays the “bird-chirp” guitar parts, which are not on the original recording, as well as the slide work on the opening riffs. Billy Powell also plays a masterful piano solo that is unique to this live show.

Listen to “Sweet Home Alabama”

This extraordinary concert event has been sealed within Wolfgang’s Vault and is now available for the first time exclusively through public television as the new broadcast special and DVD, Wolfgang’s Vault Presents Day on the Green 1977, beginning July 26, 2010.

Song List
“Sweet Home Alabama”
“Freebird”
“Baby I Love Your Way”
“Show Me the Way”
“Do You Feel Like We Do?”

Peter Frampton Band Members
Peter Frampton – lead vocals, guitar

John Simos – drums

Stanley Sheldon – bass, vocals

Bob Mayo – guitar, keyboard, vocals

Lynyrd Skynyrd Band Members
Ronnie Van Zant – vocals

Allen Collins – guitar

Gary Rossington – guitar

Steve Gaines – guitar

Artimus Pyle – drums

Leon Wilkeson – bass

Billy Powell – piano

Cassie Gaines – vocals

Jo Billingsley – vocals

Leslie Hawkins – vocals

A Public Television Rocks! presentation. A co-production of Wolfgang’s Vault and WLIW21 in association with WNET.ORG.

Learn more

Donate now for tickets to see RAIN live at the Neil Simon Theatre on Friday, October 22, plus meet & greet and more!

A production of Inky Dinky Worldwide, Inc. Producer/Director: Bob Marty.
A presentation of WLIW21 in association with WNET.ORG.

About Ed Slott, CPA

Named “The Best” source for IRA advice by The Wall Street Journal, Ed Slott, CPA, is the creator and star of the national public television specials Stay Rich Forever & Ever with Ed Slott and Ed Slott’s Stay Rich for Life – two of the top fundraising specials of all time. He also created The IRA Leadership Program™ and Ed Slott’s Elite IRA Advisor Group™, specifically developed to help financial institutions and advisors, financial advisor firms and insurance companies become recognized leaders in the IRA marketplace. Slott is the author of several best-selling books including Stay Rich for Life! (Ballantine Books, 2009) and Parlay Your IRA into a Family Fortune (Penguin, 2005), publishes the monthly IRA newsletter, Ed Slott’s IRA Advisor, writes personal finance columns for numerous publications, and has been a frequent guest on national television and radio. Ed Slott and Company, LLC is based in Rockville Centre, New York.

At The Drive-In is a musical time capsule of the late 1950s and early ’60s, featuring some of the biggest hits of the era — beach tunes, teen idol ballads, and good old rock ‘n’ roll – performed on a stage transformed into a nostalgic drive-in, complete with period cars!

Fabian hosts an unprecedented lineup — Jan & Dean in their farewell concert tour, Bobby Vee and The Vees, The Surfaris, The Rip Chords, Chris Montez, Merrilee Rush, Ray Peterson, The Orlons, Dodie Stevens and the late Rick Nelson’s twin sons, The Nelsons.

At The Drive-In plays like a living jukebox for a generation, and the audience only stops dancing in the aisles long enough to grant standing ovations to The Orlons’ “Wah Watusi,” and “Don’t Hang Up;” Ray Peterson’s poignant rendition of “Tell Laura I Love Her;” Chris Montez’s performance of “Let’s Dance” and The Nelsons’ stirring tribute medley of their father’s “Garden Party,” “Travelin’ Man,” “It’s Late,” and “Hello Mary Lou.” The reverberating drums of The Surfaris’ “Wipe Out” wash over the crowd; Bobby Vee and The Vees recall the perfect Saturday night date soundtrack with a set including “Take Good Care of My Baby,” “Devil or Angel,” and “(The) Night Has A Thousand Eyes;” Merrilee Rush triggers a flood of memories with showstopping renditions of “Be My Baby” and “Angel of the Morning;” The Rip Chords reunite for “409″ and “Hey Little Cobra;” and Dodie Stevens still epitomizes teen romance with “(Tan Shoes and) Pink Shoe Laces.”

If At The Drive-In is the ultimate showcase of the “Surf City” sound, the emotional peak is Jan & Dean’s song set ­ “Surf City,” “Little Deuce Coupe,” “Dead Man’s Curve,” “Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” “Sidewalk Surfin’,” and “Surfin’ USA” ­ capturing one of the defining groups of their time in one of their last performances on the duo’s farewell tour.

At The Drive-In was taped in August 2003 at Bass Concert Hall at The University of Texas Performing Arts Center in Austin, Texas. The special premiered nationwide on PBS stations December 2003.

Encore Presentation Monday September 13 at 7:00 p.m

Features Host/Narrator Bernadette Castro, Patti LuPone, Ralph Macchio, The Lockhorns’ Bunny Hoest, and other past and present residents

Donate now for the Hometown Huntington DVD with bonus material — available exclusively through WLIW21.

There is no place like Huntington. With its harbor villages and picturesque towns it has long been a haven for residents and tourists, ripe with glorious beaches, abundant fishing and a sense of place that embraces both the quintessential Main Street and the height of sophisticated culture. WLIW21’s new production, Hometown Huntington celebrates the Town of Huntington, then and now, by giving voice to the shared memories of one Suffolk County community via interviews with past and present residents, including Tony Award-winning singer/actress and Northport native Patti LuPone, actor and Dix Hills native Ralph Macchio, and Huntington resident Bunny Hoest, creator of the syndicated comic The Lockhorns. Hometown Huntington is hosted and narrated by former New York State Parks Commissioner and former New York State Historic Preservation Officer Bernadette Castro, a Lloyd Harbor resident.

Nestled on Long Island’s North Shore, over 190,000 people call the Town of Huntington’s 93 square miles home, from the Villages of Northport, Asharoken, Lloyd Harbor, and Huntington Bay to the Town’s many hamlets – Cold Spring Harbor, Elwood, Huntington, Huntington Station, South Huntington, Melville, East Northport, Halesite, Dix Hills, Centerport, Greenlawn, and Fort Salonga – and five harbors: Cold Spring Harbor, Northport, Huntington Harbor, Centerport, and Lloyd Harbor. Hometown Huntington acknowledges the area’s rich history – The Battle of Long Island, African-American writer and former slave Jupiter Hammon, poet Walt Whitman, William K. Vanderbilt II’s summer mansion, Eagle’s Nest – but focuses more on the regular people who shaped the Town and made it the special place it still is today, from the farmer to the ship builder, the revolutionary to the rum-runner. “Remembering My Hometown…” moments throughout the film feature viewer-contributed stories and photos.

“Hometown Huntington perfectly captures the spirit of WLIW’s ‘21 Weeks of Summer’ initiative,” said Executive Producer and WLIW21 Acting General Manager John Servidio. “It’s a feel-good program that celebrates one of our local community’s accomplishments and offerings, including beaches, harbors and great entertainment.”

Hometown Huntington begins with “The Way It Was,” a look at Huntington’s founding families, including the Primes and the Sammis, Knutson’s Shipyard, Cold Spring Harbor’s whaling history, and Finnegan’s, long considered the “Cheers” of Huntington. Pamela Prime, Vera Sammis Murphy, Tim Finnegan, and Dan, Lillian and TK Knutson all share family stories; Jack Abrams, curator for the Huntington School Museum, recalls what caused the Town’s first gridlock incident back in 1947; and Huntington Town Historian Robert Hughes discusses the dramatic population increase from 1950 to 1960.

The second part of the film, “Happy Days,” spotlights the cherished storybook childhoods and close-knit communities of post-World War II suburbia, from clamming on the beach to sledding behind the Old First Church. Residents remember Huntington Village’s first toy shop, Kiddie City; “Freddie the Shoemaker,” now enjoying his 80th year in business; the joy of a burger served hot off the train at Hamburger Choo-Choo; clothing stores like Ingerman’s and Marshs; Gunther’s Tap Room in Northport, frequented by Jack Kerouac; and many others. Len Totora (deceased February, 2010) recalls opening L&L Camera in 1956 and what’s kept him in business so many years, and Hoest reveals Huntington’s influence on The Lockhorns, the comic which brings the Town’s people and places to more than 200 million readers worldwide every week.

Hometown Huntington’s final part, “Home Sweet Home,” recounts fond memories of school, church and family life, and closes with Huntington’s cultural scene and today’s thriving downtown. Voted the Best Downtown for the fourth consecutive year in Long Island Press’s annual “Best of L.I.” poll, Huntington is loaded with popular attractions like independent film house the Cinema Arts Centre and long-running family businesses, including Finnegan’s Restaurant and Tap Room, the Book Revue, and Reinwald’s Bakery. Hometown Huntington visits them all and interviews the owners to learn the secrets of their success: friendliness, excellence, customer loyalty, community pride, and longevity – all traits Joye Brown pointed to in a recent Newsday column about what makes Huntington’s downtown so popular.

Hometown Huntington continues WLIW21’s ongoing commitment to locally-focused programming, including the award-winning New York The Way it Was series, the New York War Stories project, Shoreline Sonata: A Long Island Love Story, Going Green Long Island, The Jews of New York, Visions® of New York City, and Leaving Long Island.

Bernadette Castro, host/narrator
Former NYS Parks Commissioner and Former NYS Historic Preservation Officer

Jack Abrams
Former Principal of Jack Abrams Intermediate School
Curator for the Huntington School Museum

Jon Austin
Lloyd Harbor resident

Susan Degnan
Social Worker, Huntington Hospital

Paul DeOrsay
Executive Director, Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum

Nellie Edwards
Lifelong Huntington Resident

Tim Finnegan
Grandson of Finnegan’s Restaurant and Tap Room (Huntington, since 1913) Founder

Tommy Forte
Manager/Bartender Finnegan’s Restaurant and Tap Room

Bunny Hoest
Creator of the syndicated comic The Lockhorns and Huntington resident

Robert Hughes
Huntington Town Historian
Robert Klein
Co-Owner of the Book Revue

Lillian Knutson
Daughter of Thomas Knutson

Dan Knutson
Manager, Knutson Yard Haven Marina and grandson of Thomas Knutson

TK Knutson
Grandson of Thomas Knutson

Patti LuPone
Tony Award-winning singer/actor and Northport native

Ralph Macchio
Actor and Dix Hills native

Captain Moose
Bayman

Vera Sammis Murphy
Daughter of Byron Sammis

Pamela Prime
Author and Huntington native

Richard Reinwald
Owner, Reinwald’s Bakery

Dr. Al Sforza
Author, Portrait of a Small Town

Winston Simone
Music Producer and Cold Spring Harbor resident

Charlotte Sky
Co-Director/Founder at the Cinema Arts Centre

Vic Skolnick
Co-Director/Founder at the Cinema Arts Centre

Dylan Skolnick
Co-Director at the Cinema Arts Centre

Larry Smith
Northport architect and friend of Jack Kerouac

Len Totora (deceased, February 2010)
Owner, L&L Camera (Huntington, since 1956) and Huntington native

Emma Foster Watkins
Huntington resident

Liza Burby
Carol Cerrato
Lorraine M. Cortina
Susan Danzig
Ruth Schier Hackstaff
Jerry Kessler
Liz Roddin
Patricia Ross
Dot Tarantino
Eric Weiner

Donate now for the Hometown Huntington DVD with bonus material — available exclusively through WLIW21.

A production of WLIW21 for WNET.ORG. Executive Producer: John Servidio. Producer/Writer: Theresa Statz-Smith. Editor/Producer: Charlotte Coté.

David Clemo

David Clemo – who was in Basic Training, getting his first ID on 9/11 – initially deployed to Afghanistan where he provided communications support for major logistics and fire bases. His second deployment, from November 2004, was as a team chief for communications and fiber optic cable installations in Iraq. Following that, David spent a number of fulfilling years as Assistant Director of the U.S. Army Soldier Show, touring and entertaining his fellow soldiers and their families. The son of an Artilleryman, David spent his early life traveling from Colorado to Germany to Oklahoma to Georgia before his family finally settled in Mount Vernon, Washington.

Ron Henry

Ron Henry retired from the Army after a 20-year military career. He spent 13 months with the 101st Airborne Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom traveling unprotected roads as a Transporter – one of the most dangerous jobs in the war – and Transportation Manager. Born in Baxley, Georgia and influenced by gospel music, Ron delivered stellar performances in the first season of Military Idol, a show that featured military contestants in the popular American Idol format. He went on to lead the successful Army singing group Transportation Express, lifting the morale of those families whose military parents were serving multiple deployments back to back.

Daniel Jens

Daniel Jens, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was attracted to becoming a musician/singer after seeing Elvis and The Beatles perform and hearing the adoring screams of their female fans. He was inspired to join the Army and serve his country after the events of 9/11. In October of 2006 he deployed to Iraq with the 3rd Battalion 82nd Field Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division as a cannon crew member. Jens sang at everything from prayer breakfasts to talent nights at the U.S. Embassy. Upon his return, Daniel went on to become one of the top 20 acts in season three of America’s Got Talent.

Meredith Melcher

Meredith Melcher spent four years in the Army as an officer in the Medical Service Corps where she was deployed in support of the first Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. While on the front lines of Iraq, her ambulance platoon successfully evacuated hundreds of injured Americans and Iraqis to higher levels of medical treatment. Upon her return, she was cast in the 2004 U.S. Army Soldier Show and performed – along with Clemo – for audiences of military personnel and civilians worldwide. Born at Fort Ord in California, Melcher is the daughter of a retired three-star General.

Donate now for an exclusive 4TROOPS CD and DVD featuring bonus material.

Premieres nationwide beginning Monday, July 26 and throughout August 2010 on public television (check local listings)

SPLAT! That’s the sound of one of the more than 20,000 pies legendary comedian Soupy Sales got hit in the face with over his half-century-long career. Born Milton Supman on January 8, 1926, in Franklinton, North Carolina and raised in Huntington, West Virginia, Soupy would go on to make over 5,000 television appearances before succumbing to cancer on October 22, 2009 in the Bronx, New York. Most famous for his 1960s children’s TV series The Soupy Sales Show, Sales became a beloved icon of Baby Boomer generation kids and their parents with his unpredictable sketches, slapstick humor, witty puns, and puppet gags — almost all of which resulted in a pie in the face.

A loving tribute to the late entertainer, Soupy Sales: The Whole Gang is Here features the funniest moments from the 1964-1966 run of The Soupy Sales Show, filmed in black and white from New York City, and 1978’s The New Soupy Sales Show, filmed in color from Los Angeles — many of which haven’t been seen in over 30 years. Memorable sketches include a restaurant pie-fight between Soupy, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Trini Lopez, Soupy pitching Alice Cooper a singing bug for his opening act, the legendary naked lady gag, Soupy’s Words of Wisdom, “Do the Mouse,” and plenty of laughs from Soupy’s puppet gang — White Fang, Black Tooth and Pookie the Lion — and the outrageous characters that showed up at his door. Other guest appearances include Dick Clark, Frankie Valli, Fess Parker, Dick Van Patten, and William B. Williams, plus a rare 1966 TV pilot called The Hoofer starring Soupy and Donald O’Connor. Distributed by WLIW21 in association with WNET.ORG, Soupy Sales: The Whole Gang is Here will air nationwide on public television stations beginning Monday, July 26 and throughout August 2010 (check local listings).

Written and directed by Long Island native Marino Amoruso (Of Moose & Men: The Rocky & Bullwinkle Story, Pride & Passion: The Italians In America, Frank Sinatra: The Man & The Myth), Soupy Sales: The Whole Gang is Here also features interviews with TV historian Joe Varsalona and comedian “Uncle Floyd” Vivino, who not only was inspired by Soupy as a child, but also was his good friend. “There were literally hundreds of episodes to go through,” states Amoruso. “I tried to select the clips that best represented Soupy’s total body of work.”

“The thing that set Soupy apart from all the other kids’ shows was that it was totally crazy and unstructured,” says Vivino. “Every other show we watched as kids was very formatted. With Soupy, you never knew what was going to happen.” Varsalona recalls Soupy as “this crazy uncle who was there hanging out with the kids and playing along with us. That’s what I loved about his show.” Vivino concurs, “Soupy talked to you like he was your friend. You felted invited into his world.”

Airing daily, The Soupy Sales Show and The New Soupy Sales Show produced more than 320 episodes combined over four years, and were enjoyed by children and adults of the first Television Generation and beyond countless times in syndication. Soupy’s irreverent, off-beat humor and goofy shtick also influenced many future comics, from Paul Reubens’s Pee-Wee Herman character to shock jock Howard Stern, whom Soupy shared the radio airwaves with from 1985-1987 on WNBC-AM.

Soupy Sales: The Whole Gang is Here follows in the tradition of past public television comedy programming, including WLIW21’s SCTV Golden Classics and The Best of Red Skelton, THIRTEEN’s Make ’Em Laugh, and British comedy favorites including Monty Python, As Time Goes By and Keeping Up Appearances.

Donate now for related DVDs.

A Morada Vision Production. Executive Producers: Marshall Blonstein. Producer: Myra Weinstein. Associate Producer: Dan Weinstein. Writer, Director and Editor: Marino Amoruso. A presentation of WLIW21 in association with WNET.ORG.