Ives Wraps Successful Concert Season

Plans For September Family Fair

By John Voket

Newtown resident and Ives Concert Park Executive Director Phyllis Cortese sounded tired but happy recently as she reflected back on a hectic five weeks during which her capable crew of workers and volunteers pulled off a fantastically diverse and hugely successful popular music series. But the Ives crew is not done yet.

According to Ms Cortese, she is still busy at work, readying the finale of her first season overseeing the rustic music and arts venue: a Family Fair that will bring food, family friendly cultural activities, and a collaboration between the Ives Festival Orchestra and the Connecticut Ballet together on the unique floating stage that is the centerpiece of the Danbury venue.

“Our 2008 Family Fair is set for September 21, which we hope will be a wonderful, warm fall day,” Ms Cortese said, sending preliminary energies out to the weather gods. “This is an all day celebration of the arts we are hoping will be better than ever.”

The free event, sponsored by Savings Bank of Danbury and the WCSU Foundation, will cap off a crowning achievement that Ms Cortese accomplished with her own collaborative team which included promoters from Premier Concerts of Waterbury, Kirschner Concerts Presents of New York, and The Ridgefield Playhouse.

“We’re really pleased with the associations we’ve made with Premier, Kirschner and Allison [Stockel] down at the Ridgefield Playhouse,” she said. “They helped make the popular music series run so smoothly, we’re hoping to work with them again next year.”

Besides the smoothly running sets on stage, which included The Beach Boys and Frankie Valli; Ani DiFranco, Melissa Etheridge, and the jam band moe., Lyle Lovett and Allman Brothers alumnus Warren Haynes and his band Gov’t Mule, the audience side of Ms Cortese’s operation also ran relatively trouble free.

“Besides having a couple of people who took a dip in the pond [which separates the stage from the audience], we had no reported arrests and no real problems with fans,” she reported. And although due to liability issues, the Ives has been exceedingly reducing its once liberal policy on fans bringing in their own food and beverages, regular patrons have generally been understanding.

“It’s been hard to change long standing policies on bringing in food and beverages, because patrons have enjoyed having their own picnics for years,” Ms Cortese said. “But the industry is forcing us toi change, and if we want o be able to get insurance and keep bringing this kind of lineup to the Ives, we may eventually have to fall in line with many of the other venues in the region that have further restrictions.”

But, looking on the bright side, Ms Cortese said next season should feature a much more robust selection on in-venue food and beverage offerings, so patrons will be able to enjoy great food and beverages without lugging their coolers and baskets into he park.

With her varied background in the entertainment business, working both on stage and back stage in many capacities, Ms Cortese said she has seen it all. So she wasn’t expecting any surprises as she took the reigns heading up the on-site operations for the Ives Concert Park Authority, The City of Danbury and Western Connecticut State University earlier this year.

But she did recall one experience that was particularly touching.

On the day of the Frankie Valli show, football legend Joe Namath was also on campus directing a football camp. She said when Mr Namath found out one of his childhood favorites was playing the venue, he insisted on buying a ticket and hanging out in the audience alongside the many other fans who turned out.

“Joe was like a teenager waiting to see one of his favorite performers,” Ms Cortese recalled. “And lo and behold, it turned out Frankie was one of Joe Namath’s biggest fans as well. So Frankie shouted Joe out during the set and invited him backstage after the show.”

The director was on hand as introductions were made between the music great and the sports hero.

“It was so touching to see these two grown men, one from the world of music and another from the world of sports, so excited to be meeting one another,” she said. “Joe looked like he had tears in his eyes he was so thrilled. It was wonderful to be able to experience that kind of moment, and one of the ultimate perks of this job.”

Fans who turned out for the Ani DiFranco show got another special treat in the form of opening act Kimya Dawson. The stocky folk artist, who grew up down the road in Westchester County, contributed a number of critically acclaimed songs to the soundtrack of the Oscar nominated film Juno.

Sitting comfortably center stage and accompanying herself on guitar, Ms Dawson ran through a set which included several compelling and intensely personal descriptive songs that painted a picture of her life up to the moment.

But the most interesting aspect of her set was Ms Dawson’s ability to switch gears between these dark and heavy numbers, to the most amazingly entertaining children’s songs she is compiling for a new album due in the coming months.

While she is still busy gearing up for the Family Fair in September, Ms Cortese said she is working with her board and other Ives support organizations to complete assessments and the final settlements from the 2008 season, before she moves forward with plenty of lead time, planning for an even bigger and better summer season in 2009.