Northampton Center for the Arts readies annual First Night celebration
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New venues, new bands and new children's acts are on tap for this year's First Night Northampton - and a few former venues will be opened again to accommodate bigger crowds for some of the annual celebration's most popular events.
The 12-hour New Year's Eve party will feature Shelburne Falls songwriter and pianist Seth Glier, whose most recent album has been nominated for a Grammy Award for best-engineered record; the rhythm-and-blues band Trailer Park, which recently reunited after a five-year hiatus; acrobatics and aerial games from a new First Night group, the SHOW Circus Studio; and Zoe Darrow and the Fiddleheads, in a rare gig for the Celtic group whose celebrated lead fiddler is now a Mount Holyoke College student.
Penny Burke, executive director of the Northampton Center for the Arts, which organizes First Night, says a few venues that the event has relied on in recent years, including the parish hall at the now-closed St. John Cantius Church on Hawley Street, are no longer available. To make up for that, new locations have been added, such as the Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre at Smith College.
One big change this year: The Young@Heart Chorus, which has played to standing-room-only crowds at past First Nights, will perform this year at Smith's John M. Greene Hall. There will be just one performance of the group, at 2 p.m., but with 2,000 seats available, "Hopefully we'll be able to accommodate more people this year," Burke said. "We've had to turn a lot of people away in past years."
The Happy Valley Guitar Orchestra will also perform at John M. Greene Hall, at 4 p.m., while three local musical groups - Chris Scanlon & The Other Guys, Carrie Ferguson and the Cherry Street, and Superkart - will gig at the Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre between 2 and 8:45 p.m.
The former Dynamite Records space in the basement of Thornes Marketplace will feature live music as well this year, including veteran rocker Ray Mason and the reunited Trailer Park. And moving up to one of the biggest stages in town, the A2Z Yo-Yo Team migrates this year to the Academy of Music, where they'll deliver the Academy's first performance of the day, at 1 p.m.
"A2Z has been one of First Night's most popular draws, so it will be nice to have them at the Academy," Burke said.
Meantime, at the Northampton Center for the Arts, First Night kicks off with performances at noon by members of SHOW Circus Studio, an Easthampton school that offers classes in circus skills such as unicycle riding, aerial acrobatics and juggling. Following a one-hour show in the center's ballroom, the audience will be invited to join the traditional family promenade through downtown Northampton, which will be led by the Offbeat Drumming Ensemble and Hooping Harmony.
Burke notes that the main box office for First Night 2012 will be on the second floor of Thornes Marketplace, rather than at the Center for the Arts. And she points out one other change: Downtown stores will stay open until 8 p.m., later than usual, to allow people to do a little post-Christmas shopping.
While performers for First Night hail from across the Valley and beyond, here's a sample of the Northampton-based performers who will be getting in on the act:
Jamie Kent & the Options at The Elevens at 4 and 5 p.m.
The Northampton Woodwind Quintet at the Friends Meeting House at 3 p.m.
Northampton School of Dance at 2 p.m.; the Lisa Leizman Dance Company at 4 p.m.; and the Northamptones at 7 p.m., all at the Academy of Music
The Dadz at First Church of Christ, Scientist at 8 p.m.
Funktionlust and the Unusual Suspects at noon; PaintBox Theatre at 2 and 3 p.m.; and Peter Blanchette at 7 and 8 p.m., all at Theater 14 at Smith College
The particulars
First Night buttons for adults, good for day and night performances, cost $16 if purchased in advance ($20 if purchased on Dec. 31). Buttons for seniors, good for day and night performances, are $10 (purchase anytime). Children ages 2-10 cost $8; under 2 is free. An adult button good for admission from noon to 6 p.m. only is available for purchase anytime for $10.
Buttons are on sale at the First Night box office on the second floor of Thornes Marketplace from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Payment is by cash or check only. Buttons are also available at Faces, State Street Fruit Store and the Hotel Northampton, all in Northampton, Cooper's Corner in Florence, A.J. Hastings in Amherst and at PeoplesBank in Hadley.
Buttons may be purchased on Dec. 31 at these performance venues: Academy of Music; Center for the Arts; Theatre 14 and Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre at Smith College.
On Dec. 31, parking will be free in all of Northampton's municipal lots except the E.J. Gare Parking Garage. Every Smith College parking lot and the Smith College garage on West Street are free and open to the public. Access to and from the garage will be controlled from approximately 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. because of the fireworks display scheduled for 6:15 p.m. The same is true for the adjacent lots.
Steve Pfarrer can be reached at spfarrer@gazettenet.com.
