Let There Be Music

“It’s so hard to keep on smillin’
when people try to make you frown
But, we’re all in this together
So why run one another down
You know we can’t expect our problems
to grow wings and fly away
So fight the fight just as hard as you can
when it’s time for you to play
Let there be music
Let it shine like the sun
Let there be music
Everybody’s got to have some fun”

  • Orleans (Larry Hoppen, Johanna Hall) – 1975

People ask what I do in my retirement. That’s easy- I support live music! When I retired at the end of 2012 after a 31-year career at Merck, I was just excited about not working. I didn’t think much about what I would be doing next. At my retirement party, a friend suggested I volunteer as an usher at Sellersville Theater, a local venue with live music performances as well as occasional comedy acts and kids’ shows. My wife and I had been members for years, and always enjoyed going to concerts there. It sounded like a great idea, and I followed-up a short time later. I discovered the volunteer coordinator at the time was someone I knew from Merck, and there were a few other Merck retirees volunteering there as well. Perfect!

Sellersville Theater member party
Sellersville Theater Volunteers

I always loved going to concerts, although that became less of a priority as I became busy with work and raising a family. Now that I had free time again after retiring, I was excited about this new opportunity to do something I would really enjoy. And I loved it! When the sign-up email came out each month, I was volunteering for dozens of shows. Yes, there was work involved before, during, and after the show, but I got to hear a lot of great music for free, meet some of my favorite musicians, and hang out with a new group of friends. I clearly remember one of my first shows as a volunteer, when I sold merchandise for the late Peter Tork of the Monkees. After the show, he came out to the table, sat next to me, and signed autographs and posed for pictures with hundreds of people lined up for the Meet and Greet, chatting with me the whole time. It was a blast. I never had that much fun in my working days at Merck.

Me with Peter Tork of the Monkees
The staff and me with Patrick Moraz of Yes and the Moody Blues
Me with Carmine Appice of the Vanilla Fudge

I was enjoying the theater so much, I decided to rent it out for my birthday party. It wasn’t even a major milestone birthday, but I was in the mood for a party with live music, and Sellersville was the perfect venue. I invited old friends and new friends, volunteer ushers, neighbors, and family. And I invited two of our favorite performers to provide the musical entertainment- singer-songwriter Cliff Hillis got the party started, followed by Smash Palace (which Cliff ironically joined just before my party, so he pulled double-duty that night). It was a fantastic time. And Smash Palace actually filmed the video for their single “Again and Again” at my party. (See if you can find me dancing in the video!)

Set list for my party on the Green Room wall
Smash Palace
Eva and me

The theater had close to 100 volunteers in total, and we usually had about 6-8 ushers assigned to each show. After my first year, I had volunteered for more shows than almost anyone else. I was having a blast. Then one night I got an unexpected phone call from the general manager of the theater, Dawn Slade, who asked if I would be interested in a part-time house manager job. My first thought was “no, I’m done working for a paycheck”. But wait- I’d get to see those contracts, and meet the musicians, and set up the green room for them, and take care of their dinner, and pay them at the end of the night? That sounds like fun! Count me in!

And I was back working again. What a cool job it was! For confidentiality reasons, I won’t go into any details about specific interactions I had with band members or contract details, but I certainly loved seeing the inside of a totally different business than the pharmaceutical industry. Just a few of the performers whose shows I helped manage included Howard Jones, Amy Helm, Al Kooper, Chad and Jeremy, Annie Haslam, Los Lobos, Leo Kotke, Justin Hayward, Garland Jeffries, Walter Trout, Louie Anderson, Joe Conklin, Jeff Daniels, and Get The Led Out. In one of my more memorable shows, I was house manager for the English Beat, who insisting on performing in spite of the big blizzard that was coming. They did the show in front of a sparse crowd, and by the time we were done working, the staff was basically snowed in. So we had some fun face-timing and partying in the theater before the roads were clear enough to head on home. It was a long but fun night!

Snowed-in staff members after the English Beat show
My view from the Sound Booth
I took this photo of our volunteers with Chad and Jeremy (“Yesterday’s Gone”) after their show

I also had the opportunity to drive a few performers who needed rides. Unfortunately, I could not take photos when I was working, but I remember driving Howard Jones to the Philadelphia Airport, picking up Al Kooper (of “Blood Sweat and Tears”) at the 30th Street Train Station, driving Leon Russell a short distance from his tour bus to the theater, taking Todd Rundgren to the theater from his hotel, picking up Paula Poundstone at the Lehigh Valley Airport, and taking Thomas Dolby (“She Blinded Me With Science”) to a radio station interview to promote his show. Thomas Dolby was great, and we talked non-stop the whole trip. He invited me into the radio studio to join him for the interview. He was fine with me taking a photo (below). In general, I would never bother the performers in the car as some wanted their privacy, but it was always fun when they started a conversation with me. I remember comedian Paula Poundstone commenting about the ice on the roads when I was driving her to the theater. She then joked about the icy weather during her performance, which I though was pretty cool- I was with her in the car when she came up with the idea! When I drove her back to her hotel after the show, we talked for a good 15 minutes outside her hotel, just because she wanted to talk and tell me about her family. Great memories!

me and Thomas Dolby

It was always a special thrill to see some of our friends performing on my home turf, like the Soul Survivors, Beru Revue, Smash Palace, Ben Arnold, Eric Bazilian, Soraia, the Mark Evans Band, AM Radio, Greg Sover, Swing That Cat, Danielle and Jennifer, and Nalani and Sarina. And a few of our son Jason’s former “classmates” at the Fort Washington School of Rock have also performed on our Sellersville stage, including Jess Araten, Ben Kessler, and Eddie Kurek. I’ve had so many great memories from Sellersville Theater over the years.

Charlie Ingui of the Soul Survivors
With Nalani and Serena
Bob Beru, of Beru Revue
Me with Ben Arnold
With David Uosikinnen of the Hooters at the Washington House Restaurant before a show
With ZouZou Mansour of Soraia before her show at Sellersville

After about 2 years of being a house manager, I decided to retire again. As much as I loved the job, there were frequently long hours, working to set up the green room before the band checked-in, and working until I locked up the theater at the end of the night. And, although rare, there were enough stressful situations arising over the course of a night that I decided I would rather just go back to ushering where I wouldn’t be the person in charge of the theater while I was there. (I recall one time when the fire alarm went off in the middle of a show.) I certainly miss all the interactions with my musical idols, but don’t regret giving up the work that was involved.

Like so many businesses, CoVid was a tough time for the theater. We loved it there so much, we changed our membership to the “show sponsor” level, to provide some additional financial support to the theater as they got back on their feet after the pandemic. We got to pick which show we wanted to sponsor, and then got to meet the musicians performing at that show. Two of the shows we sponsored were Wishbone Ash and Billy Bob Thornton. It was pretty exciting to meet them after their shows.

Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash
Eva and me with Billy Bob Thornton

When I resigned, Dawn asked if I could stay on as an unpaid (volunteer) “Volunteer Coordinator”. I got some nice perks in the deal, so I accepted, and for the next 8 years or so I continued to do the training and scheduling for the volunteers. Then finally in 2023, I decided to retire completely, and now I’m just back to being a theater member and occasional usher. The gang threw me a nice “final” retirement party when I called it quits. I will always consider the Sellersville Theater and associated Washington House Restaurant my home-away-from-home.

At my Sellersville “retirement” party

Eva and I can still be found at the theater frequently- just last week we saw 70s glam-rockers the Sweet as well as Greg Hawkes of the Cars. And I have tickets for the upcoming shows by Martin Barre of Jethro Tull and Al Stewart. As I tell all my friends, if you plan on going to the Sellersville theater, let me know, and if I am free, I’d be happy to come to the show and say hello. When life gets me down, I find that live music can always pick me up. “Let there be music- Everybody’s got to have some fun!”

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