Billy & The Showmen Give The Levitt Dance Floor A Workout
On Saturday night one of the Levitt Pavilion's crowd favorites, Billy & The Showmen brought their own brand of hard-driving R&B, Soul, and Funk from the '60's and '70's to the Levitt stage and brought the audience to the new astroturf "dance floor", giving it quite a workout.
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Shelly Kahan, president of Interstate+Lakeland lumber introduced the band, with whom he has been friends for part of their more than 50 year career as a band. Mr. Kahan and Interstate+Lakeland Lumber, which recently opened their new Design Center at 800 Post Rd. East, Westport has been a major sponsor of the Levitt summer music series for several years. Interstate+Lakeland was hosting their customer appreciation event at the Levitt's terrace prior to the show.
There was a capacity crowd on Saturday night with many of the audience finding their way to the "dance floor" in front of the stage.
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The 9 piece band, includes a 4 piece brass section which gives them the ability to play tunes by such greats as Tower Of Power including TOP's best-selling "What Is Hip?" one of their many crowd-pleasers.
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Frank Mastrone Brings the Sounds Of Broadway to the Levitt Pavilion Stage
On Sunday, Frank Mastrone, a long-time Levitt favorite performed with his friends, Singers Terry Eldh and Dodie Pettit. His band included Musical Director Frank Spitznagel, Violinist Darwin Shen, on bass Nick Macri and on drums, Gabe Nappi.
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Above, left Sunday Series sponsor Roger Leifer welcomes the crowd, center. Right, Frank Mastrone reaches for a big note.
This memorable evening was sponsored by long-time major Levitt supporter who has funded their Sunday series for some time, Leifer Properties of Westport. Mastrone, who has appeared on Broadway in The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Cats, Big: The Musical, Jekyll and Hyde and Saturday Night Fever brought his signature cabaret show giving fabulous renditions of Broadway hits everyone knows.
Together with his exceptional band and the vocal talents of his special friends they delighted the capacity audience again this year with their high energy performances across multiple genres of music
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They Grow Up So Fast!
It's hard to believe that just two months ago the Terrain Osprey juveniles in these photos were little chicks, small enough to hold in the palm of your hand (below, left pic, see: https://westportlocal.com/news/osprey-update-its-triplets).
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Within 30 days of hatching, the young birds will be 70-75% of their adult weight. The chicks will fledge about 55 days after hatching but will use the nest as home base until they migrate in September. Young ospreys will stay dependent on their parents until the young are able to fish for themselves, which these two seemed to in no big hurry to learn.
These "teenagers" were anxiously awaiting their next meal, and were quit vocal about their need for dinner. They were squeaking for nearly an hour, hoping Mom and Dad would be bringing fresh fish. After not getting their food delivery they flew effortlessly to the nearby pine trees at the back of the Terrain parking lot. Upon landing in the pine trees, they continued demanding to be feed (above left) and after another 15 minutes of squawking, they gave up and chose instead to give their feathers a good preening (above, right).
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Westport Library and Y's Men Presented Howard Saffan, Owner And President of The Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater
Mr. Saffan, the owner, developer, and president of the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater in Bridgeport, provided an insider’s look at this highly acclaimed, world-class venue on August 3rd at The Westport Library in a presentation co-sponsored by the Library and the Y’s Men of Westport/Weston.
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Mr. Saffan was introduced first by Dewey Loselle, President of the Westport-Weston Y's men (L), then by Dick Kalt, ( C) the organization's director of communications. Mr. Saffan (R ) spoke at length about the detailed and very expensive process of building what many of the music and concert industry's legendary performers have heralded as an exceptional concert venue and one in which they want to return to again and again.
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Now in the midst of its second season, the Amphitheater is a conversion of the former Harbor Yard Ballpark, previously home to the Bridgeport Bluefish. The Amphitheater showcases many of music's superstars, and Saffan will discuss the development of the amphitheater, the relationship with Bridgeport, and the exciting renaissance of live contemporary music shows and the Sound on Sound Festival. The Amphitheater is the premier music venue in Connecticut, presenting live shows with The Beach Boys, Temptations, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Santana, and many more.
As part of his presentation Mr. Saffan provided photos and videos and proudly described the many features and amenities which sets this facility apart from other concert venues. He provided clips of some of the major music industry stars who have performed worldwide describing how exceptional this facility is and how happy they are to appear here. Speaking in one of the video clips was Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl who performed at and became one of the early fans of the amphitheater.
Howard provided fascinating background on his long career, how he started his first business, a window and door factory in Bridgeport, which he sold after his start as a bankruptcy attorney and clerked for a Federal Bankruptcy judge. That career began when he graduated from Brooklyn Law School and achieved a B.S. in finance from Syracuse University.
Howard later became CEO of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and spoke of how he always wanted to be associated with the sports business. He tried being a legal assistant for a famous sports agent but couldn’t stand dealing with the large egos of the athletes he represented. At this point he left the legal profession, the window business which he subsequently sold for a large profit at age 36. He then bought a major interest in a leading golf driving-range company that was going into bankruptcy. Later, he took over a Shelton, CT facility, the popular Sports Center of Connecticut. That facility is unique in that it is the only double decker NHL-sized ice arena in the world where various local hockey teams could train.
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Several audience members were afforded the opportunity to ask Howard questions and he coyly demurred when one questioner asked about a major announcement he would be making on a future project which he alluded to in his earlier remarks.
One of the teams that trained there was the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He joined the team as President and after 9 years became CEO. Finally in 2011 he bought the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport which he converted to one of the most successful sports and entertainment arenas in CT. He features college and professional ice hockey and basketball and includes popular music groups, singers and shows such as Cirque de Soleil. This season the arena had the highest attendance ever and Howard continues to be a very successful entrepreneur.
As if all this was not enough of a resume of achievements, at one point in his career Saffan oversaw management of the New York Islanders hockey club and Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The audience mingled prior to the start of the event. Audience members listening intently to Saffan's presentation included (L) Jeff Weiser, RTM Moderator, E. Bruce Bonner of the Y's Men organization (C) and Westport based real estate developer, investor and one of Howard’s attorneys, Roger Leiffer, (R) seated next to his wife Beryl.
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Other audience members included Robin Hammond of CLASP Westport with Levitt Board member Dave Briggs (L), Agata Slattery of the Westport Library, Y's Men's Dewey Loselle, Mr. Saffan, Westport Library's Jennifer Bangser and Y's men's Dick Kalt. At right are Dick and Howard.