Ms. Music: The Jackie Alper Story, a folk musical at 3 pm matinee, 8th Step at Proctors, Schenectady at 8th Step at Proctors

"Warm, real, passionate and an unabashed booster of the music, ideals and people she loved”
DON DWORKIN (former "Mostly Folk" engineer)

“Part hootenanny, part progressive issues rally, part hero tribute....universal in its message and personal in its delivery....a gathering of the clan” HOCH’S JUKEBOX

“The talented cast pulled the audience into its choruses, and inspired a standing ovation”
DON WILCOCK, NIPPERTOWN

A folk musical of story and song traces the life and times of the late musician / activist Jackie Alper (1921- 2007), 23-year host of WRPI-fm folk radio show "Mostly Folk," featuring the music that animated her. Written and directed by Andy Spence and Sarah Dillon, the cast features Kate Blain (vocals), Greg Giorgio (narration, vocals), Howard Jack (bass, vocals), Ruth Pelham (narration, vocals), Mike Slik (dobro, steel guitar, vocals), Charlie Rhynhart (guitar, bass, vocals), Toby Stover (keyboard, percussion, vocals), Alan Thomson (piano, vocals), George Wilson (fiddle, banjo, 12-string guitar, vocals).
Jackie Alper was legend around the Capital Region folk world, a familiar sight at folk concerts and activist events, recognized for her shirt or vest covered with message buttons. The host of "Mostly Folk," WRPI-fm's long-running Sunday afternoon radio show, her on-air support of folk venues, festivals and artists helped make us one ot the largest and most vibrant folk communities in America.
Her massive music collection stretched back many decades, and on air she played a wide range of genres. Contemporary and traditional folk, jazz blues, bluegrass, comedy, swing, Celtic, Gospel - you name it, were anchored by songs of such great progressive musicians (old friends and cohorts of Jackie's) as Paul Robeson, Len Chandler, Bernice Johnson Reagon, U. Utah Phillips and Ronnie Gilbert. Often she would interview one of them on "Mostly Folk."

This tribute features the songs of the groups Jackie sang with over the years, like the Almanac Singers (1930s-40s); anthems of the labor movement by Seeger, Guthrie and others; songs of the Priority Ramblers, a group that coincided with Jackie's war work with noted folklorist Alan Lomax at the Office of War Information in Washington, DC. Then there was People's Songs, when she worked to unify musicians with labor organizers and theatrical artists toward social change through music and the arts.

Here in the Capital Region, she was a popular and prominent friend to many, both on and off the air. Come hear Jackie's fascinating tale and the music that animated her over the years, sung by regional musicians who will always love and admire her.

Website:  https://go.evvnt.com/3576907-2?pid=11710

Time:  15:00 -  17:00