 John
McMenamin
I have been performing Harry
Chapin's music since the late 1970s beginning at The Cabaret Theatre,
a small theatre near Pittsburgh where I worked as a performer and director.
I was a huge Chapin fan and would spend many hours after shows sharing
my favorite Chapin music with the audiences and fellow actors who would
remain after the shows. Shortly after Harry's tragic death in July 1981,
I asked the artistic director of the theater, John Carosella, if I could
present an evening of Harry Chapin songs at the theatre with the profits
going to World
Hunger Year. He enthusiastically agreed to lend the theatre for
free, producer John Horanic also pitched in and donated his talents
and Remembering Harry Chapin was born. I performed several encore
tributes there over the next three years.
In 1995, after a ten-year
absence, we all realized how much we missed the concerts and did another
one, in New Stanton, PA, near Pittsburgh . We had about 275 people at
the first show and donated the profits to the
Harry Chapin Foundation. The next year my good friend Rob DeVitis
joined with his electric guitar and we drew 400 people for a World Hunger
Year benefit in Monroeville, PA. Other shows have since followed in
Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey, with the proceeds benefiting a charity
such as WHY or the Harry Chapin Foundation. I was delighted to discover
there is still such an interest in Harry's life and music, particularly
among people who are too young to have experienced his legendary live
concerts.
The most recent show was
July 15, 2001 at the George
Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It was a thrill to
play with Harry's former bandmates Yvonne Cable, Howard Fields and
"Big" John Wallace on the weekend of the 20th anniversary
of Harry's passing. Rob DeVitis on guitar and John Gebhart
on keyboards completed the band for an evening I'll never forget.
If you have any specific
questions, or if you would like to be updated when the next show is
booked, please e-mail
me at mcmen@aol.com.
As far as the show itself
is concerned, it is an appreciation, not an impersonation. I love Harry's
songs and know some great stories about him and his music. I consider
it a privilege to spend 2 to 3 hours sharing Harry's songs and stories
with the audience. I feel that it's a very special evening honoring
a very special man.
November
1998
- John McMenamin with
Tom and Steve Chapin after presenting a $3000 check
to World Hunger Year from the proceeds of the
September 12, 1998 "Remembering Harry Chapin" concert.
The
presentation took place during World Hunger Year's
Hungerthon 98 at WNEW in New York
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