“First Night-Evanston” story by Julia W. Rath

Headliner Corky Siegel and his wife Holly hosted a one-of-a-kind concert/musical variety show for this year’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration of First Night, in Evanston, Illinois. Forced to cancel a live performance at the end of 2020 due to the pandemic, Siegel opted to take to the internet once again in 2021. Hence, this 25th anniversary program was made virtual for the second year in a row on streaming video and featured a series of a live and recorded segments.

For those who have never seen Siegel in concert before, he is an exceptional and multitalented musician. He brilliantly plays the keyboard, sings, and performs original jazz and rhythm and blues numbers on the harmonica; mind you, not just using one harmonica but several, each set to a different key. As usual, this New Year’s Eve, he plays with reckless abandon and brings in a Christmas/holiday vibe that makes the event special. Above all, he caps off the evening with a unique performance of “Auld Lang Syne.” His version of the song is of his own making, where he translates the middle English words into modern English and where he explains the meaning behind his translation, including his own personal philosophy. As the words to the song are popped on-screen, the audience can sing along to the original lyrics and also to the new ones. And of course, we see virtual fireworks go off at the stroke of midnight!

The “cornucopia of diverse artists” was never better. Preceding the midnight spectacle are numbers by many famous (and not-so-famous) artists, some local, some nationally-known. Among them are: “The Sons of the Never Wrong” (a/k/a “Peter, Paul, and Mary on steroids”), three-time Grammy nominee Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues, Dorothy Scott, Toronzo Cannon, Will Tilson, Evanston’s own Howard Levy, and the Last World Quintet, singing “Something of Something.” There is also an interview with the founder of Pixar, Alvy Ray Smith. Perhaps my favorite number has to do with singer/songwriter Michael Smith. He and Blair Thomas, from the Chicago International Puppet Festival, collaborated on “The Selfish Giant”, having to do with how adults seem like giants from the perspective of being a little kid. One juicy lyric from the song is this: “All you see are giant knees except when someone’s bending down to tie their shoe.” Another favored act has to do with two oboe players playing a duet, accompanied a good number of meowing cats in a piece called “Cats in the Kitchen”, with the second movement subtitled “Oh, Sole Meow!” This was composed by Phil Bimstein and performed by Charlotte Bell and Hilary Coon. What an “a-mew-zing” composition! I couldn’t help but laugh out loud!

A big difference between today’s production and Siegel’s customary live show is that the program is absent a lot of the humor that comes from his very personable interaction with the audience, especially when he walks down the aisle, cracks jokes, and plays his harmonica as if to serenade certain concertgoers. And at times, he might even take requests. In contrast, this year’s online performance was as warm and cozy as any virtual event could be, considering that it came directly from the Siegel home and included a nicely written libretto. What I missed this year, however, was Siegel’s cornier songs with weird rhymes that I had grown accustomed to him singing and performing. That said, the entire evening’s event lasted two-and-a-half hours and was excellent!

The 2021 First Night event, presented by Corky and Holly Siegel, was available for free with a suggested $35 donation. This included access to the recording of the livestream for an additional 24 hours after the end of the original performance. The point of the celebratory presentation is to “unite the community through the arts” as well as to usher in the year 2022 (which we all hope will be better than 2021). For those of you who missed this event, it will roll around again next December 31st! So be prepared and go onto the First Night Evanston website https://www.firstnightevanston.org for more information.

And a happy and healthy New Year to each and every one of you!