It's not 9 o'clock on a Saturday night alright for fighting, but you’ll get the best of Billy Joel and Elton John all in one place Friday night.
Williamsport’s Community Arts Center will host Lycoming United Way’s fourth annual Live United in Music with headliner Michael Cavanaugh performing the music of Billy Joel and Elton John.
For the third year in a row, Cavanaugh, who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be backed by the 47-piece POPS Orchestra led by Williamsport’s Walton Straiton
“It brings in a name artist that we have a relationship with, and also gives us a platform to profile some of the outstanding local and regional talent that lives here. It's a fun thing to piece together,” Straiton said.
The benefit concert begins at 7:30 p.m. with proceeds going toward the United Way’s 33 nonprofit programs in Lycoming, Sullivan and Tioga counties. Tickets will remain on sale up until showtime and range from $40 to $50.
Community Arts Center Executive Director Jim Dougherty said most of the money goes back to the United Way.
“We do the same thing for the United Way that we do for a lot of local nonprofit organizations,” Dougherty said. “We have a pretty long standing tradition with the Lycoming County United Way. They're a great organization, so we're always happy to help when we can.”
Lycoming United Way’s president and chief executive officer Ron Frick expects to raise about $50,000 this year. About $150,000 has been raised for the community since it began in October 2019, he said.
“Ron and I have a shared vision for broad musical events that impact the community and his heart,” Straiton said.
Straiton started teaching music at Williamsport Area High School in the late 70s and taught for 25 years.
Live United in Music's idea began in 2018 in honor of Margaret “Meg” Finn. Finn was the former executive director of Lycoming Arts, the county’s arts council.
Frick recalled sitting at Alabaster Coffee in downtown Williamsport with Straiton. An idea struck them for a concert in honor of Finn that would benefit the United Way.
“We always believed at the United Way, that one of the important things was making sure that people knew how important community was,” Frick said.
Finn suddenly died from an aneurysm while on a trip with Straiton in 2018.
Their idea came from a similar event that Chester County’s United Way holds a smaller concert but not a benefit one, Frick said.
Frick wanted to go larger. That’s when Straiton recommended Cavanaugh, who played Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” at Finn’s funeral.
Soon it all came together with Williamsport’s Uptown Music Collective backing Cavanaugh at the Community Arts Center. The collective is Williamsport’s nonprofit music program that educates students and allows them to perform live.
“We started with the music of Billy Joel, and it was Michael and folks from the Uptown Music Collective and a drum line from local high schools and kids from the middle school, Lycoming Valley Middle School, that played,” Frick said.
COVID-19 postponed the event in 2020. It returned in April 2022.
Two former Uptown Music Collective members will open for Cavanaugh – New York City-based off-Broadway performer Tess Marshall and Williamsport native and music educator Mallory Scoppa Gardner will perform. Lewisburg native blues artist Kimbo Reichley and singer and first runner-up Miss Pennsylvania Abby Traxler will also perform.
The arts center, Wiilliamsport’s main entertainment venue, seats more than 2,000.
“We're the biggest room in Lycoming County for performance. It's the best stage and given the talent that Lycoming County United Way brings in, they want to make the biggest space available for people to be able to come and see the show,” Dougherty said.
The show reflects Brandon Park bandshell’s large-scale concerts in the 1980s. Artists like Maynard Ferguson, Chuck Mangione and The Spinners brought in almost 20,000 people, Straiton said.
Live United in Music aims to replicate those shows.
“The idea of putting together just a broad platform musical event kind of recaptures the essence of that time but doing it in a fixed theater with an ultimate beneficiary, the Lycoming United Way,” Straiton said.
Straiton first worked with Cavenaugh in 2008. Straiton moved to Los Angeles, California from Williamsport in 2003, and helped start a new symphony orchestra in Corona, California.
Straiton eventually needed talent for a show he was producing in 2008. His associate producer, Michelle Hornberger, made him aware of Cavanaugh.
“We discovered Michael and we allowed him to discover us that way. We brought him to the region and had the great privilege of just putting a concert together,” Straiton said. “That was the genesis of our relationship.”
Outside of Community Arts Center shows, they worked together on shows in Boston, Massachusetts; Dallas, Texas; and Philadelphia.
More than 20 sponsors including UPMC, Weis Markets, C&N Bank, Lundy Construction and Lycoming Engines support the United Way.
“We're always looking for new sponsors and folks that want to get involved in supporting the United Way. But a lot of the work that we do around sponsorships is with existing organizations that have supported us in the past,” Frick said.
