Cornwall’s Riverlight Park was filled to the brim with music – and Broadway – lovers on September 12 as Cornwall-on-Hudson resident Mara Davi, herself a Broadway performer, enlisted a handful of her friends to stop by and sing!

And sing they did, with selections from popular Broadway shows such as Wicked, Fiddler on the Roof, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Little Shop of Horrors, South Pacific, The Bands Visit and Avenue Q, among others. Audience members were singing along – encouraged by the performers – at times; the families of the singers got involved; and it didn’t look like a single person left early!

Alexandra Socha (recently Glinda in Wicked) and Etai Benson (originated the role of Papi in the Tony Award-winning musical The Band’s Visit), Anika Larsen (from Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Tony Award nomination), Almost Famous, Avenue Q, Xanadu, All Shook Up and Rent), and Bill Nolte (starred in 13 Broadway musicals) were the performers (all are Hudson Valley residents and personal friends of Davi). The three-piece band behind them featured Richard Schacher on keys, with Dylan Connelly on bass, and Mark Frankel on drums.

Davi is an actor/singer/dancer/arts educator who has worked in New York, nationally and internationally for over 20 years.

To open the show, Davi and fellow community resident Shannon Clearwater performed a crowd-awakening dance from Chicago, Hot Honey Rag, and New Windsor’s Nolte performed songs such as Write Myself a Letter, famously recorded by Fats Waller, and toe-tapping Puttin’ on the Ritz, with Davi.

Davi thanked the town’s Recreation Department and Phylis Murphy for help in coordinating the show and gave a special shout-out to the good weather of the night! Here, scenes from the evening.