Live! at the Morley with Easy Street

Blog Author: Ellie Rafoth, Community Engagement Intern

Closing out the MetroParks Summer Concert Series is the one and only Easy Street! Head down tonight to the Judge Morley Pavilion at 7 p.m. to experience a lively performance by Easy Street!

Before the show, I had the opportunity to speak with Todd Hancock about the group.

ER: How did Easy Street come about?

TH: Easy Street Productions, Youngstown’s only professional stock theater troupe and was founded by Todd Hancock and Maureen Collins in 1988. Originally gaining notoriety by staging Youngstown’s longest-running musical “Pump Boys & Dinettes” for a full two year run at the Uptown Theatre, they have since gone on to stage full-scale Broadway productions at the DeYor Performing Arts Center including Annie, The Will Rogers Follies, Beauty and the Beast, Hello Dolly, The Music Man, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as well as their annual Christmas Spectacular Miracle on Easy Street. Throughout Easy Street’s twenty-six year history, they have raised over a million dollars for local charities, enriched the lives of young people through their musical theater workshops, and have established a brand of family entertainment that is unsurpassed in the tri-country area.

ER: What is the makeup of Easy Street?

TH: Easy Street’s size depends on the show, sometimes topping over 100 cast members but for our Morley concerts we traditionally bring 5 to 7 vocalists, a small gang of our Easy Street Little Rascals, and the 8 piece Easy Street Little Big Band. Soloists include Maureen Collins, Todd Hancock, James McClellan, Natalie Sprouse, and Colleen Chance with other special guests from the Easy Street family of regulars.

ER: What type of music does Easy Street perform?

TH: Show tunes as well as big band and “rat pack” standards with a little pop, country and a few 50’s & 60s classics for fun.

ER: Besides Live! at the Morley, where can we expect to see Easy Street?

TH: Easy Street Productions usually produces 3 major musicals a year at the DeYor Performing Arts Center as well as smaller concerts and youth theater shows at our studio on Mahoning Ave. For more info and schedules visit our website at http://www.easystreetshows.com

ER: Any closing thoughts?

TH: Easy Street Productions is the only musical act that has been booked every single year since the Morley Pavilion was built 20 years ago and the MetroParks’ Summer Concert Series first began!

Wow Todd! Thank you! We are always pleased to have and enjoy Easy Street’s performance! Come join us for our last concert of the summer tonight at 7 p.m. at the Judge Morley Pavilion!