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The Bijou Orchestra ended their two-hour show with a live musical performance to a showing of the Charlie Chaplin silent film, Easy Street. (Photo: Andy Rogers)

Bijou Orchestra - Opening Night - Huge Crowd - Grand Success

Bay City Music Patrons Fill Downtown State Theatre To Hear Bijou Musicians

October 13, 2003       Leave a Comment
By: O. J. Cunningham

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Overture . . . Dim the Lights . . . This is it . . . The Night of Nights . . . And Oh what heights we'll hit . . . On with the show . . . This is It!!

Artistic Director Leo Najar introduced The Bijou Orchestra and opened the State Theatre Concert Series on Saturday night, October 11, 2003 in downtown Bay City.

Najar's hand-picked thirteen piece professional ensemble entertained a recently renovated State Theatre full house with a wide range of musical pieces from the likes of Brahms, Scott Joplin, Cole Porter, Gershwin and New York show tunes.

Orchestra members were: Lauren Rongo (flute), Vickie Bowden (clarinet, sax), Kennen White (clarinet), Derek Lockhart (trumpet), Mark Flegg (trumpet), John Rutherford (trombone), Andrew Spencer (percussion), Catherine McMichael (piano), Bill Milicevic (violin), Susan Friedman (violin), Cathy Franklin (viola), Irina Tikhonova (cello) and Jean Posekany Lockhart (bass).

Other performers during the evening's production were vocalist Kathy Wagner, and dancers Ken Tepper, Mary Ann Tolly and Julia Freyer.

Other scheduled performances are:
    December 12-13, 2003 - Holiday Pops

    February 21, 2004 - Tango, Polka, Musette and a Little Swing

    April 30 - May 1, 2004 - The World Goes 'Round


The State Theatre is fast becoming one of Bay City's top cultural venues as home to the new Bijou Orchestra and and variety of musical and theatrical performances which position it as Bay City's own little "Broadway."

State Theatre supporters stress the architectural significance of the State Theatre, originally called the Bijou when built in 1908. The style, notes architectural historian Dale Wolicki, is typically referred to as "Exotic Art Deco," popular early in the 20th century for large theatres.
Architect C. Howard Crane, who designed the Fox Theatre and Orchestra Hall in Detroit, used the art of the lost Mayan race as the decoration motif when he redesigned the masterpiece Bijou in 1930. The magnificent theatre was renamed the "Bay" and topped with a tall sign resembling a Mayan in colorful headdress.

One of the few remaining Mayan themed theatres in the United States, the architectural treasureis being restored and preserved by the cooperative efforts of the Friends of the State Theatre, the Bay Area Community Foundation and the Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Below:(Left) Program Cover For Opening Night (Right) CommerativePoster - Fundraiser in 4-Color








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O. J. Cunningham

O. J. Cunningham is the Publisher of MyBayCity.com. Cunningham previously published Sports Page & Bay City Enterprise. He is the President/CEO of OJ Advertising, Inc.

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