June 9, 2004
Tree Huggin' concert serious fun
Third Annual music and comedy night skewers local and national issues
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Pay attention, you're having fun!
Tucked into the two-hours of entertainment at the Third Annual Tree Huggin' Music and Comedy Night were serious messages: value the planet, think green and take action.
Sponsored by the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council, Saturday night's show featured a dozen acts of song, dance and music, including a headlining appearance by Robin Lee Berry. John Nelson, chair of the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council, emceed the show as well as performed two songs in it.
More than 120 people attended the event at the Milliken Auditorium. Proceeds from the evening will help with the ongoing nine-year battle by local environmental groups to stop the Hartman-Hammond bridge bypass.
In addition to activist anthems by Bob Downes, one an original work, and cutting edge poetry by John O'Neill, the show also included Celtic music by TC Celtic and original songs by local musician John Phillips.
The show began with a medley of songs from the musical "Chicago," which played to packed audiences at the Old Town Playhouse in the fall. Christine Smith, who helped plan, stage and produce the talent show, reprised the role of Velma, one of the main characters of "Chicago." She was backed by musicians and dancers who eagerly agreed to reconvene to help NMEAC.
"I called one person and soon got a call back saying there were 11 people wanting to do it," recalled Smith, who had an eight-year acting career in New York and recently left the Traverse City area to complete a master's of business administration program in Toledo.
Smith and her parents, Ken and Kay Smith, have been the driving forces behind the talent show for three years. Initially her father's brainchild, the show has taken on a life of its own.
"Dad came up with this idea three years ago when I moved here from New York," recalled Smith, who from the start gave the show a professional, highly-polished feel. "We didn't realize how many creative people there were involved in the environmental community."
Ken Smith and his daughter again brought their popular "Mark Dillenburger, Public Servant" to the stage. Skewering the Grand Traverse County Road Commission, local politicians and policies with glee, Smith pens the script every year. He includes a cast of recurring characters, such as Mary Doddsworthy, Dennis LaBellebottom and Millie McManhole.
He bases the skit on Garrison Keeler's "Guy Noir, Private Eye" act on the PBS radio show A Prairie Home Companion. This is the first year Smith added a dose of national politics, weaving together terrorist beavers, the National Cherry Festival and Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Advisor.
"We wanted to kind of bring these national security things in, because there's some ludicrous things going on," said Ken Smith, former chair of the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council. "This evening is mainly to have fun, I think people spend way too much of their time being serious."
As for the satirized Mary Doddsworthy, played with a dead-on Scottish accent by Christine Smith, Margaret Dodd laughs at her recurring role in the show. The former mayor of Traverse City is known for her support of environmental causes. Dodd said she does not mind the jokes - even if the beaver incident at the heart of the act every year happened years ago.
"A city that can't handle the little problems, like the beavers were, makes me worry about how they can handle the big ones," she noted of the incident.