Kelsey Flynn hosts THE REALLY BIG SHOW, instead of stealing it, as she channels Ed Sullivan in the 19th annual salute to Valley variety on February 28 at 2 p.m. at the Academy of Music Theatre.

Kelsey Flynn has been preparing for the role of Ed Sullivan all of her life.  From her humble beginnings as a shy little girl in NJ-- who was often confused for a boy-- to her Bachelor's Degree in Religion, each step of the way has led her to right here, right now for the final February Sunday afternoon onstage at the world famous Academy of Music.  Ms Flynn, as Ed Sullivan and accompanied by her parents, Laura and Peter, will keep the coming as we move from comedy to dance, tea trekkers to jugglers, with a good measure of singers, authors and imposters…and more. The Really Big Show Orchestra will set the tone and keep the beat all afternoon, and we know we’ll be using all the curtains, bells, whistles, and colorful lights the Academy can offer to make this a stunning visual treat.

The Really Big Show is sponsored by Coldwell Banker Upton Massamont Realtors of Florence, MA

General Admission tickets are $7 in advance and $10 at the door.

Advance ticket sales for all shows may be purchased on our website: northamptonartscouncil.org; In person at Cooper's Corner in Florence, State Street Fruit Store in Northampton, Guild Art Centre in Northampton, and Food For Thought Books in Amherst. Tickets are also available by calling, Northampton Arts Council, 413-587-1069.

Tickets for live shows at the Academy of Music Theatre include a $1 facility fee. Proceeds support the Northampton Arts Council's ArtsEZ Spring grant round.

Tentative line up:

The August Company

The August Company is a collaborative ensemble which creates theater and film that is human, mirthful and true. One of the newest theater companies in the Pioneer Valley, they can be seen in March with their first OnWord show (a show which brings to life poetry, prose, blogs, essays and songs in a unique evening of short works NOT originally written for the stage), and this summer, with two full-length productions.  Please visit august-company.com for more information.

Boot

Amy Koske, Mark Teffer, and Scott and Rachel Braidman are BOOT, the Valley's newest long-form improvisation troupe. They present unique and wandering story lines created by a series of scenes that are sometimes funny, occasionally offensive, and always unpredictable. Between the four of them, they have 28 years of improvisation experience in Boston, New York, Chicago, and our own Pioneer Valley. Check out http://bootimprov.blogspot.com for upcoming shows!

Wyn Cooper

Wyn Cooper’s fourth book of poems, Chaos is the New Calm, will be published by BOA Editions in May 2010. He has written songs with Sheryl Crow, David Broza, Jody Redhage, and David Baerwald. His second CD with Madison Smartt Bell, Postcards Out of the Blue, came out in 2008. Their songs can be heard on six television shows. He lives in Vermont and works for the Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute, a think tank run by the Poetry Foundation in Chicago.  www.wyncooper.com

Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J Heiss

In 2007, The New York Times recognized Mary Lou Heiss and Robert Heiss as “The Professors of Tea”. James Beard Award-nominated authors (The Story of Tea), writers on a variety of food topics, food purveyors (CooksShopHere and TeaTrekker in Northampton), food-radio hosts (Off The Burner on WHMP & WRSI), and food and travel bloggers (AnEducatedPalate), Mary Lou and Bob are above all educators. Today, Mary Lou and Bob will surprise the Academy audience with a creative presentation worthy of T.R.B.S. cooksshophere.com and teatrekker.com

Carlie Lyster

Carlie Lyster is a 17 year old senior at Northampton High School. A long time singer, she is part of the NHS Chamber Choir and The Northamptones. She has also spent many after school hours on various plays and musicals and is currently rehearsing for the High School's spring production of "Bye Bye Birdie." While she has performed in many shows with The Northamptones, this will be her first time as a soloist and she is thoroughly ecstatic about it.

Cathy McNally

Cathy McNally has been Joan Rivers at the Transperformance and Mama Bear with PaintBox Theatre, and last year she was the best Sarah Palin impersonator in her weight class. She has been a stand-up comic and an improviser with the Villa Jidiots, the comedy troupe she started in 1997. Her humor has been published in McSweeney’s, Satireville and the Daily Hampshire Gazette, and heard on WFCR. She’s thrilled to be in her first Really Big Show.

New England Center for Circus Arts

Melissa K. Knowles

Melissa K. Knowles is energetic to the extreme! She is a juggler, hula hooper, acro-balancer, stilter, musician, social artist, creative educator. She is a founding member of FutureNow! Productions, the FutureNow! Spectaculars, and the Bellingham Circus Guild. She has also performed with the New Old Time Chautauqua Show, Wise Fools New Mexico, Albania Mania, Nimble Arts, and THE Tony Duncan.

Juggler Tony Duncan

Tony Duncan is renowned for his uniqueness and is acknowledged as one of the best in the world for his contact, blind, and ball-on-head juggling. Put together with his off-the-wall sense of humor, audiences are amazed, amused, and sometimes question his sanity. His show is a full production of juggling combined with rope-walking, balancing, ping pong balls and hula-hoops. Using all original material, with absurd characters and humorous execution, Tony has won numerous awards, was in the Broadway Show Sugar Babies, and has performed in venues all over the World. Most recently in Kuwait with THE Melissa Knowles

Vern Coffey

Vern began his descent into circus freakdom as a child when he taught himself to juggle at the age of 12. After squandering 4 years on a degree from the University of Massachussetts, he got down to business and began to devote himself to circus arts in the small town of Arcata, CA in 2002. Since then Vern has performed with the Humbold Circus Society (Arcata CA), toured on a vegetable oil powered school bus with Circo Mutante (Berkeley CA), performed and toured with the Dream Science Circus (Bellingham, WA), and participated in the New Old Time Chautauqua Tour. He has also taught circus arts with kids and adults in Seattle, Bellingham, Cochabamba, Bolivia, and at various workshops while touring. Vern mainly performs acrobalance these days, though he is also a juggler, stilt walker, and fire spinner.

Side of Toast - Sketch Comedy

Side of Toast is a new sketch comedy troupe based in the Pioneer Valley. For tonight's show, the group consists of three players:

Tim Holcomb is co-founder of Hampshire Shakespeare Company, DramaWorks Interactive, and Village Theatre Company. He has directed, acted, designed and taught theatre in the valley for 21.5 years. Christine Stevens enjoys teaching theatre through the Village Theatre Company, has produced community access news as The Happy Valley News Hour, and improvises happily with The Ha Ha's. Paul Ita is a founding member of Side of Toast and writes the humor blog Happy Valley News Hour (happyvalleynews.wordpress.com).

Really Big Show Orchestra

 Jim Armenti (Director, Guitar, Clarinet)

Jim Armenti is celebrating many years of performance here in the Valley with the Lonesome Brothers, Klezamir, the Young@Heart Chorus and many other individuals and groups, including with his family at the annual Transperformance and here at the Really Big Show with his friends. In between it's practice, practice, practice...

Paul Hartshorne (Sax)

Paul is a long time Valley delinquent who has played with several local bands including Check, Please! and Paulzilla. He currently plays in Peter Blanchette's Happy Valley Guitar Orchestra.

Chris Haynes (Accordion)

Chris is the Director of Music at Springfield College. He has been a musical fixture in the Valley for many years now, recording with the Signature Sounds label, performing with groups like Young@Heart as “that wacky accordionist”, and writing music for chamber and theater at some local colleges. You may never see his elusive band the Weird Uncles, but don’t miss them if the chance arises!   

David Lenson (Tenor Sax)

David Lenson, author of the notorious On Drugs, is Professor of Comparative Literature at UMass Amherst, and former editor of the Massachusetts Review. He has played saxophone with Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, John Lee Hooker, and Luther "Georgia Boy Shaky Snake" Johnson, and is currently with The Reprobate Blues Band.

Ken Maiuri (Piano)

Ken is excited to be a really small part of the Really Big Show. He’s performed internationally with the Young@Heart Chorus, Mark Mulcahy, The Mammals, Pedro the Lion, The Soft Drugs, Marykate O’Neil and many others, and was musical director for the rock opera “The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island,” created by Mulcahy and renowned cartoonist Ben Katchor. In his spare time he’s a weekly newspaper columnist, radio DJ and french fry connoisseur. He lives in Florence.

Ray Mason (Bass)

Ray Mason started his first band in 1966 and has been going strong ever since. He has released twelve CDs under his own name and seven with the Lonesome Brothers (which he co-founded with Jim Armenti in 1985).

Jason Moses (Trombone)

Of klezmer and afrobeat fame, Jason spends most of his time in a certain hemp clothing store.  He toured Europe during the summer of 2000 while playing with the east coast Klezmaniacs (1995-2002).  The former student at the Berklee College of Music is currently a member of Klezamir, Shokazoba, The Doomsday Ladies, and several budding projects that might actually go somewhere...  He's happy to be back in the show and a part of the local shenanigans.  "The imports help, but not significantly." -- Ed Sullivan

Joe O’Rourke (Drums)

Joe has thumped the tubs for several Valley bands, and currently for Treefort. By day, he does sales and marketing for Rock 102, Lazer 99.3, WHMP, and 93.9 The River.