Saturday, January 24, 2015

Songwriters' Celebration features local talent




ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT


By Dathan Kazsuk | Jan 24, 2015
Twitter: TriangleAT | Facebook: Triangle Around Town | Instagram: trianglearoundtown

Art. It’s something I hold dear to my heart. I'm an artist. My day job is in the graphic design field. I enjoying writing. I use to be in a electronic band back in my high-school days in California. And my friends know that my artistic juices now flow into a eccentric collection of offbeat socks.


So it was a chilly night on Jan 24 when we showed our support to Wake Forest's community theater, Forest Moon Theater. That and our good friend, Joe O'Keefe, was going to pound out a few tunes behind the ivories.

Held at the Wake Forest Renaissance Center, friends and family filled the seats awaiting the Song Writers' Celebration. Theater Executive Director Bob Baird took center stage prior to the music and talked about the theater, how one can get involved and thanked everyone for coming out for the 60-minute performance.

Next was a few words from O'Keefe, who owns Wine 101 in Wake Forest, and has been involved in music most of his life. "I'm honored to be here and to support my community - which is Wake Forest," O'Keefe says. "This town has some good home town talent." Which the attendees will shortly witness for themselves.

First up was Chris Vickery – a talented musician who crooned out a total of four original pieces. Then it was O’Keefe, who performed from behind his keyboard some hits by a few of his influences – Billy Joel and Elton John. The final handful of songs came courtesy of Avante, an a cappella group.


Money raised from the sales of this performance will help Forest Moon Theater raise money for future projects. Some upcoming projects include The (Almost) Totally True Story of Hansel and Gretel, which the theater will be holding auditions for actors ages 8-18 on Feb. 21 and Feb. 22, at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre.