MONDAY MUSICAL CLUB Rockin', twistin' at Stambaugh

TRACEY D'ASTOLFO
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- There is no dance floor in Stambaugh Auditorium, so they did the Twist in the aisles
The Cornell Gunter's Coasters, The Platters and the Elsbeary Hobb's Drifters performed the hits of the original Coasters, Platters and Drifters with amazing authenticity Friday night. The three '50s vocal groups delivered the soundtrack of the era in the Monday Musical Club's season closing event.
All three groups mimicked the moves of the original groups perfectly, snapping their fingers, swinging their arms, bobbing their heads, tapping their toes and sliding from side to side in unison as they sang.
The Cornell Gunter's Coasters opened the show with "Baby That is Rock and Roll" and thrilled the audience with their energy and enthusiasm for the remainder of the show. The singers insisted the crowd get on its feet and join in dancing as they sang "The Twist."
Throughout the remainder of their segment, the Coasters kept the audience on its feet, and occasionally dancing in the aisles to upbeat tunes like "Elvira," Yakety Yak," "Love Potion Number 9," "Poison Ivy" and the popular "Miss Lucy Brown," a feminized version of "Charlie Brown" in which they picked a rock-'n'-roll queen from the audience to join them on stage as the star of the song.
The Platters took the stage next, singing the slower, more mellow and romantic songs of the original Platters, including "Only You," "Twilight Time," "My Prayer," "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow." The audience joined in clapping during the rousing "Your Love Keeps Lifting Me" and sang the chorus of The Platters' big hit "The Great Pretender."
The Elsbeary Hobb's Drifters closed the show, proclaiming before the first song, "We're here to take you back to when times were pure and you could understand every word that came out of our mouths."
True to their word, the group opened with "On Broadway" and continued with "This Magic Moment," Up On The Roof" and "Stand By Me." The audience joined in singing "under The Boardwalk," and it seemed everyone in the house jumped to their feet to join in dancing to the closing song of the evening, "Shout!"
The 2006-07 season of the Monday Musical Club will feature Spirit of the Dance with Ireland's Three Tenors, Big Band Broadcast with Holly Larocque and The Mark Ferguson Orchestra, The Lettermen, the musical act Seals & amp; Seals and Vicki Lawrence's A Two Women Show.