Patsy Palma SAYREVILLE – Patsy Palma will give something back to the theater company that gave him his start when he takes the stage Saturday for “A Night of Classics.”
The show is a benefit for the Main Street Theatre Co., based in Parlin, and will help pay the costs of funding its productions, from copyright fees to equipment expenses.
Palma, now 22, has performed in several of the theater troupe’s shows, beginning when he was 7 and played the role of an errand boy in “A Christmas Carol.” Most recently, he was the lead character in last year’s production of “Bye Bye Birdie.”
Palma made a name for himself in the local area when he was a teenager. In addition to his theater performances, he became known for his rich singing voice, and was crowned both “Sayreville Idol” and “Old Bridge Idol.” He will make his fifth Sayreville Day performance this fall.
Palma recently graduated from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, where he majored in vocal music education. He has kept a busy performance schedule over the years, including performing in “Guys and Dolls” at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. He returned to that venue recently for an alumni showcase and sang the standard, “Love Me With All Your Heart.”
“He looks like Elvis and sings like Sinatra,” said Lance Hilfman, a member of the Main Street Theatre Co. “He’s really got a nice voice, and for a 22-year-old, he’s got more personality that most people I know.”
Palma also sings and plays guitar in a rock band, Camren, which recently reconvened. The band also includes Amanda Leddin, Kaitlyn Frotton, Carmen Serignese and Brian Libretti.
Despite his many stage appearances, Saturday will be a first for Palma, as he will be in the spotlight all night. The show will run for two hours, with an intermission. Palma, who will be backed by recorded music, has planned some duets. Some of the guest performers will include his younger sister, Alyssa, who will be a senior at Sayreville War Memorial High School, and Kaitlyn Frotton, a recent graduate of the school.
Palma said he was approached by troupe member Kevin Gunther to do the benefit, and was happy to oblige.”He came to me and asked if I would do it, and I said, ‘Sure.’ It’s good to get out there,” Palma said. He was deep in rehearsal mode earlier this week. “It’s all I’m focusing on right now.”
Though he plans to sing “a little bit of everything,” Palma said the audience can expect to hear songs by Elvis, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and of course, Frank, whose songs have helped Palma win some of his past recognition.
“His style of singing is so smooth. He had a velvet voice,” Palma said of Sinatra.
Hilfman said the show will likely be the first of a string of benefits to help the theater company fund its operations. Plans are in the works for a jazz vocal fundraiser and a dance recital.
Like most community theater troupes, the Main Street Theater Co., which operates at the theater at Garden Friends Nursery School, on Bordentown Avenue in Parlin, needs to raise additional revenue to pay for rent, royalties, equipment and other costs. Ticket sales at their shows only generate revenue for a small portion of the costs.
“You need to do other things to maintain what you’re trying to accomplish,” Hilfman said.
Tickets for “Patsy Palma and a Night of Classics” are $10 and can be purchased by calling 732-553-1153 or on the Web site www.smstc.org, or at the door.