“Just Wild About Harry” Chapin Tribute Concert Returns to Huntington’s Heckscher Park

Following on the success of last year’s show, the Just Wild About Harry tribute concert to Harry Chapin will return to the Huntington stage that bears his name on Sunday, July 27, at 8 p.m.  The show, which showcases nearly three-dozen Long-Island-based musicians and songwriters, will take place at the Chapin Rainbow Stage in Heckscher Park, located off Prime Avenue and Main Street (Route 25A). Each act will perform its own interpretation of a song by the late Grammy-Award-winning songsmith, humanitarian and anti-hunger activist who called Huntington home. 

“I had in mind that I’d consider it a success if the audience filled the viewing area within the fence, and we achieved that and beyond,” said Stuart Markus, who organizes the show and serves as its emcee. “It’s a testament to how beloved in memory Harry still is in Huntington.”

Markus’ trio Gathering Time will perform Chapin’s best-known song, “Cat’s in the Cradle,” while 17 other acts will take on his other hits and fan favorites. These will include “Taxi,” “Flowers Are Red,” and “Mr. Tanner,” plus some of Chapin’s more obscure songs, as well.

Although the concert is free, attendees are asked to bring donations of nonperishable food to support Long Island Cares, Inc., the regional food bank founded by Chapin in 1980 — the year before his tragic death in an auto accident.  Just Wild About Harry is presented by the Huntington Arts Council as part of the 60th annual Huntington Summer Arts Festival that is produced by the Town of Huntington. The Folk Music Society of Huntington, on whose board of directors Markus serves, is providing promotional assistance for the concert.

“All the performers are pro-caliber, full-time and part-time musicians who perform regularly at local venues and/or on the folk circuit,” Markus said. “Throughout the show’s two decade-long history, I’ve always encouraged them to treat the songs as their own — however they imagine them. This has resulted in some very creative interpretations.”

Other performers in the show include Judith Zweiman; Martha Trachtenberg; Karen Bella; Roger Silverberg; Debra Lynne; Patricia Shih & Stephen Fricker; Roger Street Friedman; Media Crime; Lisa Ann & Akiva Wharton; Judy Merrick; Christine Solimeno; Grand Folk Railroad; Robinson Treacher; Gerald Bair; Wonderous Stories; Toby Tobias; Mara Levine; and Matthew Ponsot, in various ensembles. Long Island Cares staff and volunteers will collect donations of non-perishable food at a tent near the entrance to the Chapin Rainbow Stage, where t-shirts and Harry Chapin CDs will also be available — along with literature about the nonprofit organization’s programs and services.  

Concertgoers are advised to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets to Hecksher Park for the show that will be held rain or shine, precluded only by thunderstorms.