Return with us to those fabulous days of yesteryear when every bustling village had an opera house and performers journeyed from town to town to delight each eager audience. And they had willing participants in the sing-along portions – everybody knew the words to songs like “Bonnie Eloise.”

“Songs along the Mohawk” is a cabaret-style entertainment in which singer Byron Nilsson and pianist Malcolm Kogut share songs and stories from and about the 19th- and early 20th-centuries, including Erie Canal songs, vaudeville numbers, temperance ditties, and even some of those Victorian-era ballads in which people dropped dead for no apparent reason. We’ll also look at Mark Twain's fraught relationship with George W. Elliott, author of "Bonnie Eloise," which began when Twain performed in Fort Plain in 1868.When the Erie Canal opened for business in 1825, revolutionizing the shipment of goods, it turned New York City into a major port center and caused the population of Buffalo to skyrocket. And it gave rise to entertainment that reflected an American taste for exaggeration and parody.

Admission is free. Donations are always welcome and help support future programs.

Saratoga Arts made this program possible with an Individual Artist Grant funded by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

For more information, visit our Songs along the Mohawk page or contact Mary Alexander, Curator of Education and Public Engagement, 518-673-2314 ext. 113.