Community

Second Annual Holiday Show lights up Vail-Leavitt

The Vail-Leavitt Music Hall was filled to capacity Saturday morning and it wasn’t for a famous musician or performer.

It was East End Disability Associates’ second annual Holiday Show, put on by their Creative Arts Program. 

“East End Disability Associates is an organization that provides support for people with intellectual disabilities,” said EEAD director Joy O’Shaughnessy. “Our Creative Arts Program specializes in teaching people life skills through the creative arts.”

On Saturday, the performers in the Second Annual Holiday Show — the first was also in Vail-Leavitt last year — performed 24 numbers, ranging from group dances to songs like Louis Armstrong’s “Is Zat You, Santa Claus?” or “Mr. Bojangles,” to performances of songs like Elvis’s “Blue Christmas” or Bing Crosby’s “Silent Night.”

There was even an original song performed by an EEDA client.

Debbie Woodley of EEDA was the choreographer for the group numbers.

“We’ve also done a full scale production of the rock opera “Tommy,” by The Who, at the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport last April, and we do a summer variety show at Vail-Leavitt too,” Ms. O’Shaughnessy said.

EEDA’s Creative Arts Program is already scheduling its next performance — Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” in the spring of 2015 at the Gateway Playhouse.

“Everyone we provide support for lives either on the North or South fork,” Mr. O’Shaughnessy said. “We support anyone east of the William Floyd Parkway. Some live in group homes, some live at home with their families, and some live in apartments, so we’re supporting people in all those different settings.”

Performers at the East End Disability Associates Second Annual Holiday Show in Riverhead Saturday morning. (Credit: Tim Gannon)
Performers at the East End Disability Associates Second Annual Holiday Show in Riverhead Saturday morning. (Credit: Tim Gannon)