Certain

The Parachute
Express' songs
for kids are
multi-dimensional.

SUZANNE CHESSLER

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

arachute Express
directs its perfor-
mances toward
families
and
along the way
captured the
attention of the
country's first family.
Donny Becker, Janice
Hubbard and Stephen
Michael Schwartz — who
jointly write, record and
perform their own songs

— were in-
vited to
entertain at
"The Pres-
idential
Inaugural
Celebration
for Child-
ren."
The trio is
bringing
some of the
same mater-
ial to the
Pine Knob
Music Thea-
tre, where
they will
present two
shows on
July 20.
"To
be
invited in
such high
company
was very
thrilling for
us," said Mr.
Becker, who
shared his
microphone
with the
pres-ident
during the
finale and
spent time
talking with
Mrs. Clinton
after the
production.
"Hillary
Clinton had
the concept,
for the first time ever,
that children should be
involved in the inaugural
week, and it was her
idea to do a live show for
youngsters at the
Kennedy Center. The
audience was so excited,
and the show was so pos-
itive."
Being positive is what
Parachute Express is all
about. Over the past

seven years, the trio has
recorded six albums and
two videos with an
upbeat outlook. "Happy
to Be Here," their most
recent audio release, is
the way they feel at
every concert.
"Our performance is
very high-energy, with
the focus on group
involvement," said Mr.
Becker, who is editing
their third video, which
should be out in August.
"We choreograph all our
own music and mix our
show with songs that we
perform.
"We are very theatrical
and use sound tracks
when we need our hands
free to act out certain
songs."
The men play guitars,
while Ms. Hubbard
changes from banjo to
flute to oboe. Together
they involve the audi-
ence — youngsters and
parents — by teaching
the special movements
associated with their
music, which spans
many styles including
rock, pop, folk and
rhythm and blues.
Whenever theaters
permit, the three go into
the crowd after each per-
formance, meeting the
children, signing auto-
graphs, having their pic-
tures taken and staying
as long as there are
waiting fans.
"When we started writ-
ing, we developed this so,
'
group around the ,__
""
Gymboree program,"
explained Mr. Becker,
whose wife has since
taken responsibility for
their California
Gymboree franchise.

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