Thursday, February 3, 2000 Older Editions

Collins Center getting a Rush

By Neil Fater

Opportunity is knocking for Andover singer/songwriters waiting to be discovered, and the door local artists need to open belongs to the star-crossed Collins Center.

Singer Tom Rush is bringing his popular, traveling Club 47 concert series to the Collins Center stage on May 13. And, while the opportunity is open to all, Rush may ask two budding Andover artists to join him and Grammy-winning folk singer Janis Ian.

The urge for playing -- Tom Rush headed for Andover.

Rush, the man credited with discovering Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne, is inviting area musicians to send in tapes, CDs, videos, photos or other materials to become one of those two musicians.

After listening to the entries, Rush will select a handful of finalists to audition at West Middle School March 19.

The two best performers from the audition will open for him and Ian at the May 13 show (see related story).

Months ago, Andover resident Dan Betty suggested to Rush the idea of using the Collins Center for one of his Club 47 shows, and Rush, who performed there during the center's heyday, agreed it was a good idea ("Gold Rush," Townsman, Oct. 7, 1999).

But the opportunity for unknown singers to join the two folk legends on the Collins Center stage makes the Andover Club 47 show unique.

"This is the first time that we're openly soliciting brand new talent," says Betty, a Rush promoter who's traveling with Rush to his solo and Club 47 shows. "We would encourage the local high school students, college students to come forward. We're not dictating age. Talent is the determining factor."

Running the Club 47 shows is Rush's way of continuing the spirit of the Club 47 coffeehouse that was located just off Harvard Square in Cambridge in the 1960s. "Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and I all played there when we were just starting out," says Rush. "I've tried my best to keep that spirit alive in the Club 47 concerts I've been doing over the past 20 years."

But Rush has also used the shows to bring attention to a number of new artists. In recent years, Club 47 shows helped launch the careers of Nanci Griffith, Alison Krauss and Shawn Colvin.

Collins Center effect

Betty is hoping that Club 47 -- a concept that's sold out Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center -- will help relaunch the Collins Center into the realm of bigger-name concerts.

After attracting numerous big-name talents to the town during the boom time of the 1980s, the center fell on harder times as the 1980s ended. During the '90s there were times when the center has been used as little more than a high-school auditorium -- and other times when it was closed.

Rush and Ian will be the first "big-name" performers to grace the stage in a decade, says Scott Worthley, Collins Center technical director.

"The last show that I worked for here with the endowment was Pat Boone and Florence Henderson in 1990. We haven't had a performance of that (name-recognition) scale since then," he says.

"We're pretty busy with the school events and outside rentals, but a Club 47 -- a big show with national name recognition -- hasn't been happening," says Worthley. "I'm excited. It's a chance to do something different, something that we don't do all the time."

A popular theory for the Collins Center's troubles is that it's too big for small shows and not large enough for big name acts that must charge a lot per ticket. Betty hopes the Club 47 concert will prove that theory wrong.

"The Collins Center is the right size. We hoping to prove that times have changed," says Betty. "I think there are a lot of artists of the same sort of drawing capacity as Tom Rush who could use it."

Worthley says the center is ready to go clubbing.

"The last couple of years, since it reopened, we've been making improvements to the lighting and sound equipment," says Worthley. "Since it reopened we've made improvements to the inventory, so it's better than ever.

"I'd like to get the word out that the place is available for acts like Tom Rush," he says. "It's sitting here. It's a great space. I would hope this will show that it can still be done."