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Fog/Mist Thousands expected for annual Rockville Centre fireworks display
Celebration of village set for Saturday evening
It’s time to watch the fireworks light up the night sky in Rockville Centre in celebration of the village’s anniversary.
More than 8,000 people are expected at the 23rd annual fireworks display and concert at Mill River Park on Saturday. The rain date is Sunday. Entertainment and food will begin at 6 p.m. The South Shore Symphony concert of summertime favorites will begin at 7:45 p.m., and the Grucci Fireworks Show will begin at about 9:15.
The symphony will perform a wide range of music, from classics to summer hits to patriotic songs.
“This is probably one of the most enjoyable evenings the village presents,” said Wayne Lipton, the symphony’s president. “Not just for the village, but for friends and neighbors all over. This is as close as you can get without it being dangerous … Grucci gets better and better.”
Broadway conductor Aaron Gandy will be the guest conductor, and Hannah Mount, of the Cap 21 Musical Theatre Conservatory, will sing Broadway hits with the orchestra. “We’ve been working with Molloy and doing some shows at the Madison Theatre,” said Lipton. “A number of the students from this program performed at Molloy College — I was most impressed with a couple of them. I asked [Mount] to perform with us, and she was most happy to do so. We’re just happy that she could join us and be our soloist.”
Mount is a musical theater student at Molloy College. She has studied with the Broadway Bound Musical Theatre Company for more than 10 years, and has appeared in many productions, most recently at the Madison Theatre, in “Broadway’s British Invasion,” “Alice in Wonderland” — she played Alice — and “Jerry Herman on Broadway.”
After the initial performance, the crowd will be treated to fireworks set to music chosen by Lipton, as he has done for the past four years. “The first year we used recordings of classical performances, last year was patriotic, the year before that was popular music,” he said. “This year it’s a little bit of everything, so it’s a big mix this year.”
After the fireworks, at 9:45, the South Shore Symphony will play another selection, a tradition started by former Mayor Gene Murray to slow the mass exit from the area. “Now, literally hundreds, if not a couple thousand people, from 9:45 p.m. to 10:15 p.m., stay for another half hour of concert performance,” said Lipton. “It’s nice for people to hang out and enjoy the evening.”
