By Elizabeth Bernardi
Their stage is the street - Putnam Road in Ten Hills tonight - where two dozen lawn 
chairs are spread out at dusk on a cloudy Monday, as speakers, microphones and cable are unloaded from a blue van. A small army of kids and teenagers scurries around, hooking up cables, talking amongst themselves. They’re the Somerville Sunsetters, dressed uniformly in khaki cargo shorts and black shirts adorned with the Sunsetters’ logo, a superhero-style “S” with a sun setting behind the top of the letter. It is nearly 7 p.m., and the show is about to go on.
A few members are missing, though, so the crowd waits just a few more minutes, listening to Oldies piped in over the speakers. Finally someone shouts out, “Everyone’s here! We can start!” A few stragglers in Sunsetters garb come running up the street’s steep hill, and when everyone has taken their places, spread across the street, the familiar peppy introduction to “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” begins to play.
This is a Sunsetters performance – a well choreographed but informal show of pop music and show tunes – and the performers are Somerville’s own youth. The members take turns in the spotlight, performing solos and in small groups, with a repertoire that this season includes a medley of Disney songs, including some from “High School Musical,” several Beatles tunes, and “Seasons of Love” from “Rent.” The show is carefully choreographed but relaxed.
The Somerville Sunsetters was originally conceived in 1973, the brainchild of Somerville High School arts teacher Ken Lonergan and supported by former Mayor Eugene C. Brune. An alternative to sports or, perhaps, troublemaking, the Sunsetters provided a summertime outlet for local teenagers interested in theater and music. For more than a decade, residents placed requests for performances each season with the mayor's office and allowed the Sunsetters to plug equipment in their houses or garages. But the group disbanded in the 1980s. Then, in 2005, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone resurrected the group, recalling his own fond memories of attending Sunsetters performances. Now the group is funded through his Summer Jobs Program. This year, the collection has 21 members, ranging in age from 11 to 17 years old.
Current choreographers sisters Susan McNamara and Marybeth Brennan were Sunsetters as teenagers.
“Back in the '70s and '80s, most kids were involved in dance and theatre,” McNamara 
said of the original Sunsetters. “We seem to have kids that are interested in those” but have not had the chance to participate before, though a handful of the group members do have music or theater experience.
Despite its popularity decades ago, the group is still trying to gain recognition from a new generation of Somerville residents, some of whom lived elsewhere when the Sunsetters last existed, and some of whom weren't even born yet. Drumming up interest among Somerville students has been a gradual process. Executive Producer Michele Keating, a Somerville High School graduate herself, who joined the Sunsetters this year, said that gathering a troupe this year was a challenge.
“We faced the city's unfamiliarity with the group,” she said, “especially the kids in the age range we were proposing to.”
Though it took longer than the initial April audition process to field the entire troupe, Keating is hopeful that word will spread.
“After this summer the Sunsetters should have a much greater impact on the community, and looking forward, the commitment and exposure we are promoting should bring in more interest for the following years,” she said.
Keating added that she hopes the group can help bridge a gap between “old” and “new” Somerville, creating a sense of tradition and community.
“The feeling is that the Sunsetters are going back to their roots, and with so many new people who have moved to Somerville over the years, it will be nice to show something of a tradition, while welcoming new members,” she said.
Keating said she would like to spread the word to the community, inviting people to attend performances in their neighborhood. The first performance at the city's Fourth of July celebration kicked off the July-August season, which offers about 25 performances from Monday through Thursday, Keating said. This Saturday, July 21, the Sunsetters will perform at ArtBeat in Davis Square.
Of the Sunsetters this year, only one is a veteran. Joe Correia, who is in his third year with the Sunsetters, said this year’s show is different than last year. The average member is younger, and Correia said he thought that was good.
“I see myself back in sixth grade,” he said, now five years older, “looking for something cool to do.”
With such a young group, Keating said she is enjoying watching them improve with each performance.
“There’s something to be said for critical notes and being able to execute that note,” she said.
Keating also thinks this young, enthusiastic group will breathe new life into the second-generation Sunsetters.
“I think that whatever happened as far as the Sunsetters disappearing for a while, they’re coming back, and they’re performing the repertoire that they initially started with. Singing and dancing – very simple. It’s entertainment,” she said.
The shows all begin at 7 p.m., ending an hour later, but sometimes the crowd and the performers are slow to disburse, lingering into the dusk. At a recent performance, everyone lingered around two picnic tables filled with pizza, snacks and beverages by Putnam Road resident Dominic Saia.
A 61-year resident of Somerville, Saia welcomed the Sunsetters to use electrical outlets in his garage for the third straight year.
“The alderman (Walter Pero of Ward 4) called and asked if I’d have them again,” Saia said, as he sat in the waning light with a cigar in hand. “I think they’re great."
We at Somerville Politics read this story noting that Alderman Pero was involved in setting up the Sunsetters performance in Ten Hills. As a result, we increased his rating from average Alderman to average to above-average Alderman. Good Job Alderman Pero!
Great story as well Somerville News!
Posted by: Somerville Politics | July 22, 2007 at 11:26 PM
If you haven't yet caught a Sunsetters show, here's their schedule for the rest of July and August. There's one tonight at the Brown School playground.
Posted by: Ron Newman | July 25, 2007 at 01:57 PM