Albion native Matt Mooney stars in The Music Man at Palace Theater

Chris Parada, Medina grad, pushes through $4 million in upgrades at Lockport theater

Photos by Tom Rivers

LOCKPORT – Matt Mooney, an Albion native, stars as Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man at the Lockport Palace Theatre. This photo shows him singing “Ya Got Trouble” during’s Sunday’s performance.

Hill is a con man who talks the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys’ band he promises to direct despite not knowing music. He instead tries to use “The Think System” for the kids to learn their notes.

The show ended a two-week run on Sunday with a performance in front of 600 people.

Christopher Parada, right, is executive director and producer at the Palace Theatre. He is shown welcoming the crowd to the theater for Sunday’s show. Winners of a 50/50 raffle and another contest were also announced.

A 2002 graduate of Medina, Parada has been a big part of the Palace since 2003, and led the theater in $4 million of improvements that were completed in 2021.

The theater opened in 1925 and has been restored to its former glory with new seats, paint, plaster, flooring, carpeting, electrical, lighting and sound, a new tech booth, orchestra pit, stage curtains and rigging.

There is also a new lobby and ticket booth, box office and concession stand.

Click here for more on The Palace, including upcoming musicals and events.

David Stacey of Medina also served as music director and directed the pit orchestra for The Music Man.

Matt Mooney has long been a star in the Western New York theater scene. He works full-time as a registered nurse. He has performed the roles of Marius in Les Miserables, Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors and numerous other parts. He has been nominated for Artie Awards which go to the top theater talent in WNY.