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Dick
Gessner’s Broadway Corner – An Annapolis Landmark Remembered It
doesn’t seem that long ago that the Broadway Corner was filled with a joyful
noise. Showtunes and laughter
filled the smoky air. Dick Gessner
worked the room from behind his white grand piano, entertaining hundreds on any
given weekend. People would line up
outside the doorway waiting for an empty seat.
These people would bring their friends, and in time those people would
bring their friends too. In it’s
day, if you sat silently in the Broadway Corner on a weekday afternoon, you
could hear “The Best of Times” and the words “life is a cabaret old
friend” resonating throughout the room. Today,
the building is empty and the music has gone, but the memories of good times
remain. Soon the building will be a
memory as well. Even
though the Broadway Corner closed January 1, 1994, the sign still remains on the
marquis. Nearly every day I pass that sign on Route 50 and think back on the
short time that I was able to enjoy something so very special.
Wonderful memories of the magic that took place in that room fill my mind
and cloud my eyes. I never want to leave anyone out, but some of the performers
who graced the microphone are always well remembered like Mahri Best, Tere
Fulmer, Will Sherman, Jack Gilbert, John Scheeler, Heather Scheeler, Shirley
Gershman, Gene Summers, Maurie O’Connor and many more.
And there was Dick Gessner at the helm.
Dick would watch the door as his fingers ran up and down the keys
watching for the regulars who would come week after week.
As they would enter, he would eye them walking in to take a seat and Dick
would begin to play their favorite song. To
me it seemed amazing, everyone worked hard to make you feel as though you were
always welcome. All in all, these
people became a second family to one another.
Everyone came from different walks of life and yet their love of music
and theater connected them. Many
people have special memories and stories of the Broadway Corner. I suppose mine is no different. About 9 years ago, as I write this, I met a young man singing
at Dick Gessner’s Broadway Corner named Maurie O’Connor. He had been singing there for a few years and without a doubt
you could find him there every weekend. I
began to work there as a waitress, when we met. As I recall, Dick Gessner opened Thursday nights to allow
entertainers to work on new music and to encourage new entertainers to come in.
Because Fridays were a workday, anyone who came in that night didn’t
typically stay too late. Once the
tables were cleared and the place was empty, Maurie and I would sit behind the
piano and sing our favorite songs until it was time to lock up.
I can recall Dick sitting at the bar with a gin and tonic chatting it up
with Michael behind the bar, as we played songs from Miss Saigon, Les
Mis, and more. Fast forward a
few years and Maurie and I married. Do
you believe in fate?
Had the Broadway Corner not been there, would our paths have crossed?
Who is to say?
Still, I thank the stars above for this wonderful place and the wonderful
people who have come into my life through the Broadway Corner. Within a couple years a landmark in Annapolis will make way for a new car dealership. The line from the Joni Mitchell song still rings true today, “they paved paradise and put in a parking lot”. Sure, without the music it’s just a shell of what it once was, but I will miss it all the same. |
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