The Lydia Story
A brainchild of singer-actress Sonya Seng, the first Lydia Fair was envisioned as a rallying event for women to grow in relationship to each other, and to foment their creative gifts. The first show, Home, was a collage of original and found music, prose, and theatre, which was staged and fully produced for one evening in the Morse School gymnasium in March 2001. The Morse lobby was transformed into a living room and impressive visual art gallery. And a culinary gallery offered great food and drink.
Year Two
So successful was the first Lydia Fair that two participating artists, Stacy Phillips and Krista Cowan, produced Reflections one year later. In keeping with the Lydia tradition, the show was woven together from contributions of dozens of women artists, and a portion of the proceeds was donated to support Afghani women.
Year Three
In 2003, Eunice Sim took up the charge and produced Wanted, a two night show which benefitted Cradles to Crayons and drew an audience of more than 500. In addition to Eunice’s thoughtful tunes and an appearance by the Essayons Theatre Company, Michelle Walson’s Lydia Unfair (see video at right) was a big hit. This mock documentary, advocating for fictional male artists who were denied entry to the show, foreshadowed the Lydia’s resurrection, some 6 years later, as a co-ed festival.
