Anthony Leigh Adams was 15 when he read about the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.
“Here I am,” said Adams, now a resident of Pacific Beach’s Palisades area, “playing in a rock band in San Diego in the 9th grade, and my dad, one of the coolest and hippest fathers, said, ‘I’ll take you.’
“And so he takes me, and I got to hear all those legendary performers like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin and The Who. I met Ravi Shankar at the airport, and he invited me to study sitar at his new school in L.A., which I did for a year.”
Adams never got over his fascination for what came to be known as the Summer of Love, so it stands to reason that he would follow up Adams Entertainment’s extraordinary 2006 production, “Primal Twang: The Legacy of the Guitar,” with another original work, “Love In: A Musical Celebration,” which commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love.
“There were really great things about that time,” Adams said. “You’d go to a concert at the Fillmore or the Avalon Ballroom and on the very same bill you’d get blues, folk music, psychedelic rock and maybe an Indian swami chanting Sanskrit mantras. That kind of diversity has not happened since. In fact, the musical has become entirely homogenous”¦one kind of music from beginning to end.”
Co-produced by Adams Entertainment and Lyric Opera of San Diego, and co-written by Adams and his partner, Christina Adams, the world premiere of “Love In” plays Thursday, Sept. 6, through Sunday, Sept. 9 at the Birch North Park Theatre, 2891 University Ave.
The production combines music, theatre, film, guest artists and a psychedelic light show. As with “Primal Twang” it will be filmed for release on DVD and film.
Tony Award-winning Broadway star Ben Vereen hosts the evening, dancing and singing and telling stories that provide cultural context for the eclectic music of the era.
Guest artists include singer/songwriter Jesse Colin Young, founder of the Youngbloods; ’60s British Invasion greats Peter & Gordon; Grammy Award-winning guitar virtuoso Eric Johnson; Buddy Miles, vocalist/drummer for Jimi Hendrix & Electric Flag; Vince Martell, original lead guitarist/singer from Vanilla Fudge; R&B master Earl Thomas; and sitar virtuoso Kartik Seshadri, the foremost disciple of Ravi Shankar, accompanied by world-renowned tabla maestro Arup Chattopadhyay.
Of the era Adams said, “All kinds of walls were falling. It was a time when anything seemed possible and people reached for the stars in an effort to transform the world with peace, love and music. We can’t go in a time machine to the Fillmore or the Avalon, but we can bring some of the magic of the time and share it with audiences.”
“Love In” plays at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 6 through Sept. 8, and 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 9. Advance ticket purchase is recommended at www.birchnorthparktheatre.net, www.loveinthemusical.com or by phone at (619) 239-8836.