“The Red Shoes,” 1948’s gorgeous, technicolor film about ballet, choice and tragedy inspired little girls to strap into toe shoes. Not any more. Now it’s the Broadway musical “A Chorus Line” that turns young people on to the power and glory of dancing on a stage. Among those smitten by that musical about Broadway “gypsies” was Kate Vallee, dancer, Rockette member, teacher and, right now, choreographer for TriArts’ “42nd Street,” opening June 23 at the Sharon Playhouse. “I was the little one dancing in the aisle while my older sister was performing on stage,” Vallee tells me after rehearsal. “I knew really early it was my dream.” Then she saw “A Chorus Line” and that did it. Friday afternoon, Vallee is working with Rachel Perin from Ohio (who got her part here via a YouTube video), and Jenny Piersol, “originally from Pennsylvania, now New York City” where she auditioned for a leading role in this show. In tap shoes with high heels and cute rehearsal garb (Perin sports a Batman logo, Piersol, a big silky gardenia), eyes glued to a vast mirror in the Bok Gallery, the dancers follow Vallee’s words and moves. Then Vallee works with the young men. She tells them to dance as though “light were reflecting from their chests,” making them look “masculine and debonair. Like Fred Astaire.” “Feel that line,” she tells them. “I want energy like ballet.” But this is definitely tap: throbbing, clipped, crackl-ing, breathtaking tap. “It’s part of being a musician,” Vallee says about this dancing. “Your feet are your instrument.” As for “42nd Street,” the story of a newcomer tapping her way into the big time on Broadway, “It’s very inspirational for ensemble dancers.” For anyone, really. “42nd Street,” with D.J. Salisbury, director; and music director Michael Berkeley, opens at TriArts’ Sharon Playhouse June 23 and runs through July 10. For tickets, 860-364-7469.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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