NORWICH – A blast from the past brings waves to the present as Lillian Russell, star of stage and screen from the 1890s to the Roaring Twenties, performs in Norwich on Monday, June 14! The concert is hosted by the Monday Evening Musical Club of Norwich.

Elaine Kuracina, Endicott native and practicing dentist (now living in Potsdam), portrays the star, who paved the way for other woman stars from Mae West to Lady Gaga. Ms. Kuracina has performed this one-woman show throughout New York State and at Lincoln Center - as well as at the famous Luchow’s restaurant, where the real Lillian Russell and her lover, “Diamond Jim” Brady, once tried to “out eat” each other with oysters. Accompanied by Miss Victoria Victorian (otherwise know as Michelle Rae Martin), Diamond Lil will entertain with extravagant costumes and song, a gold-gilded frame projecting portraits of characters from the time - Diamond Jim Brady, Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison - and original footage from a 1900s film.

The Monday Evening Musical Club was founded in 1909 for the purpose of encouraging a broader culture in music among its members and the community at large. Beginning in 1954, the club has awarded 84 scholarships to graduating seniors who plan to major in music in college. In April of this year, the club established a second scholarship, to support private study by junior and senior high school students.