59° F | Schenectady, NY
Spinning some tales
Abby Lublin plucks a name out of a coffee can and summons him to the small, makeshift stage at the front of the bar where a rapt audience waits to see what he has to say.
The man, Albany resident Chris Tomaso, isn’t a comedian or a musician. But he is, in his own way, an entertainer. He leans into the microphone, and begins to spin a tale about his cousins and the trip they all took to Europe years ago.
Tomaso is followed by Schenectady resident Linda Wicks, who talks movingly about her older brother.
Tomaso and Wicks are telling stories as part of The Front Parlor, a monthly storytelling series at The Ale House, a neighborhood bar in Troy. Posted on July 1, 2012.
Organizer Abby Lublin stands at the microphone and explains the rules at The Front Parlor storytelling series at the Ale House in Troy.
Sheri Lublin of Troy (and mother of organizer Abby Lublin) left, laughs as she listens to a story during The Front Parlor at the Ale House in Troy.
Chris Tomaso of Albany recounts a peacock tale during The Front Parlor gathering.
Sheri Lublin tells a story for the first time at The Front Parlor.
“I love storytelling,” said Abby Lublin, daughter of Sheri, seen here on stage. “Everyone has stories. Storytelling is an incredible way of connecting with people, a way to be around really cool people.” It’s also a way to bring people together at a time when there are fewer public spaces, she said. “It’s a reclaiming of the commons,” she said.
