Three people from New York City gave locals a taste of Hollywood at the Paradise Center Sunday afternoon. The last time the "Empire Trio" performed in Paradise, they brought a taste of home with Broadway songs.

John Clark of Plains was at Sunday's performance and he was at the one three years ago, and though he felt both were excellent, he liked this one better. "They are fantastic," said Clark of Adam Cannedy, David Shenton and his wife, Erin Shields. The group had performed at the Paradise Center the last time under the name "O Sole Trio." Shields and Cannedy performed most of the vocals while Shenton played piano, although he also entertained with the violin and sang. Shenton said they love playing in Montana, with another gig in Superior this week. "You get bald eagles here and all we get are rats and pigeons in New York," said Shenton.

"They were great. They have amazing talent," said Kathy Gregg, one of nearly 70 people who attended the two-hour performance. Brad Stacey, also of Plains, likes the shows put on by the Paradise Center because of the smaller crowds, something he didn't have where he last lived in Missoula. Being closer to the performers makes him feel like he's part of the show. "This show, the trio was great. I especially enjoyed the piano playing and thought the woman had a great stage presence. They all were great singers," said Stacey.

The Empire Trio sang more than two dozen songs from Hollywood and Disney movies from the 1940s to the 2000s, vocals and instrumentals, as a trio, duos and solos, along with medleys from James Bond movies. The musicians often provided trivia on songs and background on movie tunes. Before playing "As Time Goes By," the featured song of "Casablanca," Shenton told the crowd that they never actually said "Play it again Sam" in the movie. During the song, he prompted the audience to sing along with the chorus. He offered a free CD if anyone could tell him what movie Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me To The Moon" was featured. No one could come up with "Space Cowboys," a 2000 film. 

Shields said it was Audrey Hepburn that pushed to keep the song "Moon River" in "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Shields' solos included Barbara Streisand and Judy Garland movie songs. She told the crowd that Garland was a big influence on her and she once played Dorothy of the "Wizard of Oz" in high school. Cannedy, who is considered a contemporary opera singer, charmed the crowd with Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley movie songs.

In one musical piece, Shenton, born in England, alternated between the piano and violin. During his rendition of the score from "Schindler's List," while his wife was on the piano, he knelt to serenade Sarah McKevitt of Plains and her 1-year-old son, Heston, in the audience. Shenton took composer requests from the crowd and when one person suggested a piece from comedian and pianist Victor Borge, Shenton played the piano while lying on his back facing the ceiling. He said he doesn't like singing in public, but because his wife does some of the piano numbers, he agreed to take to the vocals.

Sunday's show cost $15 a person if purchased in advance or $18 a ticket on the day of the performance. John Thorson worked the lights while Rudolf Boukal managed the sound system. The Paradise Center paid over $3,000 under the center's community service "Tapestry" program to bring the group to Montana. Karen Thorson, one of the program's coordinators, said that the performance was worth it, even if the center doesn't recoup all the money spent to get them here.

"Regardless of the cost of a performance, we keep ticket prices reasonable for our area. We want everyone to be able to come, so we have to supplement income from performances with grants and contributions," said Thorson, the center's secretary. Shields said that all their proceeds from the performance would go to the nonprofit Mosaic Food Pantry in New York. A group of volunteers – Karen Thorson, Kathleen Hubka, Judy Christensen, Kathy Logan and Judy Stamm – spent hours decorating the auditorium with Hollywood signs, stars, actors' photographs and movie posters.

The trio held a meet-and-greet session at the center after the performance. The musicians also did an outreach program with the estimated 75 Plains High School and Junior High School music students on Monday morning. Thorson said the trio demonstrated their musical talent and answered questions from the students. The outreach segment was also paid for by the Paradise Center.