Lois Lipton Parker loves the oldies. The spunky Pike Creek resident can’t get enough of the rock ’n’ roll groups of the 1950s and ’60s. The same groups that she enjoyed as a youngster, when she attended dances held by radio station WAMS.
Eventually, WAMS hired Parker, and it was through the station that she met producer Doug Moody of the Smash and Mercury record labels. Moody hired Parker to coordinate the travel itineraries of the labels’ artists, and she became friends with many of the stars.
One of those artists, Jimmy Clanton (Just a Dream, Venus in Blue Jeans), unknowingly inspired Parker to become a concert producer. A few years ago, she teased Clanton about performing in Delaware. “I told him, ‘I’ll probably never live to see you on stage again,’” she recalls. “I said, ‘The only way is if I put on a show myself.’” Clanton agreed to do a show, if Parker could pull it off.
She did. She sold out the 1,200-seat Grand Opera House in Wilmington. Since then, Parker’s Luray Productions has put together two more sellouts at The Candlelight Theatre.
Pete Mastropaolo of New York-based Coda Productions, which co-produces Luray’s shows, is amazed by Parker’s marketing skills. “She does whatever she can to promote her shows,” he says. “That’s why she has three sellouts.”
And she’s going for another this month, presenting Bobby Vinton—“The Polish Prince” himself—at The Grand on Sept. 27. Says Parker, “Watching my shows is like watching a PBS special.” (www.lurayproductionsllc.com)
