Middletown's Fourth Patriotic Evening Draws Local Crowd [FIREWORKS VIDEO]

The musical and theatrical prelude to the city's staggering fireworks display during Independence Day festivities Tuesday on the city hall front lawn drew families from Middletown and beyond.

The danceable crowd favorite was Sweet Daddy Cool Breeze's Chicago-style boogie and blues, followed by the Middletown High School Jazz Band and Middletown Symphonic Band.

Artfarm players dressed in Shakespearean garb pedaled in among festivalgoers on bicycles, while a fantasically rendered figure of the bard himself appeared Herculean-scale near the entrance to city hall. Dic Wheeler and Marcella Trowbridge, in the first public appearance of Shakespeare Everywhere! surprised onlookers with empassioned speeches.