Have you ever wanted to see the Drunk Stuntmen perform the music of Lynyrd Skynyrd, or how about the Bobby Darling Show belting out some Aretha Franklin tunes? The only chance to hear anything as wild and wacky as this is at Transperformance, the annual end-of-summer bash where the best in local talent step behind the mic and into the personas of celebrity musicians. Transperformance can best be summed up as an evening of a whole lot of music and a whole lot of fun. This yearly event is produced by the Northampton Arts Council and the parent-teacher organizations of the Northampton public schools to support arts enrichment in Northampton schools and in the community.

Transperformance 2003 is called Southern Fried Transperformance, which means all the talent that have signed on will play the music of famous southerners -- everyone from Elvis to R.E.M. Since many of the artists don't just sing the songs, but actually act out the part, the possibilities for Southern Fried Transperformance are endless. The show will be held on Tuesday, Aut. 26, from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Pines Theater in Look Park.

Besides being a big party and a great musical event, Transperformance is for a good cause. All proceeds will go to support arts enrichment in Northampton's schools and in the community. Northampton High School, J.F.K. Middle School and the four Northampton elementary schools are all beneficiaries of the fund-raiser.

The first Transperformance was held back in 1991, and the idea for doing a show of this nature originated from the Northampton Arts Council.

"We were sailing along during the Dukakis period of the Massachusetts Miracle and arts funding was really high. Then it went from 26 million dollars to 3 million in three years so we got together with the schools who were being hit hard at that point in 1991," explained Bob Cilman, executive director of the Northampton Arts Council. "We had to create a big event and everyone thought what was the biggest event that they remembered ... and it was Woodstock, so we recreated Woodstock."

The first Transperformance was a surprise success, drawing a huge crowd and was even covered by MTV News. It was rather different from Transperformance as we know it today as the bands only played one song from a designated Woodstock band and then focused on their own material. Over the years, Transperformance evolved to the point that the artists not only play music by the band they are covering, but often perform in character.

Some of the Transperformance themes over the years have been Rock and Roll Heaven, A Night at the Opry, Tuesday Night Fever and Way Off Broadway. Last year's show was Oh Canada! with the performers taking on some of their favorite Canadian stars. The show was a hit and The Canadian Broadcasting Co. even did a story on the show.

Cilman said that as soon as one Transperformance ends they immediately start thinking abut the theme for the next year.

"Last year all the bands were just sitting back there and since we had just done Canada somebody said 'let's go south' and that was how the theme for this year happened," said Cilman.

Some of the performers for this year's Transperformance are Underbelly as the Dixie Chicks; King Radio with Strings as Glen Campbell; Matt Hebert as Kenny Rogers; members of Fountains of Wayne, the Maggies and Spanish for Hitchhiking as R.E.M.; School for the Dead as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; The Fawns as Johnny Cash; J Mascis, Mark Mulcahy, Scott Helland, Don McAulay, Ken Maiuri, and Kurt Fedora as the Allman Brothers; Michael Gregory and Sons w/Tony Vacca and Friends as Al Green; members of Trailer Park and Dad Comes Home as Louis Jordan; Mayor Higgins and the Hamptones as Elvis and many more.

It's the perfect way to end your summer so get your tickets now. Advance tickets for Transperformance are $8 adults, $5 seniors and $3 children under 12. Tickets are available at the Northampton Arts Council, Cooper's Corner in Florence, For the Record in Amherst, and World Eye Bookshop in Greenfield.

In case of rain, the show will be performed the next night, Aug. 27, at Look Park. For more information visit www.northamptonartscouncil.org.