The Colby-Sawyer College Singers Present 100 Years of Broadway: A Choral Medley from 65 Musicals for Spring Concert
NEW LONDON, N.H. — The Colby-Sawyer Singers, a talented group of college and community members, will perform a spring concert of popular show tunes from 100 years of Broadway musicals, featuring classics such as “Give My Regards to Broadway” and “There's No Business Like Show Business.” The event will be hosted by Master of Ceremonies Jason Hendrix of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus and will also feature several solo performances.
This medley of 65 songs performed by the 35 members of the Colby-Sawyer Singers will take place on Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m. in the Sawyer Fine Arts Center. Admission is free and all community members are invited to attend.
Master of Ceremonies and guest performer Jason Hendrix has been a regular member of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus in New York City since 2001. He made his professional operatic debut in 1989 as Belcore in “The Elixir of Love” with Triangle Opera Theater in Durham, N.C. He has since sung the roles of Marullo in “Rigoletto” with National Grand Opera, Shaunard in “La Boheme” with the 92nd Street Y Orchestra, and El Dancairo in “Carmen” with the New York City Opera National Company. Hendrix has also appeared as soloist with the Riverdale Chamber Orchestra and the New Jersey Choral Society and is currently performing the role of Rabonnier in this season's production of “La Rondine.”
The concert will highlight the major eras of Broadway history, starting the night off with classics such as “Do-Re-Mi,” “Comedy Tonight,” and “The Music and the Mirror.” The Singers will then perform tunes from Broadway's early years, with the music of Tin Pan Alley, a collection of Broadway music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Songs from this era will include “Manhattan,” “Button Up Your Overcoat,” “Friendship,” “Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody,” “Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man,” “Hallelujah” and “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”
Rodgers and Hammerstein and contemporaries set the standard for Broadway during the 1940s and 1950s, when they collaboratively composed a number of musicals that led to the golden era of Broadway. Pieces from this era include “Oh What A Beautiful Mornin',” “Anything You Can Do,” “I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair,” “Once In Love With Amy,” “My Favorite Things,” and “How Are Things in Glocca Morra.”
The music of traditional Broadway, known as The Golden Years, produced many of the beloved songs that the Singers will perform and include “Willkommen,” “Everything's Coming Up Roses” and “They Call the Wind Maria.”
The music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Steven Sondheim will also be performed. Lloyd Webber, who has composed 13 musicals, including “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Evita,” “Cats,” “Starlight Express,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Sunset Boulevard,” has had several performed on Broadway for more than a decade at a time. He has also garnered a number of honors, including seven Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, seven Olivier Awards and a Golden Globe.
Composer Stephen Sondheim holds the most awards for Best Original Musical Score. His honors include best musical for “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” (1963), best lyrics and score for “Company” (1971), best score for “Follies” (1972), best score for “A Little Night Music” (1973), best score for “Sweeney Todd” (1979), best score for “Into the Woods” (1988) and best original music score for “Passion” (1994). Together the two composers' music broke new ground for Broadway, and pieces from their musicals that will be performed are “Company,” “Superstar,” “The Music of the Night,” “Send in The Clowns” and “Memory.”
The Singers will also highlight the music of contemporary Broadway, with songs such as “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd,” “Broadway Baby,” “Greased Lightnin'” and “The Joint Is Jumpin'.”
Soloists include Samantha St. Onge, Mary Francis, Cole Subik, Meghan Hardiman, Jason Hendrix, Kristina Casper and Andrew Francis performing songs from various musicals. The Colby-Sawyer Singers is directed by Susan Cancio-Bello, who has promised to end the concert with the appearance of some unexpected local guest performers and a surprise finale.
To learn more about other public events at Colby-Sawyer, visit www.colby-sawyer.edu/events.
-Michelle L. Buser '09
Michelle L. Buser is a Communications Studies major and an intern in College Communications at Colby-Sawyer College.
Colby-Sawyer, founded in 1837, is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in the scenic Lake Sunapee Region of central New Hampshire. Students learn in small classes through a select array of programs that integrate the liberal arts and sciences with pre-professional experience. Visit us on the World Wide Web at www.colby-sawyer.edu.
Colby-Sawyer College, 541 Main Street, New London, N.H.
