My name is James Quinlanand last year I had the pleasure of promoting BROADWAY IN NASHUA. I am writing to share some very exciting news. Due to popular demand, BROADWAY IN NASHUA II returns on Saturday, April 4th at 2 PM at Keefe Auditorium with an ALL-NEW concert event produced exclusively for the evening to benefit the Nashua School District Music Departments. Five of Broadway’s finest performers will recreate some of their most memorable musical moments and share behind-the-scenes stories and amusing anecdotes. Performers scheduled to appear are Jackie Burns (Broadway’s longest running Elphaba in WICKED), Felicia Finley (Tanya in the Broadway production of MAMMA MIA!), Tari Kelly (Reno Sweeney in the Broadway revival of ANYTHING GOES), Jared Mason (Jerry Lee Lewis in the Broadway production of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET) and Hugh Panaro (The Phantom in the Broadway’s longest running show THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA for almost seven years). Eugene Gwozdz returns as Musical Director/Accompanist. This evening’s lineup boasts roles in a combined total of twenty Broadway productions to their credit. The concert will feature songs from Aida; Anything Goes; Evita; Funny Girl; Hair; If/Then; Jesus Christ Superstar; Les Miserables; Mamma Mia!; Million Dollar Quartet; The Phantom of the Opera; Pippin; Smokey Joe’s Café and Wicked. Because you attended last year’s concert, I wanted to give you a “heads up” so you can have an opportunity to purchase tickets before publicity and advertising starts next week. Tickets are available on SHOWCLIX (http://www.showclix.com/event/3854080) and are priced as follows: Student-$20; General Admission-$40; Student plus Adult-$55; VIP Ticket-$90 (includes post-show VIP reception with the Stars). In anticipation of the event, I’m posting a couple of video links as well as the artists’ bios below this letter. I hope you’ll be able to join us for what is certain to be a “can’t miss event” for audience members of all ages in this rare opportunity to to enjoy Broadway’s elite performers brought directly to you.
Warmest regards,
Stephen DeAngelis
Producer/Host
BROADWAY IN NASHUA II
BROADWAY PERFORMANCE VIDEO CLIPS
JACKIE BURNS
“Defying Gravity” from WICKED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7-_bS75BIA
HUGH PANARO
“Music of the Night” from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDT_DxOQjeU
-BIOS-
JACKIE BURNS starred as Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked (a role which she also played on the show’s National Tour, IRNE nomination). She was most recently seen as Standby for Idina Menzel in the Broadway production of If/Then. She made her Broadway debut in the tony Award winning revival of Hair. Off-Broadway: Rock of Ages; Unlock’d. Regional: Paper Mill Playhouse, Connecticut Rep, Northern Stage, etc., Connecticut Critics Circle Award. Concept Albums: Swept Away; Tears From Heaven; Excalibur. TV: “All My Children”
FELICIA FINLEY was recently seen on Broadway starring as Tanya in Mamma Mia!.Previous Broadway credits include The Wedding Singer (Linda), Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida (Amneris), Smokey Joe’s Cafe and The Life. Off-Broadway:Forbidden Broadway (SVU and 2001 Space Odyssey); Manhattan Theatre Club’sThe Wild Party; Playwrights Horizon’s Bubbly Black Girl. Personal favorites: Debbie Does Dallas: Las Vegas, Lysistrata (SLU’s Masters Program teacher), Evita, Spike Lee’s 25th Hour, headlining at Caesar’s Palace in Atlantic City in Nights on Broadway. Felicia won the 2003 Bistro
Award for NYC’s Best Cabaret Debut.
TARI KELLY Broadway credits: Anything Goes (Reno Sweeney), The Boy From Oz (Trio/ Liza Minnelli), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Mama Who) and Show Boat (Ellie/ Kim Ravenal). National Tours: Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), Cabaret (Sally Bowles), Show Boat (Ellie), and Beauty and the Beast (Silly Girl/Babette). In 2011 Tari won the Carbonell Award for her turn as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes (Jupiter Theatre, Florida), and recently received the 2014 Henry Award for her portrayal of Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow (Arvada Center, Colorado). She can be heard on the Original Broadway Cast Recordings of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Anything Goes, and The Boy From Oz.
JARED MASON most recently starred as Jerry Lee Lewis in the Broadway production of Million Dollar Quartet. He has performed in several national and International Tours including STOMP where he met his wife Nomi. As a multi-instrumentalist/composer, he won Album of the Year at the L/A. Music Awards in 2004. Jared dedicates this performance to Pumpa, who introduced him to Elvis and Jerry Lee.
HUGH PANARO most recently starred in the title role of Broadway’s longest running show The Phantom of the Opera for six years. He also played the role of Raoul in the Broadway production of the show earlier in his career. Other Broadway: Lestat (Lestat), Side Show (Buddy Foster), Hal Prince’s Show Boat (Gaylord Ravenal), Jule Stynes The Red Shoes (Julian Craster), Les Miserables (Marius, which he originated in the first national company). Regional: Les Miserables (Jean Valjean) both at the St. Louis MUNY and Walnut Street Theatre (Barrymore Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical), Oliver! (Fagin), Company (Bobby), Sunday in the Park with George (George) and Sweeney Todd (Anthony Hope). He toured the United States in the title role of Martin Guerre in Cameron Mackintosh’s Martin Guerre and joined Barbra Streisand on her first European concert tour.
EUGENE GWOZDZ (Musical Director/Accompanist) from Fort Worth, Texas, based in NYC. Eugene is the Music Director/Arranger for the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts. Broadway/National Tours: Sunset Boulevard with Petula Clark: Flower Drum Song, Swing!, The Color Purple, The Phantom of the Opera, The Will Rogers’ Follies and West Side Story (conducted and played keyboards) . He has worked with many Broadway stars including Audra McDonald, Patti Lupone, Chita Rivera, Norbert Leo Butz, Stephanie J. Block, Leslie Uggams, Anika Noni Rose, Patrick Wilson, Rachel York,Shirley Jones, Cady Huffman, Shuler Hensley, Betty Buckley, Donna McKechnie, Will Chase, LaChanze, Nikki James, Chris Seiber, Norm Lewis, Megan Hilty, Kristin Chenowith, John Tartaglia, Mark Kudisch, Sebastian Arcellus, Laura Benanti, Karen Ziemba, Lou Diamond Phillips, Brent Barrett and Laura Bell Bundy. Eugene is pleased to return for this year’s concert.
STEPHEN DeANGELIS (Producer/Host) was Casting Director for the 6X Emmy Award nominated Playhouse Disney series “Johnny and the Sprites” starring Tony Award nominee John Tartaglia, which was seen on the Disney Channel. His work has been seen in New York and regionally in over 300 theatrical productions for the John W. Engeman Theater at Northport, York Theatre Company, Musicals Tonight!, The Signature Theatre, The Drama League, Casa Manana, North Shore Music Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, Candlewood Playhouse, Connecticut Repertory, Syracuse Stage, StageOne, Studio Arena Theatre, American Stage Company, GeVa Theatre, Starlight Theatre of Kansas City and The St. Louis Municipal Opera (The MUNY) as well as numerous festival showcases, workshops and staged readings. He also cast the 25 thAnniversary National Tour of Hair. He served as Casting Director/Talent Executive for the World AIDS Day All-Star Concert Revivals of Pippin and The Secret Garden. He is currently on staff at Grey Advertising and has cast over 3200 network television and radio commercials for such advertisers as Olive Garden, Red Lobster, E*TRADE, Febreze, Cover Girl, Pantene, Advil, Robitussin, Downy and others. He is also Producing Artistic Director and Host of At This Performance…, a critically acclaimed concert series which has showcased the talents of over 700 Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates in events in New York City and across the United States. He has produced and hosted over 200 concerts nationwide featuring a multitude of Broadway stars including many Tony Award winners and nominees as well as stars from hit television series and films whose roots are on stage. Stephen is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and has staged musicals in major theaters across the country in Boston; Washington, DC; Dallas; St. Louis and throughout New York and New England.
