December 19, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Passports are not required for this trip to England as guest conductor Jack Everly leads the Oregon Symphony and guest vocalists in a Bank of America Pops concert of music by acclaimed British composers including Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, the Beatles, Lionel Bart, Noel Coward and Gilbert and Sullivan on Jan. 17, 18 and 19 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, with an additional performance on Jan. 20 at Willamette University’s Smith Auditorium. Media support provided by Oregon Business Magazine, K103fm and KEX Radio.
Everly and the Symphony with guest vocalists Judy McLane, Ted Keegan, Mark Nadler, Gwendolyn Jones and Jennifer Shrader present some of the best-known music from Webber’s many hit musicals, including “Music of the Night” from “Phantom of the Opera,” “Memory” from “Cats,” “As If We Never Said Goodbye” from “Sunset Boulevard,” “Think of Me” and “All I Ask of You,” as well as excerpts from Webber’s smash hit “Evita,” including “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” and a medley of songs from Webber’s early hit “Jesus Christ Superstar.” The orchestra will take center stage as they perform the overture to Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Mikado” and a medley of some of the Beatles’ most popular tunes.
The concert will also feature songs from Bart’s musical “Oliver!”, including the songs “Consider Yourself” and “As Long as He Needs Me;” Anthony Newley’s “What Kind of Fool Am I?,” English playwright Noel Coward’s well-known song, “Mrs. Worthington” and a medley of songs that pay tribute to London, including “London is London,” “A Foggy Day,” “London is a Little Bit of Alright,” “London Pride” and “Saturday Night at the Rose and Crown.”
Everly has been delighting Symphony audiences for the past several years. He has conducted numerous Pops concerts, including his most recent appearance at last spring’s “A Celtic Celebration.” A proponent of symphonic pops concerts around the country, Everly is the music advisor for the Symphony Pops Consortium (SPC), an alliance formed by the Indianapolis, Detroit, St. Louis, Milwaukee, National and Seattle Symphony Orchestras which has produced the “Yuletide Celebration,” “A Celtic Celebration” and tonight’s program, “Pops Goes British.”
Pops audiences will remember McLane from last year’s “Mancini and Mercer” concert, as well as last year’s Yuletide Celebration, which she hosted. A soloist with many orchestras around the country, McLane has also appeared on Broadway in “Kiss Of The Spider Woman,” “Aspects of Love” and “Chess,” and has toured with “Into The Woods,” “Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” with Donny Osmond, “Big” and “Side By Side By Sondheim.”
Performances are scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 17 at 8 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 18 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Monday, Jan. 19 at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, with an additional concert on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at Salem’s Smith Auditorium. Tickets range in price from $25 to $68 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at 503-228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony’s Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.
Jack Everly, a multi-faceted conductor, is a frequent guest conductor on the world's concert, opera and ballet stages. Some of his appearances include the National Symphony of London, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, the Teatro Colon, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Polish National Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, the Hawaii Symphony, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, and the opera house orchestras of Sao Paulo and the Teatro Massimo. Recent and upcoming engagements include the Detroit, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Seattle, St. Louis, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh symphonies, Canada’s National Arts Orchestra of Ottawa and the Calgary Philharmonic.
This season, Mr. Everly will conduct his ninth season as Music Director for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's million-dollar Christmas spectacular “Yuletide Celebration.” Mr. Everly is the Music Advisor for the recently formed Symphony Pops Consortium (SPC). The SPC is an alliance formed by the Indianapolis, Detroit, St. Louis, Milwaukee, National and Seattle Symphony Orchestras. Now in its fourth successful season, the SPC is producer of “A Celtic Celebration-The Music of the Emerald Isle,” “Those Glorious Musicians-A Tribute to MGM” and “Pops Goes British featuring the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.”
Mr. Everly recently concluded his record 14-year tenure with American Ballet Theatre where he served as Music Director. Originally appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, his international schedule with the renowned company includes thousands of performances and dozens of world premiere productions at Lincoln Center’s famed Metropolitan Opera House, including “Othello” (Goldenthal-Lubovitch), “Everlast” (Kern-Tharp), and “Requiem” (Lloyd-Webber-MacMillan). The company’s famously eclectic repertoire ranges from the Stravinsky Violin Concerto and Brahms’ Third Symphony to the well-known classics “Swan Lake,” “The Sleeping Beauty,” “Cinderella,” “Giselle,” “Coppelia” and “The Nutcracker.”
Mr. Everly conducted the recent PBS “Dance in America” at New York’s City Center in the repertoire of Dvorák, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich. He conducted the PBS telecast from the Metropolitan Opera House of the Prokofiev-MacMillan “Romeo and Juliet” starring Natalia Makarova. Other dance artists for whom he has conducted include Rudolph Nureyev, Twyla Tharp, Sylvie Guillem, Cynthia Gregory and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Mr. Everly was asked by composer Marvin Hamlisch to conduct his National Companies of “They’re Playing Our Song” and “A Chorus Line,” as well as his Pops concerts with America’s leading symphony orchestras. Most recently, they joined forces for the Broadway musical version of Neil Simon's film “The Goodbye Girl” starring Bernadette Peters and Martin Short. His other Broadway Music Director credits include two different productions of “Hello Dolly” starring the legendary Carol Channing and “Show Boat” with the great Donald O’Connor. Mr. Everly also orchestrated the PBS “A Salute to Broadway” for their “In Performance at the White House” series. Other popular artists he has conducted include Ella Fitzgerald, Diane Schurr, Sarah Brightman, Mary Martin, Leslie Carom Carol Burnett, Gary Morris, Itzhak Perlman, Frederica Von Stade and Marilyn Horne.
Mr. Everly’s Hollywood assignments include serving as Music Director for Disney's “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” In addition to that popular soundtrack, his discography includes numerous Broadway cast recordings and “Everything's Coming Up Roses: The Complete Overtures of Broadway’s Jule Styne.” For this recording, he created the critical editions and conducted all of the overtures of the famous Broadway composer.
At home in New York, Mr. Everly is an avid collector of classic films and music from the stage and cinema.
Judy McLane, a native of Pennsylvania, currently resides in NYC and has appeared on Broadway in “Kiss Of The Spider Woman,” “Aspects of Love” and “Chess.” Her national and international tours include the Baker’s Wife in “Into The Woods,” the Narrator in “Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” with Donny Osmond, Mrs. Baskin in “Big” and “Side By Side By Sondheim.” Ms. McLane has performed as a soloist with many symphony orchestras including the Bolshoi Orchestra in Moscow, the National Orchestra of Lyon, France (Joel Revzen, conductor), St. Louis, Detroit, and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras, (Jack Everly, conductor), the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (Emile de Cou, conductor), and “Chess In Concert” at Carnegie Hall (Paul Bogaev, conductor). Other soles include: Victor/Victoria in “Victor/Victoria,” Aldonza in “Man of La Mancha,” Nancy in “Oliver!” Luisa in “Nine,” Florence in “Chess,” Lily in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (all at the Paper Mill Playhouse), Eva in “Evita” (Paper Mill and St. Louis MUNY), Fiona in “Brigadoon,” Rebecca in “Rags,” Mrs. Walker in “Tommy” (American Musical Theatre of San Jose), Mary Magdelene in “Jesus Christ Superstar” (Sacramento Music Circus) and Ann in “1940’s Radio Hour” (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis). Her television credits include her appearance as Darla on “Another World.” Ms. McLane studies voice with Bill Schuman. Thanks, Bill!
Ted Keegan most recently starred in the national tour of “Phantom of the Opera” following a very successful run in the Broadway Company. Ted has performed the role in over 24 States across the country. He has also appeared as The Phantom on the “Today Show” on NBC. He has the distinction of being the actor who has sung the role in front of the largest audience ever, when he made a spectacular flying entrance from the dome of Madison Square Garden during the half-time show of the NBA All-Star Game.
Ted was deeply involved in the George Gershwin Centennial Celebration. He performed Gershwin at the opening of the Gershwin Room at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., with Audra McDonald in New York and with Marin Mazzie at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. He was a soloist at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, singing “Unheard Bernstein.” Ted hosted the “Yuletide Celebration” in Indianapolis with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Detroit Symphony, Syracuse Symphony and the Dayton Philharmonic. Ted’s Broadway credits include the revival of “Sweeney Todd,” “Cyrano: The Musical” and “Camelot” with Robert Goulet. Ted is very excited about the release of his first solo CD, “Ted Keegan Sings,” which is available in the lobby.
Mark Nadler is a five-time winner of the Manhattan Association of Cabarets Award (MAC) and has received three Backstage Bistro awards. He has performed at New York’s Town Hall, Carnegie Hall, and every major cabaret in New York city from the Algonquin to Sardi’s. Mark is also a veteran of Broadway and has been seen on countless television shows including “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee” and “The Phil Donahue Show.” He is the co-author and stars in “The Melody Lingers On,” a show of the music and life of Irving Berlin, “Something Wonderful: The Music of Richard Rodgers” and “American Rhapsody: George Gershwin to the World” which ran off-Broadway for the entire 2000-2001 season and received a Drama Desk nomination, two Lucille Lortel nominations and the MAC Award for Outstanding Revue.
Gwendolyn Jones is a product of the American Musical
and Dramatic Academy in NYC
and the Shenandoah College and Conservatory of Music
in Winchester, VA. Ms. Jones’ acting credits
include National and International tours of “Hair,” “Annie” and “42nd
Street.” Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Regional
Credits include title and lead roles in “The
Gypsy Robe Awards,” “Sophie, Totie & Belle,” “Hello
Dolly,” “Jekyll & Hyde,” “Grand
Hotel,” “42nd Street,” “Once
Upon A Mattress,” “Mame” and “Guys
and Dolls” in such houses as Papermill Playhouse,
North Shore, Kansas City Starlight, The Benedum Center,
and Walnut Street Theatre, to name a few. She enjoyed
high stepping with the Rockettes this past Christmas
season as Mrs. Claus in New York City’s Radio
City Music Halls Christmas Spectacular. Ms. Jones has
performed with the Alabama, Baltimore, Detroit, Pittsburgh,
and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras, and is thrilled
to have the opportunity to perform again with her favorite,
the ISO!
Jennifer Shrader was most recently seen on Broadway as Babette in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” after starring in “Swing!” National tour credits include Belle in “Beauty and the Beast” and “Sunset Boulevard,” where she understudied the role of Betty Schaefer. This followed performances as the Star to Be in the 20th anniversary national tour of “Annie,” as well as replacing Jodi Benson as the Narrator in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” She has played the role in two different touring companies, one opposite Donny Osmond. Regional work includes Christine in the Kopit/Yesit “Phantom.” She has also performed as a soloist with the Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras. Jennifer holds a BFA in musical theatre from the Boston Conservatory of Music.
