Broadway Stars Come To Gettysburg
By: Sally Henry Fuller Feb. 13, 2016
"I was 16 years old when I had my first professional theatre contract", says Chad-Alan Carr, Founding Executive/Artistic Director of Gettysburg Community Theatre. "The shows were Phantom, Aladdin, Show Boat, and Man Of LaMancha for Galveston Island Outdoor Musicals, and I was hired (while still in high school) as a theatre office assistant and a chorus boy."
That summer stock theatre was quite the opportunity for Carr as it allowed him to work that summer with Broadway veterans such as Jack Dabdoub from the original Broadway casts of Camelot and Annie Get Your Gun and Michael Vita from the original Broadway casts of Chicago and Bye Bye Birdie. Carr also performed that summer season alongside two performers that would later get married and both perform starring roles in hit Broadway musicals. Marie Danvers played Christine Daae in Broadway's The Phantom Of The Opera and her husband Rob Gallagher played Javert in Broadway's LesMiserables. 15 years after that wonderful summer for Carr, he would become the driving artistic force to create the non-profit 501c3 organization now known as Gettysburg Community Theatre. Having had good contact through the years with Marie and Rob, Carr is so pleased to have the very talented couple come to visit Gettysburg to see the theatre the young man they knew from years ago has helped to create and to host them as the special guest stars at its annual gala benefit concert.
"I am ecstatic", says Carr. "It is so exciting for me to share my love of community theatre every day with my students and community here who are all so incredibly supportive. But for me to see these dear old friends that I was star struck by so many years ago (and still admire to this day), now performing with them again along with my students and other performers from GCT to help raise much needed funds for this theatre I love so much is just so heart-warming. I can't wait for everyone to meet them and I am so happy they are able to come visit us all here in Gettysburg."
Marie Danvers is best known for her starring turn as Christine Daae in the Broadway production, as well as in the National Touring production of The Phantom of the Opera. She has sung all over the world as Maria in West Side Story and appeared in the National and International Tour of The Fantasticks with Robert Goulet. In concert she has sung with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, with the Broadway by the Year Series in New York, as well as Long Island Philharmonic. She acted Off-Broadway with the Manhattan Theater Club and on Television on "As The World Turns". Across the country she has played leading roles in A Chorus Line, Company, The Mikado, Brigadoon, Lend Me a Tenor, and starred as Christine in the Yeston/Kopit Phantom at Paper Mill Playhouse. Most recently she played Sister Robert Ann in Nunsense at the John W. Engeman Theater at Northport. She holds an MFA in Dramaturgy from Stony Brook University and is currently a Professor of Theater at Five Towns College.
Rob Gallagher starred on Broadway as Javert in LesMiserables, and appeared as Emile DeBecque in the Tony Award winning revival of Rodger's and Hammerstein's South Pacific - a role he is recently reprised at the John W. Engeman Theater at Northport. Off-Broadway credits include Fiorello! with City Center Encores!, Forbidden Broadway and Reefer Madness (with Kristen Bell and choreographed by Paula Abdul). Regional Credits include leading roles in The Music Man, The Sound of Music, Oliver, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Oklahoma, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, A Wonderful Life, Barnum, etc. He has sung in concert with The Omaha Symphony Orchestra, The Long Island Philharmonic, and the Bay Atlantic Symphony Orchestra. On Television he appeared on "One Life to Live," and had a recurring role on "All My Children."
Gettysburg theatre goers will remember Rob Gallagher as the gentleman who stepped in at a day's notice from NYC to perform at the recent anniversary gala 100 Years Of Broadway at Gettysburg College's Majestic Theatre last November. He became an audience favorite that night with his performance of "Some Enchanted Evening" from South Pacific. At the GCT gala concert on March 5th, Rob and Marie will sing songs from The Phantom of the Opera, LesMiserables, West Side Story, Brigadoon, Man Of LaMancha, and more. Also scheduled to perform at this concert will be GCT alumni Drew Becker, currently a musical theatre major at Shenandoah Conservatory, and Marilyn Lopes, currently a musical theatre major at Catholic University, along with current students and performers from the small community theatre with a big heart. Along with this broadway concert, attendees of this special black tie optional event will also enjoy open bar, delicious Hors d'oeuvres and desserts, and both a live and silent auction to help support the theatre. Auction items will include artwork, jewelry, broadway autographed memorabilia, a Vegas weekend condo, gift certificates and much more.
This special fundraising event is $75 per person and reserved tables of 8 are available and may be purchased online at the theatre's web site at www.GettysburgCommunityTheatre.org or by calling 717-334-2692 with credit card to purchase what seats may be left available. This event is fully accessible and has an ADA compliant ramp to enter the building. All proceeds from tickets, auction, and donations help to support GCT and all of their educational/outreach programming including: The Penguin Project (special needs theatre), Scholarship Program, Youth Summer Day Camp Program, and Senior Citizen Theatre Program as well.
GCT Mission Statement: To inspire creativity and confidence, provide cultural enrichment, and instill a love of the theatre arts in young and the young at heart through quality education, training and performing experiences in musical theatre.
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