Opera Star Karen Bureau and More Lead Gettysburg Community Theatre's CAROUSEL, Now thru 6/21

Gettysburg Community Theatre (GCT) the not-for-profit 501c3 community theatre in downtown Gettysburg, located inside the old Elks Lodge at 49 York Street, proudly presents the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic musical CAROUSEL tonight, June 12-21, 2015. Glorious songs, a postcard New England seaside setting and a spiritually uplifting story of love and redemption have kept Carousel among the most beloved American musicals ever created.

While the songs of Carousel -- including "If I Loved You" and "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" -- have endured for their richness and quality, director Chad-Alan Carr says it's the emotional complexity of the story that takes the show to another level and makes the musical a deeply rewarding audience experience.

"The characters in Carousel are imperfect people; they are human and living in a difficult time and place," he says. "Love and passion, abuse and disappointment are important and relevant topics to address as are faith, forgiveness and enduring to the end, and each of those topics is a part of the show. Carousel is a powerfully written story with multifaceted characters and a storyline that stands the test of time with its relevance and universal truths."

Love unspoken, feelings unexpressed, frustration and death are not the usual components of a musical play, yet these are themes that lie heavy within Carousel. Starring in the cast as the two lovers Julie Jordan and Billy Bigelow are real-life married couple Catherine and Lee Howard from Yoe, PA. The couple have been married for almost 10 years and have performed in numerous theatre productions together across the region, but Carousel is the first time the couple gets the chance to play opposite each other in romantic roles.

Also featured in the cast is Karen Bureau of Hanover, PA, who began her professional operatic career on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera by singing the Lady in Waiting in Verdi's Macbeth with Maestro James Levine conducting. During her long international career she won critical acclaim for the extraordinary power and beauty of her voice. Karen plays the role of Nettie who sings the iconic "You'll Never Walk Alone" in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel.

Seating is reserved and limited. $18 per person. Tickets can be purchased over the phone at (717)-334-2692 or online at www.GettysburgCommunityTheatre.org or by visiting the box office during box office hours Tuesdays-Fridays 4-7pm.

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.

Pictured: Karen Bureau, Internationally-Acclaimed Operatic Soprano, joins the cast of CAROUSEL June 12-21 at Gettysburg Community Theatre.

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