Interview: Broadway's Patrice Covington Shares Her Favorite '80s Songs in Advance of Friday's American Pops Orchestra Concert

On Friday, April 7 at 8:00 PM, Maestro Luke Frazier and the American Pops Orchestra (APO) will celebrate popular music of the 1980's with a concert entitled You Spin Me 'Round: An 80's Dance Party at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC. This "rad" original program, hosted by Olympic diver Greg Louganis, combines DJ mixing, live orchestra, dancers, and hot vocalists to bring back favorite music of the 1980's in a whole new way.

You Spin Me 'Round: An 80's Dance Party will feature Patrice Covington (Broadway's The Color Purple), Warren Freeman (50th Anniversary Tour of My Fair Lady), Justin Keyes (Broadway's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying), local favorite Bayla Whitten (numerous productions at Signature Theatre and APO's Don't Rain on My Parade: 75 Years of Barbra Streisand), and DJ Shea Van Horn. The show is directed and choreographed by Kelly Crandall d'Amboise, and features dancers Sophia Adoum, Jordan DeBona, Maddie Dunn, Jocelyn Isaac, Lucy Spring, Rachel Stover, Tony Thomas II, and Willow Williams.

To get DC audiences ready for the party, Patrice Covington shared some of her favorite 80's songs with BWW:

"Simply Irresistible"

I have always loved this music video and this song! However, what makes me adore it today is that it makes it so clear that ALL we ladies have to do is put on a LBD (little black dress), simply slick back our hair, and put on a fierce red lip to be irresistible! Also, we don't need to rehearse our dance steps so much. They are winging it and I love it.

"Beat It"

I have all the time for Michael Jackson's Beat It because I kind of wish this was how real gangs fought. Kill 'em with your snaps and steps in tight leather pants and Jheri curls.

"Vogue"

Oh Madonna! The fierce queen! Vogue! A. People are still living for this song. B. It introduced a lot of the world to an underground dance movement they may have otherwise never known about. It is classy sassy, sexy, and "badass-y" all in one! And it's for the queens...yaaaaaasssssssssssss!

"Push It"

LOVE these ladies Salt N Pepa! Their hair! Their outfits! Their moves! All killin'! Also, this song...always good!

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody"

If you don't love this music video, you're dead! But it's my favorite because it gives me a little "Wizard of Oz" with the black and white in the beginning and then we burst into fun clothing and hair. Also, I pretend I am Nippy in this video when I try on clothes in all the dressing rooms in every store because why not....?

Tickets to You Spin Me 'Round: An 80's Dance Party can be purchased at: http://theamericanpops.org/tickets/you-spin-me-round/