SOME ENCHANTED BROADWAY EVENING Held At Northwestern

No need to travel to New York's central theatre district. The songs from Broadway's Tony Award-winning musicals are as close as Northwestern University's Evanston campus this summer. A two-part retrospective created and directed by Dominic Missimi will be headlined, respectively, by Heidi Kettenring and Hollis Resnik.

The two revues, "The Golden Age: The Classic American Musical" and "The New Age: Cabaret and Beyond," will run from July 18 through Aug. 2, and both performances will be offered as a one-night marathon on Aug. 1 that allows theatre fans to attend both evening shows, back-to-back. It also includes a 5 p.m. lecture by Missimi on the history of Broadway musicals, followed by a light meal. (Note: the 5 p.m. lecture and meal are sold out.)

Part of the Theatre and Interpretation Center (TIC) at Northwestern's SummerStage season, both "Some Enchanted Broadway Evening" programs will take place at the Ethel M. Barber Theater at 30 Arts Circle Drive, on the University's Evanston campus.

Missimi's co-creator is former New Yorker David Fiorello, staff pianist for Northwestern's Music Theatre Program. Fiorello was the music director of national tours of top Broadway productions, including "Sweeney Todd" and "Parade."

"Between the two shows, we are covering every Broadway show that has ever won a Tony Award," said Missimi. "Since the first program -- ‘The Golden Age' -- has 46 numbers, we will be doing a musical medley, touching upon hit songs as well as sharing bits of information to give audiences a complete picture of the period."

"The New Age" program will start with "Cabaret" and end with a song from "Spring Awakening,'" which Northwestern will produce in February 2012. The second program also will feature a number from "Rent," a musical Northwestern will present in November.

"What makes these two reviews so special is our guest artists," said Missimi. "Hollis Resnik and Northwestern alumna Heidi Kettenring, are two of Chicago's premiere leading ladies in musical theater and drama. They are giant-sized talents and are very popular with Chicago audiences."

Kettenring and Resnik will be joined on stage by most of the Northwestern student cast of TIC's SummerStage 2011 production of "Godspell" (July 7 to 24) as well as other student performers from the School of Communication's Music Theatre Program.

The Some Enchanted Broadway Evening programs include:

"The Golden Age: The Classic American Musical," 8 p.m. Monday, July 18; 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 19 and 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 1, Barber Theater. The first event in TIC's "Some Enchanted Broadway Evening" series, created and directed by Missimi, is a three-performance-only exploration of the classical canon of American musical theatre written by such luminaries as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Learner and Loewe, Northwestern alumnus Sheldon Harnick, and many others. Heidi Kettenring will perform songs from "Guys and Dolls," "My Fair Lady" and "Funny Girl," all leading roles that have won her high praise from Chicago critics. Single tickets are $10 to $30.

"The New Age: Cabaret and Beyond," 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 31; 8:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 1; and 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2, Barber Theater. This series event is a hot mix of songs from America's contemporary musicals and features Hollis Resnik. Music from "Cabaret," the rock musicals "Hair," "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Godspell," British hits such as "Les Miserables" and "Miss Saigon" and tunes by Stephen Sondheim, ("Follies") Andrew Lloyd Webber ("Phantom of the Opera"), Stephen Flaherty ("Ragtime"), Adam Guettle ("The Light in the Piazza") and Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater ("Spring Awakening") are all part of the program. Single tickets are $10 to $30.

"A History of the American Musical," 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 1, Barber Theater. This one-evening-only discussion for series subscribers on the history of the American musical, hosted by American Music Theatre Project Executive Director Dominic Missimi, will be followed by a light meal and back-to-back "Some Enchanted Broadway Evening" performances. Single tickets for the lecture and meal are $25 for the general public. (This event is sold out.)

To order tickets, phone (847) 491-7282 or visit www.tic.northwestern.edu.

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