Ordway Continues Broadway Songbook Series with ROCK & ROLL ON BROADWAY This Weekend

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts will continue the popular Broadway Songbook series this weekend, April 17-18 with Broadway Songbook: Rock & Roll on Broadway. Tickets are $37 and can be purchased online at www.ordway.org, by phone at 651-224-4222 or in person at the Ordway ticket office.

The Broadway Songbook series offers an intimate, personal look at the stories behind the songs that created Broadway. Each show is filled with funny portraits and anecdotes of the writers, producers and performers who created some of the most iconic shows of all time. Broadway Songbook: Rock & Roll on Broadway takes the audience on a musical ride from the 1960s through today with songs from musicals such as Hair, Mamma Mia, Jesus Christ Superstar, Dreamgirls, RENT, Spring Awakening, Next to Normal and more.

"Back in October, we looked at the first 100 years of Broadway and how the genre got its start. Now, we're completing that journey by diving into contemporary Broadway," said James A. Rocco, Ordway's vice president of programming and producing artistic director. "Rock & Roll on Broadway illustrates the path that musicals took, shifting from the classic book musical epitomized by shows like Oklahoma! and into a more conceptual style used to reflect and comment on contemporary times and issues."

Broadway Songbook: Rock & Roll on Broadway is written by James A. Rocco and Jeffrey P. Scott with musical arrangements by Albert Evans and Raymond Berg. Rocco also acts as the show's host, while Berg acts as musical director. The cast features Dieter Bierbrauer, Yolande Bruce, Reid Harmsen, Caroline Innerbichler, Kersten Rodau, Randy Schmeling and Erin Schwab.

In celebration of the Ordway's recently completed Concert Hall, Broadway Songbook: Rock & Roll on Broadway will take place in the new space, showcasing the acoustics, intimacy and versatility of the hall. The series will move back into the Music Theater for the 2015-2016 season.

For tickets and more information, visit www.ordway.org.