BSO SuperPops Hits the Jackpot with Pops Goes Vegas, March 13-16

Ante up for program featuring the best of the Strip, from Sinatra to Liberace

Baltimore, Md. (February 13, 2008)— The glitz and glamour of Las Vegas light up the concert hall when BSO Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra SuperPops in Pops Goes Vegas, March 13 at the Music Center at Strathmore and March 14-16 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. This musical revue features works and artists that capture the spirit of the golden age of Las Vegas, complete with costumes, showgirls, singers and dancers.  Reminiscent of “The Rat Pack,” Pops Goes Vegas showcases music made famous by the premier artists of the Las Vegas entertainment scene, such as Frank Sinatra and Liberace. Prior to the Meyerhoff performances, the patrons can test their luck as the BSO hosts Las Vegas-style activities. See below for complete program information. 

Pops Goes Vegas includes quintessential favorites such as “Luck Be a Lady,” “New York, New York,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “My Way,” and “I Gotta Be Me.” Performing works by Cole Porter, Paul Anka, Barry Manilow and more, the BSO SuperPops brings the luster pf “Sin City” to Baltimore.  Flamboyant Liberace tribute artist Martin Preston, devoted re-creator of the glamour, style, and music of Liberace, highlights the show with his sensational costumes and colorful on-stage persona.  Conductor Jack Everly, known for his innovative programming, exemplified in the BSO Holiday Spectacular and the Sci-Fi Spectacular, will transport audiences to “The Strip” with the names and sounds that made Las Vegas the world’s premier entertainment destination.

On March 14-16 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, patrons can participate in Vegas-style activities, playing to win BSO prizes. Entertainers will be on hand, adding a touch of luck and bringing a little bit of Vegas to Baltimore.

Jack Everly, conductor
Known for his innovative programming ideas and his knowledge of and love for the pops genre, Jack Everly is Principal Pops Conductor of the Baltimore, Indianapolis and National Arts Centre (Ottawa) Symphony Orchestras. He is also the Music Director of the Indianapolis Symphony’s A Yuletide Celebration and Music Director of the BSO Holiday Spectacular.

Music Director of American Ballet Theater for 14 years, Mr. Everly conducted thousands of performances and dozens of world premieres for that company. He teamed with Marvin Hamlisch in shows that Mr. Hamlisch composed. Mr. Everly has appeared on “In Performance at the White House” and has been music director on numerous Broadway cast recordings, including Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He conducted the PBS “Dance in America” at New York’s City Center as well as the PBS telecast from the Metropolitan Opera House of the Prokofiev-MacMillan Romeo and Juliet.

A frequent guest conductor on the world’s concert, opera and ballet stages, Mr. Everly’s appearances include the National Symphony of London, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, the Teatro Colón, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Everly is also the Music Advisor for the Symphony Pops Consortium (SPC), an alliance formed by the Indianapolis, Detroit, St. Louis, Milwaukee, National and Seattle Symphony Orchestras. The SPC is producer of programs that include A Celtic Celebration—The Music of the Emerald Isle, Those Glorious Musicians—A Tribute to MGM and Pops Goes British featuring the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber

Anne Nicole Beck
Anne Nicole Beck has appeared in Sandi Patty's Broadway and A Yuletide Celebration with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. She also appeared in Saturday Night Fever on Broadway. Her national tours have included The Who's Tommy (Sally Simpson), Saturday Night Fever, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Scott Beck
Scott Beck has performed in Sandi Patty's Broadway and A Yuletide Celebration with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. His Broadway credits include Saturday Night Fever and Grease (Doody). He has appeared on national tours of Saturday Night Fever, Smokey Joe's Cafe, and Grease! 

Allison Briner
Allison Briner is currently on a national tour of Mamma Mia! as Rosie. Her other national tours have included Les Misérables and Titanic...A New Musical. She has appeared in several off Broadway productions, including Forbidden Broadway, Return to the Forbidden Planet, Song of Singapore, and Forbidden Hollywood. Her television appearances include Law and Order: SVU and All My Children.

Joe Cassidy
Joe Cassidy most recently performed in Russia as a soloist in a concert tribute to the late Russian composer Andre Petrov at the famed St. Petersburg Conservatory. He has appeared as a soloist with the Indianapolis, Ottawa, Nashville, and Baltimore symphonies. This past fall he played Ernest DeFarge in the world premiere of the musical A Tale of Two Cities at the Asolo Theatre. On Broadway, he has appeared as Freddy in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (he played Andre on the National Tour); 1776 (Rutledge); Show Boat (Ravenal); Les Misérables (Valjean), and for three seasons played Young Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden. He frequently works as a guest artist with the Graduate Music Theatre Writing Program at New York University. Mr. Cassidy can be heard on several Broadway cast albums and has done solo recording work with artists varying from Lorin Maazel to James Iha.

Brian Duprey
Brian Duprey’s velvet baritone voice and charisma has thrilled audiences at major venues in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Branson and Myrtle Beach. Mr. Duprey has recently performed to sold-out audiences with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. His future performances include the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Ottawa Symphony. Mr. Duprey has performed in Broadway series events at major theaters including The Victoria Theatre (Dayton, Ohio) Bass Performance Hall (Fort Worth, Texas) and Abraham Chavez Theatre (El Paso, Texas). He also performed in a highly successful German tour. Some of the network television shows in which he has performed on include CBS’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Fox’s Performing As and TNT’s 2007 NBA All-Star Game. Most recently, Brian performed for The Sopranos series finale cast party at the Seminole Hard Rock in Florida. 

Jennifer Ladner       
Jennifer Ladner is a choreographer for the Symphonic Pops Consortium. Ms. Ladner also choreographs the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Holiday Spectacular and assists the director & choreographer for the Indianapolis Symphony's A Yuletide Celebration. She has choreographed and performed Christmas shows and pops concerts for the Indianapolis, Detroit, Birmingham, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Portland and National symphony orchestras. She toured across North America in Ty Johnson’s Sophisticated Ellington Symphony & Swing. Credits also include dancing in the companies of the Arizona Ballet Theatre, Dance Kaleidoscope, and the Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre. She is a frequent performer at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre and is on faculty at Butler University.

Martin Preston
Martin Preston is an actor and musician who has devoted the past eighteen years to re-creating the music and glamour of the late, great Liberace. Always a Liberace fan, his piano style was frequently compared to that of the flamboyant showman, and in 1988, work began on a tribute to the great entertainer. Martin Preston as Liberace debuted in Boca Raton, Florida in 1990, where it ran for a record-breaking 32 weeks. Since then, Mr. Preston has appeared as Liberace in Las Vegas and Atlantic city, in many of North America's finest theatres and showrooms, and on the Cunard, Holland America and Princess Cruise Lines. He has performed at several gala celebrations at the famed Liberace Museum in Las Vegas, and his performance has been authorized by the Liberace Estate and the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts.

COMPLETE PROGRAM INFORMATION
BSO SuperPops: Pops Goes Vegas
Thursday, March 13, 2008 – 8:00 p.m. The Music Center at Strathmore
Friday, March 14, 2008 – 8:00 p.m. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (JMSH)
Saturday, March 15, 2008 – 8:00 p.m. JMSH
Sunday, March 16, 2008 – 3:00 p.m. JMSH

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Jack Everly, conductor

Cast:
Anne Beck
Scott Beck
Allison Briner
Joe Cassidy
Brian DuPrey
Jennifer Ladner
Martin Preston

Special anniversary pricing for the 2007-2008 season at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall is made possible by generous underwriting from the PNC Foundation.

Baltimore Magazine is the print sponsor for this program. 101.9 Lite FM is the radio sponsors for this program.

Game services provided by Extraordinary Events of Baltimore.

Tickets for these performances range from $15 to $84 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 877.BSO.1444 or 410.783.8000, or BSOmusic.org.

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