Broadway Stars Join Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to Perform Irving Berlin's Greatest Hits, May 20-23

Program includes "I Love A Piano," "Let's Face the Music and Dance" and more

Baltimore, Md. (April 27, 2010) - Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra SuperPops in a program celebrating the music of Irving Berlin on Thursday, May 20 at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore and Friday, May 21 and Saturday, May 22 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 23 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Featuring internationally acclaimed singer and pianist Tony DeSare and Broadway stars Ashley Brown, Hugh Panaro, NaTasha Yvette Williams and James T. Lane, this all-Berlin program includes hits such as "How Deep is the Ocean," "Blue Skies," "There's No Business Like Show Business" and many more. Please see below for complete concert details.

Irving Berlin wrote more than 1,000 songs during his 60-year career including the famous "God Bless America," which became the country's second national anthem during World War II. He was already considered a legend before age 30, despite never learning to read or play music. Instead, he used a transposing piano to help him write his songs. He is known for crafting emotional melodies, like those used in "What'll I Do" and "Remember," both featured in these concerts. The program also includes his first world-famous hit "Alexander's Ragtime Band." He is not only admired and celebrated by listeners, but also by famous composers including George Gershwin, who called him "the greatest songwriter that has ever lived."

Jack Everly, conductor
Jack Everly is the principal pops conductor of the Baltimore and Indianapolis symphony orchestras, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa). He is widely known for his innovative approach to programs that have brought new audiences to the time-tested and beloved symphonic pops genre. This season he made his Cleveland Orchestra debut at the Blossom Music Center and appears as guest conductor in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Toronto, Cincinnati and Detroit.

Mr. Everly is the music director of Yuletide Celebration, now a 24-year tradition. These theatrical symphonic holiday concerts are presented annually in December in Indianapolis and are seen by more than 40,000 concert-goers. Mr. Everly led the ISO in its first Pops recording, Yuletide Celebration, Volume One, including three of his own arrangements.

Originally appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mr. Everly was conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years, where he served as music director. In addition to his ABT tenure, he has teamed with Marvin Hamlisch in Broadway shows that Mr. Hamlisch scored including The Goodbye Girl, They're Playing Our Song and A Chorus Line. He conducted Carol Channing hundreds of times in Hello, Dolly! in two separate Broadway productions.

In television and film, Jack Everly has appeared on "In Performance at the White House" and conducted the songs for Disney's animated classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He has been music director on numerous Broadway cast recordings, and conducted the critically praised, Everything's Coming Up Roses: The Complete Overtures of Broadway's Jule Styne. A CD released in July 2005, In the Presence, features tenor Daniel Rodriguez with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of Prague conducted by Mr. Everly.

In 1998, Mr. Everly created the Symphonic Pops Consortium serving as music director. The Consortium, based in Indianapolis, produces a new theatrical pops program each season providing a superior quality artistic program for all. In the past nine years, more than 225 performances of SPC programs have taken place in 25 cities across the U.S. and Canada.

Ashley Brown, vocalist
Ashley Brown originated the title role in Mary Poppins on Broadway and just finished reprising her starring role in the first national company of Mary Poppins in Chicago. Other Broadway credits include Belle in The Beauty and the Beast, and the starring role in the national tour of Disney's On the Record. Regional credits include Broadway's Leading Men with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Broadway by the Year: 1956 at Town Hall in New York City and many shows at the Muny. She has performed with many orchestras including the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, the Cincinnati Pops and the Pensacola Symphony. She returns to star in a New York Pops concert in November at Carnegie Hall. She studied at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she received her bachelor's degree in musical theater and received the Laurie Beechman Award.

Tony DeSare, piano and vocalist
Singer, pianist and songwriter Tony DeSare, whose third CD, Radio Show, was released by Telarc Records in January 2009, has won critical and popular acclaim for his concert performances throughout the United States, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong. His 2007 recording, Last First Kiss, features a combination of originals and standards and debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard chart, No. 3 on Amazon.com and No. 2 on the iTunes jazz chart. In 1999, he starred in the long-running off-Broadway musical smash Our Sinatra. In the fall of 2002, he performed at the legendary Apollo Theater and was featured in New York TV personality Bill Boggs's off-Broadway show Talk Show Confidential at the John Houseman Theater. He has performed at major jazz rooms such as Birdland and the Blue Note with his quartet, as well as the Café Carlyle and Feinstein's at the Regency. In February 2010, he collaborated with Maestro Jack Everly and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in the premiere of his own concert evening with symphony orchestra. He also composed and performed the title theme to My Date with Drew, an independent documentary feature film.

James T. Lane, vocalist
James T. Lane appeared on the European tour of Fame, where he would eventually take over the leading role, Tyrone Jackson, before the end of the contract. He later joined the national touring company of Fame in major cities across the U.S and Canada. He also worked with Eartha Kitt in the national tour of Cinderella as part of the ensemble. In his hometown of Philadelphia, he has worked at the Walnut Street Theatre (Finnian's Rainbow), The Prince Music Theatre (Dreamgirls) and multiple productions at The Media Theatre for the Performing Arts. He starred as Richie Walters in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line. He appeared on many television programs including "Dancing with the Stars," "Good Morning America," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and "The View." He starred as Aaron (and understudied Amos Hart) in Chicago. He appeared with the Indianapolis Pops in the world premiere concert of the Irving Berlin Tribute.

Hugh Panaro, vocalist
Hugh Panaro most recently performed with the legendary Barbra Streisand in her very first European tour. Prior to the tour, he starred in the title role of Lestat, Elton John's Broadway musical based on Anne Rice's infamous The Vampire Chronicles, and received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination. He created numerous other Broadway leading roles, including Buddy in Sideshow, Julian Craster in Jule Styne's last musical, The Red Shoes and the title role in the American premiere of Cameron MacIntosh's Martin Guerre. He made his Broadway debut as Marius in Les Misérables and performed the role of Gaylord Ravenal in Harold Prince's Showboat both on Broadway and in London's prestigious West End. He is most notably recognized for his critically acclaimed performance as the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera. As a concert artist, Mr. Panaro has performed with symphony orchestras across the United States and Europe. He starred at Avery Fisher Hall with the Radio City Rockettes in Jerry Herman's Mack and Mable, The Stephen Sondheim Gala and performed in the world premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki's Te Deum at Carnegie Hall.

NaTasha Yvette Williams, vocalist
On Broadway, NaTasha Yvette Williams played Sofia in The Color Purple, appeared in Dessa Rose at Lincoln Center and played as Mammy in Trevor Nunn's West End production of Gone with the Wind in London. Her national tours include The Drowsy Chaperone (Trix the Aviatrix), All Shook Up (Sylvia), Seussical the Musical (Sour Kangaroo), Cinderella (Grace), Parade (featured), The Goodbye Girl (Mrs. Crosby) and Mahalia (Mahalia). Her regional credits include Mahalia in Mahalia at the Cleveland Playhouse, Crowns at Arkansas Rep, Abyssinia at the Goodspeed and North Shore Music Theater and Ain't Misbehavin' at Papermill Playhouse. In 2008, she released a gospel CD entitled Songs That Get Me Through.

COMPLETE CONCERT DETAILS
BSO SuperPops: A Tribute to Irving Berlin
Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—The Music Center at Strathmore
Friday, May 21, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Saturday, May 22, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 3:00 p.m.—Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

Jack Everly, conductor
Ashley Brown, vocalist
Tony DeSare, piano and vocalist 
James T. Lane, vocalist
Hugh Panaro, vocalist
NaTasha Yvette Williams, vocalist

Tickets for these performances range from $30 to $85 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 877.BSO.1444, 410.783.8000 or BSOmusic.org.