Omaha Symphony Pops Series: Three Broadway Divas

Omaha Symphony’s Pops Series: Three Broadway Divas
Holland Performing Arts Center
Friday, April 18, 2008, at 8 p.m.
Saturday, April 19, 2008, at 8 p.m.
Sunday, April 20, 2008, at 2 p.m.

The Omaha Symphony’s Pops series continues with THREE BROADWAY DIVAS, April 18th through the 20th. Three of Broadway’s best—Debbie Gravitte, Anne Runolfsson and Jan Horvath—light up the stage at the Holland Center. The trio will present songs from your favorite musicals, including GYPSY, A CHORUS LINE, MY FAIR LADY and EVITA. Performances take place at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, April 18th and Saturday, April 19th and at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 20th. All concerts are held in the Holland Center, at 13th and Douglas Streets. Here's what conductor Ernest Richardson had to say about the concert:

"So what’s better than 1 diva appearing with the Omaha Symphoney? How about 3? 3 of Broadway’s best by the way will light up the Peter Kiewet Concert Hall and deliver a show stopping performance when the three Broadway divas take the stage with the Omaha Symphony. Now if you’re a fan of Broadway you won’t want to miss these ladies when they sing these hits from favorite musicals including: Sweet Charity, Gypsy, A Chorus Line (also a great movie), Evita, Jeckyl & Hyde (a truly wonderful contemporary Broadway show, My Fair Lady (actually one of my favorites), and many others. In fact, just the other day I was watching My Fair Lady, the movie, with my kids…its such great songs.

Now here’s a little about the divas. Debbie Gravitte’s varied career has taken her to the Broadway stage to the symphony hall. She won the prestigious Tony Award for best featured actress in the musical Jerome Robin’s Broadway along with the Drama Desk Award nomination and New York Showstopper Award. After making her original Broadway debut in the original cast of Their Playing Our Song, she went on to appear in Perfectly Frank, Blues in the Night, Aint Broadway Grand, Chicago, and Les Miserables. Gravitte has sung with numerous symphony orchestras around the world and she has appeared on television in the CBS series, Trial and Error, and several specials for PBS.

Jan Horvath, is the graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (where I spent the summer by the way) and was the member of the original cast of the Phantom of the Opera. Her Broadway credits include The Three Peony Opera, Sweet Charity, Stardust, and Oliver. In addition to her Broadway credits, Horvath sang the leading role of Grisibella in the national touring company of Cats. Now, I like the song from Cats, and I’m not crazy about Cats but I don’t mind them. But when you put them on the Broadway stage singing, it’s a little strange to me, but I like the songs and they’re great songs. For the past ten years, Horvath has been soprano soloist with Bravo Broadway and she has appeared as a guest soloist for over a hundred orchestras around the world.

Ann Runolfsson has a appeared as a soloist for Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, The Kennedy Center, and with symphony orchestras around the country. She is currently starring as Carlota in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera. Prior to that, she made a splash in Victor Victoria, as standby to Julie Andrews and Liza Manelli. She then performed the title role 120 times and went on to recreate the role in the national tour.

Phantom of the Opera, everybody loves the show, really difficult writing for the singers. The phantom cannot be sung by any human being that we know of because of the range yet people manage to do it. Carlota has to have a huge to pull that part off. And all three of these sopranos can do this, it’s the amazing, it’s going to be such a great concert.

So the idea of this concert is to bring three of Broadway’s great divas to the stage with the Omaha Symphony and to provide you with a performance that is going to be absolutely enchanting, romantic, dramatic, funny, it’s going to be a great night. I’m looking forward to seeing you there.