The Canterbury Winter Arts Series will bring audiences a sampler of well-known Broadway tunes, paired with ones that are not so well known, but perhaps should be.
“Broadway’s Hits and Hidden Gems” runs at the Mainstreet Theatre in Michigan City from Sept. 11-19 and Director Brant Beckett says the idea came to him recently because of his lifelong love for more obscure songs.
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“I’m a big fan, have been all of my life, of deep tracks on records. I like the stuff on the radio but usually found songs that I liked more that were fourth or fifth on the track listing on an album. I started thinking about Broadway shows in the same way,” says Beckett.
He says that “Broadway’s Hits and Hidden Gems” will entertain all ages since they have put together a sampling of some 16 different shows including “West Side Story,” “Wicked,” “Annie,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Little Shop of Horrors”, “Rent” and “The Music Man.”
“I feel that when it comes to Broadway shows, if it’s a typical show it might have one or two signature songs, but there are others that are just as worthy as the others that everyone knows. So we will do a pairing of two songs — one that is a signature song and another that the majority won’t know at all,” says Beckett.
The eight-person cast comprises six adults and two children and Beckett says they are all “exceptionally talented.”
“I’m very impressed with the vocal abilities they all have. We’re doing this in a cabaret style so we’re not doing performances or cuttings from the show — it’s all dependent on the vocal. We may even have a couple of tables set up on stage where audience members can come sit up on the stage. It will be the singers and the accompaniment, typically piano,” he says.
Cast members include Amy and Andy Crane and their two kids Eleanor and Wil, Katheryn Hein, Micah Spiece and Jacob West.
Heather Augustyn is a freelance writer.
‘Broadway’s Hits and Hidden Gems’
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday-Sept. 19
Where: Mainstreet Theatre, 807 Franklin, Michigan City
Tickets: $15-$16
Details: 219-874-4269 or www.festivalplayersguild.org/