A buoyant concert by the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra will salute composers of some of the grandest musicals in Broadway history.
“Rodgers & Hammerstein & Webber” is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville.
The lilting works of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, which include “Shall We Dance?” from “The King and I” and “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ “from “Oklahoma!,” along with “Some Enchanted Evening” from “South Pacific” are scheduled for performance.
One of the guest vocalists will be soprano Alisa Jordheim of Milwaukee. She will sing solo on Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “A Wonderful Guy” from “South Pacific.”
“It’s a very uplifting song,” said Jordheim, 29, who also will be in the spotlight for “I Enjoy Being a Girl” from “Flower Drum Song.”
“It’s kind of dated, ” Jordheim said, with lyrics that are “fun” if not representative of contemporary females. “I think it’s also very playful.”
In regard to Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jordheim is scheduled to dip into “The Phantom of the Opera.”
“I am singing, ‘All I Ask of You,’ ” she said. “It’s a beautiful love song.”
Webber material from “Cats” and “Evita” are on tap, with such songs ideal for singers, Jordheim said.
“All of them know how to write for the voice well,” she said. “They’re both fantastic at creating memorable melodies. Rodgers and Hammerstein really focus a lot on relationships between people.”
While versed in performing classical pieces, Jordheim relishes the opportunity to be part of a concert loaded with accessible melodies of the stage.
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“I think this repertoire is just so fun,” Jordheim said. “It’s really fun to sing musical theater.”
Kirk Muspratt, orchestra conductor and music director, stresses the concert’s family appeal.
“The gorgeous, moving and exciting music that spans the 65 years of these brilliant men will be the entire focus of our final concert this season,” Muspratt said in a news release. “It will be a journey taking you from the tunes a cowboy sings in ‘Oklahoma!’ to the hopeless love expressed by a phantom in Paris.”
The Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus and the Munster High School Chorale will perform with the orchestra.
Other guest vocalists will be mezzo-soprano Jacqueline Kerns, tenor Justin Berkowitz and bass singer Corey Crider.
Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance reporter.
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‘Rodgers & Hammerstein & Webber’
Where: Star Plaza Theatre, 8001 Delaware Place, Merrillville
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Tickets: $29 to $69; students $10
Information: 219-836-0525, www.NISOrchestra.org