Thursday, November 6, 2008

Theatre--Contest/Performance

The Performing Arts Society of Acadiana (PASA) and Cox Communications are thrilled to announce 17-year-old Lafayette native, Courtney Svendson, as the winner of the "Singing with the Broadway Stars" contest.

The contest is a companion to the upcoming performance of Neil Berg's widely acclaimed 100 Years of Broadway, a musical revue of Broadway's most celebrated shows, which features a dazzling cast of five Broadway stars accompanied by an all-star New York band.

A panel of judges made up of industry professionals selected Svendson to sing a solo onstage as part of the finale of the Lafayette show. The panel also chose Connie Ledet, Brittany Morvant , Kelly Rowland and Brooklyn Woods as runners-up, all of whom will perform with the entire 100 Years of Broadway cast.

According to San Francisco's KABC radio theater critic, Jerry Friedman, "This revue features some of the best songs from the best Broadway shows, all sung by some of the most talented performers working today, singing many of the hit songs that they have sung on Broadway."

100 Years of Broadway recreates the greatest moments from the finest shows of the century featuring the actual stars of shows such as The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, CATS, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Jekyll & Hyde. These amazing performers light up the stage with songs from the hit shows in which they starred. Neil Berg presents brilliantly revived arrangements of Broadway classics as well as thrilling numbers from Broadway's newest hit shows.

Past productions of this popular show have featured Betty Buckley, Liz Callaway, Ben Vereen, and Alex Santoriello among others. Along with musical director and pianist Neil Berg, the Heymann Center production will feature Rita Harvey (Christine Daee, Phantom of the Opera), Ray McLeod (Wreck, Wonderful Town), Carter Calvert (Grizabella,Cats), Danny Zolli (Jesus, Jesus Christ Superstar), and Erick Buckley (Jean Valjean, Les Miserables).

100 Years of Broadway will be at the Heymann Center on Thursday November 13 at 7:30 p.m. for one night only. Tickets are on sale at all TicketMaster outlets, online at www.pasa-online.org or by calling the TicketMaster office at (337) 262-8686.

The auditions for the contest ended Friday October 31, at 5 p.m. and was open to anyone ages 15 years or older. Interested applicants submitted video through social networking sites Myspace, Facebook and Youtube or if they did not have access to a video camera, Acadiana Open Channel (AOC) filmed auditions at no charge and, assisted applicants with uploading their video to the competition website. All entrants received an automatic 15% discount on tickets to the show.

Tickets for Neil Berg's 100 Years of Broadway performance are on sale at all TicketMaster outlets, online at www.pasa-online.org or by calling the TicketMaster office at (337) 262-8686.

For more information about the Performing Arts Society of Acadiana please visit us online at www.pasa-online.org or contact PASA at (337) 237-2787.

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