PSO Pops! Gives Its Regards to Broadway

PORTLAND, Maine  — The Portland Symphony Orchestra (PSO) Pops! pays tribute to Broadway’s greatest hits of recent years in two performances featuring Broadway singers Nat Chandler and Teri Dale Hansen. Guest conductor Christopher James Lee leads the orchestra and soloists in a program of highlights from Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia, A Chorus Line, Evita and more. Performances of “Greatest Hits of Broadway” are Saturday, November 19 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, November 20 at 2:30 p.m. at Portland’s Merrill Auditorium.

American actor and singing sensation Nat Chandler has appeared on Broadway in The Scarlet Pimpernel as Percy Blakeney. Other career highlights include recent performances as King Arthur in Spamalot, Fred/Petruchio in Kiss Me Kate! and Shaunard in La Boheme for Tampa Opera. Chandler starred as Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera directed by Hal Prince and toured the United States opposite Sarah Brightman in The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Chandler has played the role of Lancelot opposite Robert Goulet’s King Arthur in Camelot, Rapunzel’s Prince in Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, and Lun Tha in The King and I with Yul Brynner.

From opera to Broadway, Teri Dale Hansen has received international recognition for her crossover abilities as a singing actress. Hansen was Rose in the film version of Kurt Weill’s Street Scene. She also starred in the world premiere of Broadway Dreams in March of 2008 as the gala finale of the Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau, Germany, and was the first American ever to perform at the Kurt Weill Festival. Hansen made her Broadway debut in The Boys from Syracuse and starred in London’s West End as Magnolia in Hal Prince’s Tony-award winning production of Show Boat. She has concertized with Marvin Hamlisch nationwide and has starred in the Broadway national tours of The Music Man as “Marian Paroo”, “Guenevere” in Camelot and as “Magnolia” in Show Boat.

Christopher James Lees is a young American conductor and dedicated advocate for contemporary American music, Lees has given premiere performances of numerous orchestral and chamber works, founded a Composer-in-Residence program as Music Director of the Akron Youth Symphony, and served as Associate Conductor of the Boston-based Juventas New Music Ensemble.

Lees is the winner of the 2011 James Conlon Conducting Award from the Aspen Music Festival, under the guidance of Robert Spano, Hugh Wolff, and Larry Rachleff. Lees was also honored as one of only six conductors selected for the Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation National Conductor Preview, hosted by the League of American Orchestras and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

Tickets range from $20-$65 and are available through PortTIX at (207) 842-0800 or www.porttix.com. Phone and internet orders are subject to per-ticket handling fees. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the box office at 20 Myrtle St., Monday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Special pricing for students, seniors, and groups may be available. Subscriptions (up to 20% off single ticket prices) and Compose Your Own packages (10% off single ticket prices) are available all season long.

The 2011-2012 PSO season is sponsored by IDEXX Labs and Wright Express. For complete season information, including artist biographies, program notes and Online Insights, provided with support from Digital Enrichment Sponsor Fairpoint Communications, visit www.portlandsymphony.org.

About the Portland Symphony Orchestra:

Founded in 1923, the Portland Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is the largest performing arts organization in Maine and is widely regarded as one of the top symphony orchestras of its size in the country. Made up of more than 80 professional musicians, the PSO is known for its critically acclaimed performances and broad community engagement.

Selections include:

Highlights from PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, MAMMA MIA!, A CHORUS LINE, EVITA, WICKED, and VICTOR VICTORIA

All That Jazz from CHICAGO

Bring Him Home from LES MISERABLES

I’m Here from THE COLOR PURPLE

Seasons Of Love from RENT

Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You from JERSEY BOYS

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! From MARY POPPINS

I Am What I AM from LA CAGE AUX FOLLES

Send In The Clowns from A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

Let The Sunshine In from HAIR

Memory from CATS

Filed under: Press releases

Tags: broadway, concert, musical, Pops, theater