by Mike Telin
On Friday, November 14 at 8:00 pm in Severance Hall, Carl Topilow will conduct the Cleveland POPS Orchestra and Chorus in the world premiere of “Comedy Tonight,” a revue of musical theatre’s more light-hearted moments. The show features Broadway award-winning stars Christine Pedi, Christiane Noll and Jason Graee.
Why did Cleveland POPS decide to create a new Broadway review? “That’s an interesting question,” Carl Topilow said during a recent telephone conversation. “We’ve been working with John Such of Bravo Broadway for many years, and we realized that we have already performed all of his programs.”
But audiences need not worry, Cleveland POPS is a creative team of people, and Topilow credits Gordon Petitt in their marketing office for coming up with the idea of creating the new show. [Read more…]
Last Saturday night under the direction of Randall Craig Fleischer, the Youngstown Symphony began its pops series with One Singular Sensation: A Tribute to the Music of Marvin Hamlisch. All three soloists had worked with Hamlisch (1944-2012), and they seemed to lend a special authenticity to the concert.