Marissa McGowan will perform with the New Jersey Festival Orchestra at Westfield High School, New Year’s Eve.
Broadway stars will sing with the New Jersey Festival Orchestra at “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” a revue featuring music from stage, screen and television musicals, New Year’s Eve at 7 p.m. at the Westfield High School Auditorium.
David Wroe will conduct the orchestra, which was originally known as the Westfield Symphony Orchestra but adopted the new name in 2013. The lineup of vocalists will include (with some of their Broadway credits in parentheses) sopranos Marissa McGowan (“A Little Night Music,” “Les Misérables,” “Bonnie and Clyde”) and Hannah Shankman (“Les Misérables,” “Wicked,” “Side Show”) and tenors Michael Mendez (“Chaplin”) and Adam Monley (“Les Misérables,” “Mamma Mia!”). Monley also recently played Mr. Banks in a production of “Mary Poppins” at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn.”
In a press release, Wroe described the show as “a chance for adults to reminisce to songs they all know, for kids to learn more about and enjoy some of the most exciting characters to grace the stage and screen, and for us all to revel in the genius of America’s finest composers.”
Wroe added: “The fun of this program comes from the interaction of our guest artists and orchestra as well as the great repertoire. It’s music that calls for dramatic interpretation, drawing comedic, heartbreaking, passionate and exhilarating performances from all.”
Tickets are $42 to $70, with a $15 discount for those younger than 18; visit njfestivalorchestra.org.
(For a chance to win two tickets, send an email to njartscontest@gmail.com by midnight Dec. 26, with the word “NJFO” in the subject line.)
We need your help!
CONTRIBUTE TO NJARTS.NET
Since launching in September 2014, NJArts.net, a 501(c)(3) organization, has become one of the most important media outlets for the Garden State arts scene. And it has always offered its content without a subscription fee, or a paywall. Its continued existence depends on support from members of that scene, and the state’s arts lovers. Please consider making a contribution of any amount to NJArts.net via PayPal, or by sending a check made out to NJArts.net to 11 Skytop Terrace, Montclair, NJ 07043.
