An Evening of Mask-U-Line Broadway Entertainment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 3, 2010
Media Contact: Marsha Roscoe, Public Relations Chair
Phone: 717-533-8449
HERSHEY SYMPHONY PRESENTS AN EVENING OF MASK-U-LINE BROADWAY ENTERTAINMENT
HERSHEY, PA - Combine the cachet of Broadway's beloved Phantom of the Opera with three extraordinary performers who have played the Phantom and what you have is an evening of Mask-uline entertainment set to open the Hershey Symphony Orchestra's forty-first season.
On September 10, 2010, 8:00 p.m., Hershey Theatre, the Hershey Symphony Orchestra's presentation of "Three Phantoms in Concert" will feature tenors Cris Groenendaal, Ron Bohmer and Craig Schulman, who have all portrayed the starring role in the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, "The Phantom of the Opera." Under the direction of Music Director Dr. Sandra Dackow, the Hershey Symphony Orchestra will accompany the trio.
From the creator of Broadway NightsTM, Three Phantoms In Concert highlights the individual talents of three artists who have all played the Phantom, featuring solo numbers from the shows that made them the stars that they have become. The concert features solos, duets and trios, all from the Broadway male repertoire. Featuring songs from Les Misérables, The Phantom Of The Opera, and the program also includes numbers from Guys and Dolls, Company, Kiss Me Kate, Most Happy Fella, The Secret Garden, Damn Yankees, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sweeney Todd and many more.
About Tenor Craig Schulman
Invited to represent the U.S. at the 10th Anniversary of Les Misérables in London, Craig Schulman is the only actor in the United States to have portrayed three of the greatest musical theatre roles: the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd-Webber's The Phantom Of The Opera; Jean Valjean in Les Misérables; and the title roles in Jekyll & Hyde. He has portrayed Jean Valjean in four different companies in three countries for a total of over 1,900 performances. Widely recognized from the PBS broadcast of The 10th Anniversary: Les Misérables In Concert; he has also played Che in Evita, Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof, and Archibald in The Secret Garden.
Schulman moves freely between the worlds of Broadway, opera and symphonic pops programs. He has appeared with many opera companies around the U.S., singing leading tenor roles in The Tales of Hoffmann, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Carmen, Die Fledermaus, La Bohéme, La Traviata, The Crucible, and Manon.
As a Pops artist, he is the creator and producer of the BROADWAY NIGHTSTM concert series. Craig has appeared in all six of the BROADWAY NIGHTSTM programs with symphonies and at corporate events around the country, and individually with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Philadelphia Pops with Skitch Henderson. He sang for the 40th Anniversary Gala for Opera Memphis. In September, 2000, he debuted his new solo symphony concert entitled, "Heroes, Monsters & MadmenTM".
Craig recorded his debut CD called Craig Schulman On Broadway in January at Abbey Road Studios, with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London. It is now available on the Broadway Gems Records label at www.BroadwayGemsRecords.com.
Television credits include The Guiding Light, All My Children, One Life To Live and most recently, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and NBC's Weekend Today. He can be heard as the voices of both "Luciano Pavarotti" and "Placido Domingo" on MTV's Claymation Celebrity Death Match.
About Tenor Ron Bohmer
Ron Bohmer, currently starring in Disney's High School Musical, has earned a reputation as one of Broadway's most versatile leading men. He recently appeared as Sir Percival Glyde in the Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Woman In White. Ron was chosen to star as the Phantom in The Phantom Of The Opera, Joe Gillis in Sunset Blvd., and Alex in Aspects Of Love throughout the United States and Canada. Ron received a Jefferson Award Best Actor nomination for his work in Sunset Blvd. His other Broadway roles include the title role in The Scarlet Pimpernel (for which he received the National Broadway Theatre Award's Best Actor nomination), Enjolras in Les Misérables, and Fyedka in Fiddler on the Roof (B'way debut). Ron also appeared in New York's long-running comedy hit I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. Off-Broadway roles include - Sebastian in The Thing About Men, Howard in The Joys of Sex, the title role in The Third Person, and Forbidden Broadway (2005 Drama Desk award). Regional Performances include the title role in Floyd Collins at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Volodya in Bed & Sofa at the Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia (best actor nomination - Barrymore Award), the title role in the U.S. premiere of Dracula at North Shore Music Theatre, the title role in Phantom at Salt Lake's Pioneer Theatre, and Billy in Anything Goes at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.
Television roles include Law & Order SVU, Rescue Me, Ryan's Hope and As The World Turns. He has appeared in numerous commercials for Walt Disney's Animal Kingdom and McDonald's.
Recordings - 2 solo CD's, everyman and another life, and the cast recordings of The Thing About Men and Forbidden Broadway-S.V.U.
In concert, Ron has appeared with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, at Radio City Music Hall and at New York City's Town Hall. For more info and images: www.ronbohmer.com
About Tenor Cris Groenendaal
After originating the role of André in the Broadway production of The Phantom Of The Opera, Cris went on to play the role of the Phantom some 860 performances with the New York, Toronto and Canadian National companies. Other Broadway credits include Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd, the roles of George, the Soldier and Louis the Baker in Sunday In The Park With George (both shows were recreated for PBS), Major Rizzolli in Passion and Miles Gloriosus in the 1996 revival of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. He originated the role of 'Father' in the National Tour of Ragtime and most recently portrayed Jules in the Kennedy Center revival of Sunday In The Park With George. With the New York City, Cleveland, Portland, Tulsa and Syracuse Opera Companies he has played such roles as Count Danilo in The Merry Widow, the title role in Candide, Captain Corcoran in HMS Pinafore, the Caliph in Kismet, and Ravenal in Show Boat.
Mr. Groenendaal's solo Broadway/cabaret show has been featured with the symphony orchestras of Phoenix, AZ; Erie, PA; Wheeling, WV; Southwest Florida (Ft. Myers) and Rochester, MN, and has been performed in recital for voice and piano at the Performing Arts Centers in Anchorage, AK, Nantucket, MA and Hilton Head, SC; for Fairbanks Light Opera, Alaska and at the Hawaii Theater Center. Other concert performances include a Carnegie Hall debut (1994); a televised Boston Pops, the Montreal Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic; the Moscow Radio and TV Orchestra and the Russian Philharmonic. Presently, he regularly appears with symphony orchestras in the Three Phantoms In Concert program.
Mr. Groenendaal and his wife, Sue Anderson, have produced two solo albums: Always and A Christmas Wish. Other recordings include the role of Billy Crocker on EMI's Anything Goes, RCA's A Stephen Sondheim Evening and Book-of-the-Month Records' Songs of New York and Sondheim albums.
To Order Tickets:
Tickets are $39 and $29 and are now available for purchase through the Hershey Theatre Box office at 717-534-3405.
About the Hershey Symphony Orchestra
The purpose of the Hershey Symphony Orchestra Society is to foster, promote and increase the musical knowledge and appreciation of the general public and volunteer musicians, by operating and maintaining a symphony orchestra and presenting performances of music. For more information, please visit our website at www.hersheysymphony.org.
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