Featuring Broadway stars Debbie Gravitte, Susan Egan, Sal Viviano, and William Michals

Program celebrates centennial of Broadway composer Jule Styne

The annual favorite “Broadway Showstoppers” closes Peter Nero and the Philly Pops’^® 2005-06 season with the show-stopping numbers that bring down the house and bring audiences to their feet.  The concerts feature stars whose performances have delighted audiences and critics on Broadway and beyond: Debbie Gravitte (Tony Award winner for Jerome Robbins’ Birthday), Susan Egan (Beauty and the Beast, Cabaret, and Thoroughly Modern Millie), Sal Viviano (Chicago, The Full Monty, Evita, and Sunday in the Park with George), and William Michals (Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Chicago, and Beauty and the Beast).  Performances take place on May 3 and 5-7 in Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (see calendar below for concert times).  

The program celebrates, among others, the music of Jule Styne, composer of such Broadway classics as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Peter Pan, Gypsy, and Funny Girl.  The year 2006 marks the centennial of Mr. Styne’s birth. 

PLEASE NOTE: Megan Mullally and Brian D’Arcy James, who were originally scheduled to perform on this concert series, have been replaced by Debbie Gravitte and Sal Viviano.  William Michals, whose performance was not originally announced, has been added to these concerts. 

Debbie Gravitte won a Tony Award for her performance in Jerome Robbin’s Broadway and has appeared in Perfectly Frank (Drama Desk nomination), Les Miserables, They’re Playing Our Song, Blues in the Night, A’int Broadway Grand, and Zorba.  Ms. Gravitte has sung with numerous orchestras including the National Symphony Orchestra (with Marvin Hamlisch) and the Boston Pops.  On television, she co-starred on the CBS series Trial and Error and has been seen on NBC’s Pursuit of Happiness as well as on several PBS specials, including Live from the Kennedy Center, “The Boston Pops Celebrate Bernstein,” and “Ira Gershwin’s 100th Birthday Celebration from Carnegie Hall.”  Ms. Gravitte has made over 30 recordings including three solo CDs. 

Susan Egan won critical acclaim as the original Belle in Beauty and the Beast, garnering Tony and Drama Desk nominations.  Her other Broadway appearances include Thoroughly Modern Millie (Millie), Cabaret (Sally Bowles), Triumph of Love (Leonide), and State Fair (Margy).  Her film credits include 13 Going on 30 with Jennifer Garner, and she has provided the voices of Meg (Disney’s Hercules) and Lin English (American release of Japan’s Spirited Away).  She has appeared on TV’s Nikki, Gotta Kick It Up, NUMB3RS, NYPD Blue, Arli$$, Drew Carey, Party of Five, Great Performances, and more.  Ms. Egan has sung with more than 30 symphonies nationwide, including many Hollywood Bowl appearances, and has made over 40 recordings. 

Sal Viviano has starred in Broadway’s Chicago, The Full Monty, Romance/Romance, City of Angels, Falsettos, The Life, and The Three Musketeers.  Off Broadway, he co-starred in Gold, the Musical; Beau Jest; Cather County; Weird Romance; Catch Me if I Fall; and Broadway Jukebox.  His tours include Evita (Che), Anything Goes! (Billy), The Pirates of Penzance (Frederic), Hair (Berger), and Sunday in the Park with George (George).  He has appeared on TV’s Law and Order and All My Children and in the film Legally Blonde 2.  Mr. Viviano has sung concerts with orchestras throughout the U.S., and has performed by invitation at the Regan White House and for the Inaugural Concert of Bill Clinton and Al Gore.   He has over 50 recordings to his credit. 

William Michals made his Broadway debut in Beauty and the Beast (Beast, then Gaston) and has starred in Les Misérables (Javert), Phantom of the Opera (Phantom), The Music Man (Harold Hill), Man of La Mancha (Don Quixote), Chicago (Billy Flynn), The Sound of Music (Captain von Trapp), Camelot (Lancelot), and The Scarlet Pimpernel (Chauvelin).  His numerous operatic roles include Escamillo in Carmen, Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro, and Papageno in The Magic Flute.  He has appeared on such TV shows as Law and Order, All My Children, and Guiding Light.  His voice was broadcast around the world when he sang “Let There Be Peace On Earth” on December 11, 2001, at Ground Zero in New York City. 

Peter Nero has built an impressive career as a conductor, arranger, composer, and master pianist.  “If he weren’t such a superb musician, Peter Nero might be easy to dismiss as a mere great entertainer,” notes Peter Dobrin, music critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Dobrin goes on to say, “In musicians’ parlance, Nero’s got chops.”   Dubbed by the Washington Post as “…the epitome of the Pops Conductor/Performer,” Mr. Nero won the Grammy Award for “Best New Artist” in 1961 and since that time has garnered 10 additional nominations and released 67 albums.  Mr. Nero recently returned from two highly successful performances with the Dayton Philharmonic featuring Senator John Glenn as narrator on Mr. Nero’s multimedia piece Voyage into Space.  His recent guest performances include engagements with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center; the Saint Louis, Pacific, Detroit, and Virginia Symphony Orchestras; and the Buffalo Philharmonic.  A Steinway artist for close to 50 years, Mr. Nero returned to Carnegie Hall in 2003 to perform at the 150th Anniversary of Steinway Gala with many noted pianists, including Billy Taylor, Herbie Hancock, and Michel Legrand.   Mr. Nero has made numerous television appearances on national networks as well as PBS.  He is the recipient of six Honorary Doctorates and in 1999 received the Pennsylvania Distinguished Arts Award.

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops was founded in 1979 under the leadership of two-time Grammy Award-winning virtuoso pianist, conductor, and performer Peter Nero.  As founding music director, Mr. Nero’s unique and extraordinary talents have helped to create and develop innovative programming blending all musical genres.  In turn, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops concerts have produced continuously growing and loyal audiences.  One of America’s premier pops orchestras and a significant part of Philadelphia’s cultural scene, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops subscriptions have nearly doubled since the 2000-01 season, as have single ticket sales.  The Official Pops Orchestra of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops performs to regularly sold-out audiences as a resident company of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. 

          Now entering its 27th season, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops continues to delight current audiences, while cultivating new audiences throughout the region.  Peter Nero’s imaginative programming has made Philly Pops concerts unique and widely popular in the pops world.  His program concepts and participation as piano soloist have been received with boundless enthusiasm and acclaim.  POPS concerts run the gamut from great classics to jazz improvisation, big band to Broadway hits, ragtime to rock ‘n’ roll.  Guest artists join the POPS each season – established artists as well as outstanding new vocalists from Broadway and the concert stage.  The Voices of The POPS, the resident vocal group, has become a member of the Philly Pops family as well.  Since the summer of 1981, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops has served as musical host for the City of Philadelphia’s July 4th and Labor Day festivities. They have been joined by James Earl Jones, who read from the Declaration of Independence, and other great talents including Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Ray Charles, and Dionne Warwick.  On July 4, 2005, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops performed for over a half million people on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, welcoming guests Sir Elton John, Patti LaBelle, and Bryan Adams. 

Peter Nero and the Philly Pops was featured on ABC-TV’s “Independence Day 2001,” a live, star-studded national broadcast, sharing the stage with such renowned stars as Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Whoopi Goldberg, and Garth Brooks.  They also had the honor of performing at the opening of the National Constitution Center in 2003 and participating on National Public Radio’s nation-wide radio broadcast on July 4, 2002.  Earlier that year, Mr. Nero’s good friend, U.S. Senator and former astronaut John Glenn, appeared with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops in a special performance of Mr. Nero’s original composition Voyage into Space.  During the 2003-04 season, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops celebrated its 25th anniversary.  One of the most significant events of that year was the signing of a three-CD contract with DRG Records, making them one of only a few orchestras in the country with such a deal.

There have been many memorable moments for Peter Nero and the Philly Pops including a debut performance at New York City’s Carnegie Hall on February 6, 1984, with another visit to the prestigious concert hall in May 1997.  Peter Nero and the Philly Pops was the featured performer at Philadelphia’s “We the People” concert, the 1987 celebration of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, broadcast nationally on CBS-TV.  Other distinctions include performing at the Washington, D.C., gala to commemorate NASA’s 40th anniversary in 1998, and a performance for the Republican Governor’s Association at the Republican National Convention during the summer of 2000.  More information about Peter Nero and the Philly Pops can be found at www.phillypops.org.