Peter Nero and the Philly Pops’® 2006-07 season opens with Broadway Showstoppers09/08/2006Program features Broadway stars Liz Callaway, Lisa Howard, and Gary Mauer
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops® opens the 2006-07 season with its signature show, Broadway Showstoppers. Combining the best of Broadway with the magic of The POPS, these performances feature the rousing favorites that bring down the house and bring audiences to their feet. Some of Broadway’s finest talents join Peter and The POPS for this annual favorite: Tony Award nominee Liz Callaway (Miss Saigon and Cats), Lisa Howard (currently on Broadway in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), and symphony Pops favorite Gary Mauer (The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables). Since this season’s Broadway Showstoppers falls near Halloween, the program, in addition to true showstoppers, will also draw from shows with a slightly “darker” mood, such as Jekyll & Hyde, Sweeney Todd, Les Misérables, and Wicked. Performances take place on October 25 and 27-29 in Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (see calendar below for concert times).
Liz Callaway made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along. She has also appeared on Broadway in Baby (for which she earned a Tony Award nomination), Miss Saigon (originating the role of Ellen), and Cats (as Grizabella). She received a Drama Desk Award nomination for her appearance in the Playwright’s Horizons production of The Spitfire Grill. Together, Ms. Callaway and her sister, Ann Hampton Callaway, have created and performed their show Sibling Revelry in London, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Cannes. Their second show together, Relative Harmony, has been seen in New York and Los Angeles. Liz Callaway has performed the singing voices of the title character in the animated feature Anastasia and Princess Jasmine in Disney’s The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Her TV credits include In Performance at the White House, Inside the Actor’s Studio: Stephen Sondheim, and Christmas with the Boston Pops. Ms. Callaway is featured on numerous recordings and has released three solo records: The Beat Goes On, The Story Goes On: Liz Callaway On and Off-Broadway, and Anywhere I Wander: The Music of Frank Loessor. She performed with Peter and The POPS on Broadway Showstoppers during the 2002-03 season.
Lisa Howard is currently starring as Rona Lisa Peretti in William Finn’s Tony Award-winning musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for which she received a Drama Desk Award. She has performed more of William Finn’s music in concert in More Infinite Joy and Even More Infinite Joy at Merkin Recital Hall and The William Finn Tribute at Second Stage. Her one-woman show Inspiration was recently staged at Ars Nova in New York, and she was part of Broadway by the Year, a popular concert series at Town Hall, directed by The Producers’ Brad Oscar. Her musical theater credits range from the national tour of Les Misérables to Silence! The Musical, an outrageous musical version of Silence of the Lambs. She helped develop The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Barrington Stage Company and has performed at regional theaters around the country. Some of her favorite roles include Irene in Crazy for You, Brunhilde in Das Barbecü, and Trina in Finn’s Falsettos.
Gary Mauer recently starred as the Phantom in the touring production of The Phantom of the Opera. Previously, he performed in the Broadway production of Phantom, singing the role of Raoul and covering the Phantom. He played Enjolras in Les Misérables on Broadway and with the show’s national tour in the U.S. and Singapore. He has performed the role of Gaylord Ravenal in the national tour of Show Boat, opposite his wife, Elizabeth Southard. Mr. Mauer was also a featured soloist in the world tour of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, with Michael Crawford. Regionally, Mr. Mauer’s credits include Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Frederick in The Pirates of Penzance, Anthony in Sweeney Todd, and Tony in West Side Story. He has performed with such symphony orchestras as the Chicago Symphony (with Marvin Hamlisch), the Cleveland Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Phoenix Symphony, and the San Diego Symphony, among others.
Two-time Grammy Award-winner 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’s recent guest performances include engagements with the Toledo Symphony and the National Arts Centre Symphony in Ottawa. He makes upcoming appearances with the Charlotte Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Baltimore Symphony, among others. 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.
One of America’s premier pops orchestras, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops was founded in 1979 under the musical leadership of Mr. Nero, whose unique talents and innovative programming blending all musical genres have made their concerts widely popular in the pops world. POPS concerts run the gamut from great classics to jazz improvisation, big band to Broadway hits, ragtime to rock ‘n’ roll. Mr. Nero’s participation as piano soloist has been received with boundless enthusiasm and acclaim. Guest artists—both established stars as well as outstanding new vocalists from Broadway and the concert stage—join The POPS each season. The Voices of The POPS, the resident vocal group, has become a member of the Philly Pops family as well. Peter Nero and the Philly Pops is the Official Pops Orchestra of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a significant part of Philadelphia’s cultural scene. The POPS has produced continuously growing and loyal audiences and performs to regularly sold-out crowds as a resident company of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.
On July 4, 2006, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops performed a free outdoor concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Their concert there the previous Independence Day, featuring Sir Elton John, Patti LaBelle, and Bryan Adams, reached over a half million people. Other notables who have joined them for past city celebrations include James Earl Jones, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Ray Charles, Boyz II Men, and Dionne Warwick.
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. Peter and The POPS had the honor of performing at the opening of the National Constitution Center in 2003, and participating in National Public Radio’s nation-wide radio broadcast on July 4, 2002. Another highlight took place in April 2002, when Astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn made a guest appearance in a special performance of Peter’s original composition Voyage into Space. Peter and The POPS were featured on ABC-TV’s “Independence Day 2001,” a live, star-studded national broadcast, sharing the stage with such luminaries as Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Whoopi Goldberg, and Garth Brooks. More information about Peter Nero and the Philly Pops can be found at www.phillypops.org.
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops®
Broadway Showstoppers
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
October 25 at 8:00 p.m. – Wednesday evening
October 27 at 8:00 p.m. – Friday evening
October 28 at 3:00 p.m. – Saturday afternoon
October 29 at 3:00 p.m. – Sunday afternoon
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops
Peter Nero, conductor and pianist
Liz Callaway, vocalist
Lisa Howard, vocalist
Gary Mauer, vocalist
Single tickets: $35-$100, 215.893.1999 or www.phillypops.org
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