Peter Nero and the Philly Pops® opens its 30th anniversary season with the sensational hit series “Broadway Showstoppers”
09/25/2008Series features Broadway stars Anne Runolfsson, Julia Murney, and Gary Mauer
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops open its 30th anniversary season with the sensational annual hit series known as Broadway Showstoppers! Once again, Peter Nero combines Broadway’s most exceptional talent with the magic of The POPS by inviting three of New York’s top talents to share the stage for these performances. Broadway star Anne Runolfsson (James Joyce’s The Dead, Victor/Victoria), Julia Murney (Wicked, The Wild Party) and POPS veteran Gary Mauer (The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables), perform Broadway’s biggest hits together with “the best orchestra of its kind in the entire cosmos” in one absolutely unforgettable performance!
The 30th anniversary season kicks off with Broadway Showstoppers performances on October 5, 8, 10-12, 2008, in Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (see calendar below for concert times). Additional performances of this exciting program will be presented in Trenton, NJ, on September 27 and in West Chester, PA, on October 19.
Since its inception in 1979, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops has become one of America’s premier pops orchestras, entertaining regularly sold-out audiences with an eclectic blend of jazz, classical, rock ’n’ roll, big band, Broadway, and movie music with an impressive array of guest artists. The 2008-09 30th anniversary season is no exception, complete with the sounds of Broadway, Frank Sinatra, jazz, Hollywood, and other popular favorites.
Peter Nero
“If the perfect pops conductor could be conjured, … he might answer to this description,” wrote Philadelphia Inquirer music critic Peter Dobrin. “Huge talent with polymath abilities and catholic tastes. Musician who actually enjoys giving audiences what they want. Plays piano like a dream. … [H]e might look something like Peter Nero.”
“Nero … plays with the energy of a 20-year-old rock and roll drummer,” noted the Palm Beach Daily News on March 26, 2008. “His Juilliard training shows in the cleanliness of his technique and in his control of the tone of the piano. His technical arsenal includes brilliant passage work, rapid bass lines, arpeggio-like figures ascending and descending, and subtle dynamic variations. His fast playing is thrilling, and his slow playing is marked by a beautiful lyricism.”
“Nero’s love for the idiom, of course, couldn’t be clearer, and it’s hard to fault his touch, tone production and technical facility, all bespeaking a high level of achievement,” said David Adler of the Philadelphia Inquirer of Nero during a recent solo performance in April 2008.
“At a Pops concert, it’s easy to get swept away by the crash of the orchestra or the dazzle of a guest artist, yet when Mr. Nero sits down to do what he does best, we can appreciate that all these things originate from the man on the piano bench,” wrote Lindsay Warner of the Bulletin.
A two-time Grammy®-Award winner and 10-time nominee, Mr. Nero has built an impressive career as a conductor, arranger, composer, and master pianist. For his ability to pick just the right material, he most recently was dubbed “Dr. Feelgood.” Named “the epitome of the Pops Conductor/Performer” by the Washington Post, Mr. Nero won the Grammy® Award for “Best New Artist” in 1961, another in 1962 for Best Performance and Arrangement by an Instrumentalist, and since that time has garnered 10 additional nominations and released 67 albums. He also possesses an Emmy for his participation in the NBC special “S’Wonderful, S’Marvelous, S’Gershwin,” with Jack Lemmon as host.
Mr. Nero’s recent guest performances include engagements with the Indianapolis Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Charlotte Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Baltimore Symphony, among others. On January 27, 2007, Mr. Nero performed at the Academy of Music 150th Anniversary Concert, joining rock icon Rod Stewart from the piano on “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.” Maestro Nero was a guest soloist on Mr. Stewart’s second of four recordings, As Time Goes By ... The Great American Songbook, Vol. 2. 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
One of America’s premier pops orchestras, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops was founded in 1979 under the musical leadership of Peter 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.
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops has played a role in the City of Philadelphia’s Fourth of July celebration for over 25 years. On July 3, 2008, for the fifth consecutve year, Peter and The POPS performed a free outdoor concert in front of Independence Hall. This immensely popular annual event, which includes a musical tribute to all branches of the armed forces, draws thousands of attendees. This year’s concert also featured Peter and The POPS performing music for the wedding of premier historic re-enactors Ralph Archbold and Linda Wilde, better known to Philadelphians as Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross. On July 4, 2006, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops performed a free outdoor concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Their concert on the Parkway 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.
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops celebrated its 25th anniversary during the 2003-04 season and is looking forward to celebrating its 30th anniversary during the 2008-09 season. 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.
Guest Artists
Anne Runolfsson recently completed a two-year run on Broadway as Carlotta Giudacelli in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. Her other Broadway and national tour credits include Victor/Victoria, James Joyce’s The Dead, Les Misérables, Cyrano—The Musical, The Secret Garden, and Aspects of Love. Ms. Runolfsson has performed with the National and Jerusalem symphonies; the Boston Pops; the Orchestra of St. Luke’s; the Hong Kong Philharmonic; and the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Baltimore, Seattle, Toronto, Detroit, Houston, Minnesota, and Saint Louis, among others. This season she will make her debuts with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops and the Atlanta Symphony. She was awarded the Manhattan Association of Cabaret Award for Best Female Vocalist and was a Drama League Honoree for Cyrano—The Musical. Her recordings include the international cast album of Les Misérables, Listen to My Heart, Broadway Musicals of 1933, and her debut solo recording, At Sea.
Julia Murney’s New York appearances include Wicked, Lennon, Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party, Saved, The Vagina Monologues, Crimes of the Heart, A Class Act, Time and Again, and First Lady Suite. She was also part of the first national tour of Wicked. Her regional credits include appearances at the Pioneer Theatre, Virginia Stage, Goodspeed, O’Neill Theatre Center, Reprise! Theatre Company in Los Angeles, and in Willamstown. Ms. Murney has been seen on television shows including Sex and the City, Ed, NYPD Blue, all three Law and Order series, in addition to frequent voiceover work. Her recordings include original cast albums of The Wild Party, A Class Act, the Grammy-nominated Actor’s Fund benefit of Hair, and her first solo album, I’m Not Waiting, which is available on Sh-K-Boom records. She is making her Peter Nero and the Philly Pops debut.
Gary Mauer most recently starred in the Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera, playing the leading role of Raoul. His Broadway and national tour credits include Les Misérables and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. He was cast opposite his wife, Elizabeth Southard, in the national tour of Harold Prince’s production of Show Boat. His other roles include Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Anthony in Sweeney Todd, and Frederick in Pirates of Penzance. Mr. Mauer was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and earned a bachelor’s degree in musical theater from the University of Arizona in Tucson.He has performed with symphony orchestras all over the world including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Chicago, Colorado, Phoenix, San Diego, and Utah symphonies. He has also toured as part of the BRAVO Broadway! concert series. Mr. Mauer is featured on two CDs entitled Bravo Broadway! He enjoys spending his days with his wife; son, Nicholas; and daughter, Eden.
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops®
Broadway Showstoppers!
Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
September 27 at 8:00 p.m. – Saturday evening (Trenton War Memorial, Trenton, NJ)
October 5 at 3:00 p.m. – Sunday afternoon
October 8 at 8:00 p.m. – Wednesday evening
October 10 at 8:00 p.m. – Friday evening
October 11 at 3:00 p.m. – Saturday afternoon
October 12 at 3:00 p.m. – Sunday afternoon
October 19 at 2:00 p.m. – Sunday afternoon (Asplundh Hall, West Chester University, West Chester, PA)
Peter Nero and the Philly Pops
Peter Nero, conductor and pianist
Anne Runolfsson, vocalist
Julia Murney, vocalist
Gary Mauer, vocalist
Single tickets: $27-$104, 215.893.1999 or www.phillypops.org. For more information on the performance at the Trenton War Memorial, call 609.984.8400. For more information on the performance at West Chester University, call 610.436.1000.
US Airways is the official airline of Peter Nero and the Philly Pops.
CBS 3 is the media sponsor of Peter Nero and the Philly Pops’ 2008-09 season.
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