New Haven, CT (November 20, 2013): It’s the most wonderful time of the year at the New Haven Symphony Orchestra Pops and we are celebrating with a Holiday Extravaganza- A Mensch’s Christmas. Tony-Award winner Judy Kaye, baritone Joshua Jeremiah, and conductor Michael Barrett will get audiences in the holiday spirit by performing Christmas songs by Jewish composers. Friday, December 13 at 8:00pm at Fairfield University’s Quick Center for the Arts, Saturday, December 14 at 2:30pm at Hamden Middle School, and Sunday, December 15 at 3:00pm at Shelton Intermediate School.
Maestro Barrett, a protégé of Leonard Bernstein, has put together a program of holiday favorites, including pieces from The Nutcracker, Christmas standards like “White Christmas” and “Silver Bells,” and fun tunes for the (grand)kids like “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Let it Snow.” This will be a wonderful event for the whole family to enjoy. Shelton is already sold out and tickets in Hamden are selling fast at www.NewHavenSymphony.org!
JUDY KAYE is coming off a banner year when she won the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards for her leading role in Nice Work if You Can Get It. She won her first Tony for The Phantom of the Opera and highlights of her career include Souvenir (Tony nomination, Theatre L.A. Ovation Award as Best Actress), Mamma Mia (Tony, Drama Desk nominations), Ragtime (Theatre LA Ovation Award), On the Twentieth Century (Theatre World Award, Drama Desk nomination). Ms. Kaye has also been Mrs. Lovett in a number of productions of Sweeney Todd, including the most recent Broadway production and National Tour and in London with the original Sweeney, Len Cariou. Others include Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, Follies, and Tales of the City.
JOSHUA JEREMIAH’s roles at New York City Opera include Junior in A Quiet Place (cover), Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. His Rose Theater debut with the company was as a soloist in Who Are You New York: The Songs of Rufus Wainwright and an All-Bernstein concert at Lincoln Center. Most recently he was heard as Don Pedro in La Périchole and the Deputy Mayor in the Opera’s final production, Anna Nicole. Skilled across many genres, Joshua has incorporated both musical theater and staged theater into his repertoire. On the operatic side, he has performed the roles of Alidoro in La Cenerentola, Sam in A Quiet Place, La Rocca in Un giorno di regno, the title role of Gianni Schicchi, the title role in Falstaff, Silvio in Pagliacci, Leporello in Don Giovanni, and Peter in Hänsel und Gretel.
MICHAEL BARRETT is co-founder and associate artistic director of the critically acclaimed New York Festival of Song. He is also the Artists Advisor for the Caramoor International Music Festival. In 1992 Mr. Barrett and his wife Leslie Tomkins founded The Moab Music Festival in Utah, for which he serves as music director. He has distinguished himself as a conductor with major orchestras here and abroad in the symphonic, operatic, and dance repertoire. A protégé of Leonard Bernstein, he began his long association with the renowned conductor and composer as a student in 1982, and served as Maestro Bernstein’s assistant conductor from 1985–1990. He currently serves as Music Advisor to the Leonard Bernstein Estate
Tickets ($35, $45) for the Hamden and Shelton performances can be purchased through the NHSO Box Office at 203.865.0831 x10 or www.NewHavenSymphony.org. Student tickets are always $10; KidTix (ages 6-17) are free with a paying adult. Bring the (grand) kids to these afternoon shows!
Tickets ($35, $45) for the Fairfield performance can be purchased through the Quick Center Box Office at 203.254.4010 or www.fairfield.edu/arts/quickcenterforthearts/
Shelton Pops Series Sponsor R.D. Scinto; Hamden Pops Series Sponsor Whitney Center; Season Media Sponsor New Haven Register; Fairfield Media Sponsor Fairfield County Weekly.
