LYONS FALLS — The Adirondack Community Chorus, directed by Peg Nuspliger, will present “Now That’s a Musical!” at 3 p.m. Sunday at Forest Presbyterian Church, 4019 Center St.
The free concert traces musical theater from the early 20th century to the modern musical of today.
Hosts and featured soloists Claire Haile and Michael Ferris, with accompanist Mel Chalker, will guide the audience through selections from Irving Berlin’s “America,” “Rodgers and Hammerstein on Broadway,” “West Side Story,” “Sondheim, a Choral Celebration,” “Sunday” from “Sunday in the Park with George” and Lyn Manuel-Miranda’s “Found/Tonight.”
Irving Berlin, a Russian-American composer and lyricist, started an international dance craze with his first big hit “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” in 1911. As Walter Cronkite noted at the composer’s 100th birthday tribute, Mr. Berlin “helped write the story of this country, capturing the best of who we are and the dreams that shape our lives.” The chorus will perform his “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “Blue Skies,” “Always,” and “God Bless America”— with a tap dance by Anna Engstrom to “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”
For most audiences, the word “musical” brings to mind the form known as a “book musical,” in which the songs blend seamlessly with dancing and acting to tell a story and develop the characters. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1943 classic “Oklahoma” is generally considered to be the first book musical, and the title song will be presented by the chorus.
Other selections by Rodgers and Hammerstein will include “I Whistle a Happy Tune” with a solo by Becky Kelly, “Do Re Mi” by selected elementary students from the Adirondack Central School District, “It Might as Well be Spring,” with a solo by Olivia King, and a dance number by Anna Engstrom and Michael Ferris to “Shall We Dance.” Terry Marcy is the featured soloist in “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
The musical journey continues with selections from “West Side Story,” which first appeared on Broadway in 1957, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. “West Side Story” is a musical tragedy, inspired by Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” The most recent iteration, as a film by Stephen Spielberg, was nominated for seven Academy Awards, and has already won three Golden Globes.
The chorus will present “I Feel Pretty,” “Maria,” “Somewhere,” and “One Hand, One Heart.” Anna Engstrom, Michelle Smith and Judelle White dance to “America;” and an ensemble with Claire Haile, Judelle White, Michael Ferris, Don Mallette and Steve Kennison will sing “Tonight.”
Mr. Sondheim’s greatest hits continue, with selections including: “Into the Woods,” with soloist Elizabeth Zehr; “Putting it Together” with a solo by Mary Leach; “Not While I’m Around,” featuring a duet by Dan Austin and Anna Morley; “Losing my Mind,” with a solo by Margaret Haenlin.
Miyako Schanley and Jean Bird are a featured duet in “The Little Things You Do.” “Sunday,” from “Sunday in the Park with George,” bookends the Sondheim repertoire.
The concert will close with the contemporary, hip-hop influenced “Found/Tonight,” by Lin-Manuel Miranda — a mash-up of one song from “Hamilton” and one from “Dear Evan Hansen” — with a solo by Todd Galarneau.
Founded in 1976, the Adirondack Community Chorus is comprised of singers who represent the farthest reaches of the Adirondack region. In “Now That’s a Musical!” participating faculty and students represent Lowville Academy, South Lewis Central School and Adirondack Central School. Singers come from as far away as Blue Mountain Lake, and from many villages: Barneveld, Remsen, Boonville, Forestport, Brantingham, Old Forge, Inlet, Eagle Bay, Constableville, Port Leyden, Lyons Falls and Lowville.
This program is made possible in part by the Kenneth V. and Jeanette Remp Sawyer Community Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation.
Donations are accepted, and will be used to fund future concerts. The snow date for the March 6 concert is Sunday, March 13.
