Bill Bolcom & Joan Morris, The Chenille Sisters Headline Performance NetworkÂ's 30th Anniversary Season Launch Cabaret

In just two weeks, on September 22nd, Performance Network Theatre will launch its 30th anniversary season with a Gala cabaret featuring a variety of beloved local acts. Entertainment for the event was announced today with popular singing trio The Chenille Sisters and Grammy winner Bill Bolcom and Joan Morris at the top of the list. Each act will perform a cabaret set on the evening's theme "Diamonds and Pearls" to coincide with the modern and traditional gifts for a 30th anniversary.

The evening will be Emceed by the always original Malcolm Tulip, a Performance Network Associate Artist and long-time member of the PNT artistic family. Special guests from the theater's past will also take the stage to tell their favorite gems of stories, and offer their pearls of wisdom for the future. Artistic Director David Wolber said "It's going to be a fun, funny, reflective, and even poignant look back on how we got here today. All the backstage stories, the blood, sweat and tears, the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows - they'll all be there. This is going to be an event that no follower of Performance Network will want to miss."

The evening starts at 6:30 p.m. with a VIP reception featuring a buffet dinner provided by local restaurants: Savas, Mercy's at the Bell Tower, West End Grill, Amadeus, Afternoon Delight, The Blue Nile, Arbor Brewing Company, Shakolad, Slap Happy Cookery, and Smart Cookie Gluten-Free Bakery. The performance starts at 8 p.m., and will be immediately followed by a Champagne and Dessert reception with the performers.

THE FULL LIST OF ENTERTAINERS INCLUDES:

Naz Edwards:
Naz was born and raised in Philadelphia. By the age of seven, Naz was taking voice lessons, learning operatic pieces in French and Italian. One day, her teacher placed a mirror in front of her, and announced that she was going to learn something new - which she called "musical theatre." She told Naz to look in the mirror and entertain herself while she sang. Naz was entertained, and never looked back. By her late teens she had her first professional gig, as Adelaide in GUYS AND DOLLS, followed by Fanny in FUNNY GIRL. By the age of twenty Naz had her Actors' Equity card, and was on her way. After a series of regional productions, including THE BAKER'S WIFE (Denise, with Scott Bakula) and CARNIVAL (Rosalie, with Judith Blazer), Naz found herself starring on Broadway as the Leader in ZORBA, with Anthony Quinn and Lila Kedrova. At the end of its Broadway run, the cast of ZORBA went on national tour, during which Naz played to outstanding reviews in every city. At PNT she has been featured in the musicals "She Loves Me," "Little Shop of Horrors," "Souvenir," and "The Drowsy Chaperone," as well as several other comedic and dramatic roles.

Bolcom and Morris:
On their travels throughout the United States, Canada, and abroad, Joan Morris and William Bolcom frequently give master classes focusing on "classic American popular song." Its something they know a thing or two about. In April 2004 Joan was a soloist in the performance of Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and of Experience (texts by William Blake), which celebrated the reopening of the newly-renovated Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The concert, which combined 450 orchestra and chorus members from the University of Michigan School of Music and community with professional soloists, was conducted by Leonard Slatkin. The recording of this event went on to win four Grammy Awards, garnering recognition for her as Soloist on the album. She has also performed Songs with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London's Royal Festival Hall, broadcast live over BBC Radio 3 (1996) and in Costa Mesa with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra (2003). Named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America, and honored with multiple Grammy Awards for his ground-breaking setting of Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience, William Bolcom is a composer of cabaret songs, concertos, sonatas, operas, symphonies, and much more. In addition, He was awarded the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his Twelve New Etudes for piano.

More Articles by This Author...