The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance Department of Musical Theatre presents a special 25 th Anniversary Concert on Saturday, March 21 at 8 PM in Hill Auditorium. Featuring current students of the department and alumni in collaboration with members of the UM Symphony Band, the 25 th Anniversary Concert celebrates the silver anniversary of this program with a wide variety of musical numbers, dances and musical theatre overtures. Faculty members Brent Wagner, Linda Goodrich, Mark Madama direct and choreograph, with Cynthia Kortman Westphal conducting members of the University Symphony Band.
Since the mid 1980s, UM Musical Theatre alumni have made an impressive and indelible mark on Broadway. From its humble beginnings with one production and a handful of students, the Department has grown to the powerhouse it is today, garnering over 600 applications last year for a coveted 20 spots in the freshman class. Its graduates are starring on Broadway, performing at regional theatres throughout the country, touring in shows around the world, composing, casting, and producing blockbuster shows. Now in its 25th year, the program that helped cultivate the talent and foster the dreams of many successful alumni is widely recognized as a preeminent training ground for American musical theatre performers.
The 25 th Anniversary Concert brings together more than 50 graduates with current students in a varied program of songs from past UM productions and from shows in which graduates have performed on Broadway. Numbers include songs from The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Jersey Boys, Wicked, Avenue Q, Big River, Anything Goes, Rent, and Candide, among others. The evening will also feature an overture written specially for the concert by SMTD graduate Sam Davis, winner of a Jonathan Larson Award for upcoming theatre composers. Alumni scheduled to perform include Detroit native Celia Keenan-Bolger (Spelling Bee, Les Miz), Daniel Reichard (Jersey Boys, Candide), Justin Paul (composer of Edges), Doug LaBreque (international concert artist and Battle Creek native), and many more. Other guests include music director Ben Whiteley (UM's Carousel and Jesus Christ Superstar) who is currently conducting the national tour of Spamalot, composer Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), whose daughter is a current student in the Department, Alan Eisenberg (former Executive Director of Actor's Equity), and retired Musical Theatre Associate Professor Jerry DePuit.
"It's a one-night only coming together of the past, present, and future of the musical theatre program," states Wagner, Chair of the Department. "Audiences will be amazed to see for themselves the impact the University of Michigan is having on American musical productions." In recent years, U-M graduates have drawn critical acclaim for their performances on Broadway, including Tony Award nominations for U-M alums Hunter Foster (Little Shop of Horrors), Erin Dilly (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), Gavin Creel (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Spelling Bee), Jennifer Thompson (Urinetown), and Matthew Rego (producer for Urinetown, Wicked, The Wedding Singer, and Boeing-Boeing (winner).
