Now celebrating its Fifth Anniversary Season, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County proudly presents the return to the Adrienne Arsht Center of the famed Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, under the baton of renowned conductor Keith Lockhart, on March 19, 2011 at 8 p.m. in the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall. The program will honor the marvelous Cole Porter in celebration of the 120th anniversary of his birth. Porter’s saucy style will come to life with special guests Kelli O’Hara, who recently starred in the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of South Pacific, and Jason Danieley, who most recently starred on Broadway in the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal. Highlights of the tribute, entitled You’ll Get a Kick Out of Cole,include Porter’s iconic songs: “Night and Day,” “I Get A Kick Out of You,” “Begin the Beguine,” “It’s De-Lovely,” “What Is This Thing Called Love?,” plus much more. Works by Berlin, Bernstein, Gershwin, and Rodgers will also be performed.
The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra is the third engagement of the new four-concert 2010-2011 Signature Pops Series as part of the John S. and James L. Knight Masterworks Season.
Tickets range from $50 to $125 and may be purchased through the Adrienne Arsht Center box office by calling (305) 949-6722, or online at www.arshtcenter.org.
A supreme tunesmith and witty wordsmith, Cole Porter was one of the greatest contributors to the Great American Songbook and one of the few Tin Pan Alley composers to have written both the lyrics and music for his songs.
“We are thrilled to showcase the timeless tunes of this great American songwriting icon, interpreted by two of today’s most celebrated Broadway stars and performed by one of America’s most treasured musical institutions,” said M. John Richard, president and CEO of the Adrienne Arsht Center.
Kelli O’Hara has unequivocally established herself as one of Broadway’s great leading ladies. She recently starred in the Tony Award-winning revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific at Lincoln Center, for which she garnered a third Tony Award nomination. She made her Broadway debut in Jekyll & Hyde in 2000, and followed it with Sondheim’s Follies, Sweet Smell of Success, opposite John Lithgow; and Dracula. In 2003 she starred in The Light in the Piazza in Seattle. When the show moved to Broadway two years later, she earned her first Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations. The following year she joined Harry Connick, Jr. on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning production of The Pajama Game, for which Ms. O’Hara received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Award nominations.
Having most recently starred on Broadway in the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal, Jason Danieley is perhaps most recognized for his portrayal of Lt. Joe Cable in the Emmy-nominated PBS Great Performances airing of South Pacific at Carnegie Hall. On Broadway, Danieley has also starred in Kander & Ebb’s Curtains, for which he received an Outer Critics Circle nomination. He made his Broadway debut as the title character in Candide, directed by theater legend Harold Prince, and also starred in The Full Monty on Broadway and in London’s West End. Jason Danieley has also been a guest artist with many of the country’s leading orchestras, including the New York, Philadelphia, and Boston Pops and Los Angeles Philharmonic.
During his illustrious carrier Keith Lockhart has distinguished himself as one of the world’s leading conductors. Lockhart became the 20th Conductor of the Boston Pops in 1995, and is best known for his work with the orchestra, which is devoted to exploring and celebrating orchestral music in all its diverse forms. Under Lockhart’s leadership, the Boston Pops has commissioned new works and dozens of new arrangements. He has worked with a wide array of artists from virtually every corner of the entertainment world, bringing many of the great musicians and entertainers of our day to the Pops stage. Keith Lockhart is loved by audiences far and wide for his inimitable style, expressed not only through his consummate music making, but also by his unique ability to speak directly to the audience about the music to which he feels so passionately committed.
Affectionately known as “America’s Orchestra,” the Boston Pops is the most recorded and arguably the most beloved orchestra in the country, beginning with the establishment of the modern-era Pops by Arthur Fiedler and continuing through the innovations introduced by John Williams and the new millennium Pops spearheaded by Keith Lockhart. Both the Boston Pops and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra appear on television and represent the city of Boston on tour. The annual Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra Fireworks Spectacular at the Hatch Shell in Boston is broadcast nationally on CBS-TV and is watched by approximately 10 million viewers each year. Additionally, the orchestra performs annual Holiday Pops concerts and a special New Year’s Eve Gala.
The four-concert 2010-2011 Signature Pops Series closes with a classical twist on Hollywood hits by THE 5 BROWNS, setting their Steinways on fire on March 30.