Broadway revue opens Davis-Waldorf season

Area residents will be able to enjoy this one of a kind entertainment for themselves when a touring company featuring veteran Broadway performers hit the stage at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.

A concert featuring the Best of Broadway Showstoppers is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 23 in Te Ata Memorial Auditorium as part of the Davis-Waldorf Performing Arts Series (DWPAS).

The show is expected to feature material from popular Broadway shows including The Producers, Spamalot, Chicago, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Fiddler on the Roof and Wicked.

General admission tickets for the show are $12 for the general public, $10 for seniors 60 and over, $4 for all students and kids under 18, $7 for USAO staff/faculty and $3 for USAO students.

Tickets can be purchased at the USAO Business Office or online at /dwpas.

The show features three veteran performers, Raymond Saar, Diane Ketchie and Scott Harlan.

Saar has performed on concert stages and in theaters throughout the United States as well as internationally.

In the blockbuster musical, Les Miserables, Saar played Marius on Broadway and Enjolras in the Los Angeles production and was one of the featured soloists on the international cast album.

He played Lun Thau in the national tour of The King and I, starring Yul Brynner.

He also portrayed leading roles in productions of Hello, Dolly with Martha Raye, Guys and Dolls with John Saxon, Shenendoah with John Raitt and Applause with Nannette Fabray.

His television and film credits include The Addams Family Movie, Scrooged, Young Doctors In Love, General Hospital, Good Morning America, Benson, the Jerry Lewis Telethon and The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson.

Ketchie made her Broadway debut in Phantom of the Opera and also starred in the San Francisco production of the same Tony award-winning blockbuster show for two years.

She made her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall as a result of winning the Artists International annual competition.

Ketchie has appeared as a guest soloist for a number of symphonies including the Houston Symphony, the Pasadena Pops and the California Philharmonic among others.

Ketchie holds double performance degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in both voice and piano and a master's degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

Last summer, she was presented as recitalist and master teacher by the Music Teachers Association of California at their state convention.

Harlan, who will serve as accompanist as well as sing, has appeared in the national company productions of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and has performed in such works as the Man of La Mancha, Sweeney Todd and The Music Man.

His acting credits include roles in Risky Business, Wiseguy and Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well as voice acting credits on A Goofy Movie and Pocahontas II.

All three musicians will host a master class for USAO students beginning at 10 a.m. on the day of the concert in the Music Annex. Students will have the opportunity to perform material and receive critiques from the visiting musicians.

The master class is open for observation to the public.

Dr. Ken Bohannon, associate professor of music and coordinator of the DWPAS series, sees this master class as a vital opportunity for the vocalists training in USAO’s music department.

“It’s been several seasons since our student vocalists have had the opportunity to learn from performers of this caliber and experience,” Bohannon said. “Receiving feedback and being able to learn from such seasoned veterans can change a young musician’s career and we look forward to seeing those effects on the students able to attend.”

Season tickets for the 14th season of the DWPAS are still available.

Future shows include actor/comedian Dan Kamin on Nov. 10 and 11; the Floyd Haynes Orchestra hosting a dance on Valentine’s Day dance; and the all-female mariachi band Mariachia Rosas Divinas on March 27.

Tickets for the 2014-15 DWPAS season are now available at a cost of $40 for the general public; $35 for seniors 60 and over; $35 for USAO Alumni Association members; $20 for USAO staff/faculty; $12 for all students and children under 18; and $8 for USAO students.

The Davis-Waldorf Performing Arts Series is sponsored by USAO with major funding support from the Oklahoma Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Chickasha Public School Foundation.

Local businesses interested in sponsoring the series are invited to call 574-1349 for more information.

[edited to reflect the cost to USAO students as $3]