Review: ISO's Best of Broadway
by Rita Kohn
On a near-perfect evening guest conductor Stuart Chafetz set the tempo with Irving Berlin's "Strike Up The Band" for a tour across the footlights from 1927 to the present featuring ISO players and three vocalists.
Michele Ragusa's multiple Broadway and regional roles particularly lent credibility to her rousing "There's No Business Like Show Business" from Annie Get Your Gun. Christina Bianco, whom we recently enjoyed as Minnie Fay in ISO's POPS' version of Hello Dolly! especially pleased with her interpretation of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables. Christopher Johnstone, whose credits include the role of Peter in the FringeNYC 2011 4-part play, The Apartment, filled the Prairie with a heartfelt "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera.
The orchestra, featuring James Beckel on trombone, brought depth to selections from Porgy and Bess. Outstanding was Harry Simone's beautifully voiced arrangement for Cole Porter's Begin the Beguine, which this reviewer recalls having heard about a decade ago performed by The Singing Hoosiers. Then as now, I was impressed by how Simone brings a palette of instrumental vocal colors to a ballroom dance song. The ISO equally gave breadth to the Overtures to West Side Story and Candide. July 20 and 21 at Conner Prairie
Related Locations
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Conner Prairie
- 13400 Allisonville Rd., Fishers Fishers IN 46038
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317-776-6000
- www.connerprairie.org
- (based on 3 user reviews)
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