The Bowling Green State University Summer Concert Series will offer audiences a chance to get into the
act.
The series includes "Sing-a-Long-a Sound of Music," The Moxie Strings, "Broadway’s Next
H!t Musical" and New York Voices. Presented by the College of Musical Arts, all four events take
place in the Thomas B. and Kathleen M. Donnell Theatre in the Wolfe Center for the Arts.
Audience participation is the key to "Sing-a-Long-a Sound of Music," June 21 at 7 p.m. In
preparation for the screening of the classic Julie Andrews movie in full-screen Technicolor, the night
will begin with a 30-minute pre-film show during which the host will lead the audience through a vocal
warm-up and prepare them for special moments throughout the film and the fancy dress parade and
competition. Prizes will be awarded in three groups: nuns and children, individuals and groups. The
audience will choose the winners.
The audience lends its voices to the experience, singing from memory or by subtitle using the props
provided.
Tickets are $15.
The queens of feel-good, foot-stomping music present a free show at 8 p.m. June 24. The Moxie Strings
travel the country performing and educating young string players in classical music with a modern twist.
Fiddler Diana Ladio and Alison Lynn, on electric cello, mix bluegrass, Celtic, Canadian, rock, jazz and
old time music into an American hybrid. The pair redefine folk music by electrifying the dance-worthy
rhythms they have written or arranged.
Ladio has worked with renowned violinists Jeremy Kittel, Casey Driessen and Christian Howes. Before
teaching strings at the Ann Arbor Public Schools she taught at the American String Teachers’ Association
Summer Camp for six years. Lynn specializes in rhythmic and percussive styles and has performed with the
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Gaelic Storm and Kanye West.
"Broadway’s Next H!t Musical" will take over the Donnell stage at 7:30 p.m. on July 12,
creating a fully improvised, two-act musical based entirely on audience suggestions.
Every lyric, melody and dance move is made up in front of the audience’s eyes, infusing the room with
energy and laughter. The first act is the awards ceremony for four of the "best musical"
nominees, based on audience-created song titles. The second act is the entire musical, based on the
winning song from act one.
The troupe bringing these fake Broadway hits to life features improv-pros Deb Rabbai, Rob Schiffmann,
Robert Z. Grant, Kobi Libii, Stefan Schick, Rebecca Vigil and host Greg Triggs, accompanied by pianists
Eric March, Andrew Resnick and Gary Adler.
The New York Post said the "Broadway’s Next H!t Musical" troupe has "a spontaneity, wit
and inventiveness that must be seen to be believed." The show has been seen recently at the Tribeca
Film Festival and at the New York Musical Theater Festival, among many others.
Rounding out the series, New York Voices returns to BGSU with a public concert at 8 p.m. Aug. 9 as part
of its Vocal Jazz Camp. Entering its 26th year, the group is known for its inspired arrangements,
intense vocal blend, close-knit voicing and the chemistry between members Darmon Meader, Peter Eldridge,
Kim Nazarian and Lauren Kinhan. The Los Angeles Times lauded "the Voices’ capacity to bring a
contemporary quality to classic material without sacrificing the essence of either."
Ticket prices for the events vary. Purchase tickets by visiting BGSU.edu/Arts or by calling the Arts Box
office at 419-372-8171.
(Story provided by BGSU Marketing and Communications.)