Calling all Broadway geeks! The music theater department is opening a new show, “A Grand Night for Singing,” on Sept. 28, and the show will close on October 7. The show features 37 classic songs from musicals such as “Oklahoma!”, “The Sound of Music,” “The King and I” and much more, which formed Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1994 Broadway season.
The cast of “A Grand Night for Singing” consists of eight student performers, including Brooklyn Bhure, Alyssa Gose, Heidi Snider and Joe Castinado. Directed by Jeremy Franklin, the music theater department head, it is a string of Broadway love songs uninterrupted by dialogue.
It is a two-act performance, with an intermission in between sections of music. The cast will be joined onstage by a full orchestra made up of local professional musicians.
Castinado said, “My personal favorite part of the show is the orchestrations […] I hear some new rhythm or melodic line from the flute or something, and I get lost in the music all over again.”
Bhure wrote, “‘Grand Night’ is not your typical show. As a concept musical, the emphasis is more on a message and thematic metaphor, rather than the plot itself; therefore, the show’s structure is not linear and the storyline isn’t entirely cohesive.”
A concept musical means that this show is a collection of musical numbers and ideas that focus on a specific theme, which in this case is love. According to Castinado, the show’s main question is, “What do these songs about romantic love mean to us today?”
Rather than playing specific characters from these various musicals, the actors portray dramatized versions of themselves. They are allowed to express their own feelings and thoughts about love through the lyrics of Rodgers and Hammerstein numbers. Thus, audience members will hopefully ask themselves about their own experiences with love, and how Broadway songs from the early ’90s relate to the lives of today.
One aspect of the show that the cast praises is its relatability to the public.
“People will not only be hearing familiar songs but seeing familiar tableaus that they themselves might’ve gone through,” Castinado said.
Buhre added, “You will see and experience young love, shameless love, unrequited love, shallow love, parental love, you name it.”
The show takes a universally familiar and common theme and uses it to bring people together in a fun, joyful way to remind us of the importance of love, even though we may not always feel it or remember it.
“This show is relatable for everyone regardless of experience with love and shouldn’t be missed,” Buhre said.
Tickets are on sale at the University Center Information Desk and the Moss Performing Arts Center Box Office starting at 6 p.m. On Sept. 28 and Oct. 5, students can buy a $5 ticket with a current Mavcard. Seating is reserved, so students who wish to sit together must buy their tickets together at the same time. More information is available on the CMU theater department’s website.
