BY BARBARA GREENBERG
DANVILLE — Combine beautiful music sung by talented performers. Place in a lovely setting. Serve with delectable desserts.
That’s Danville Light Opera’s recipe for “An Evening with the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber,” the musical theater group’s fundraiser next weekend.
The Harrison Park Clubhouse will provide the setting.
“We’ll have it decorated in silver and gold,” said Sharon Girard, director and producer of the event. “We’re suggesting elegant attire.”
That’s what the performers will wear while they sing. Girard chose about two dozen of the renowned composer’s songs she described as her favorites.
“People will know some of them, like the ones from ‘CATS’ and ‘The Phantom of the Opera,’” she said. “Others will be less familiar, but people will love them.”
Girard also handpicked the performers for the event.
She’s worked with some in previous DLO musicals and heard others sing at various venues. The cast includes: Beckey Burgoyne, Kathy Hantz, Nancy Henderson, Angie Mansfield, Cindy Nichols, Bryan Schroeder, Guiseppe Serrano and Brad Smith.
DLO patrons will recognize the name of one more performer, but in a very different context.
Dr. Greg Cowell, medical director of Provena United Samaritans Medical Center’s emergency department, will make his Danville singing debut.
“This is one of the most ambitious things I’ve ever done,” Cowell said. “Singing in public is more stressful to me than being an ER doctor.
“Saving lives is certainly a challenge. But if you don’t perform regularly, this is a different kind of challenge.”
Cowell has taken lessons for many years from Gisella Goettling, a vocal teacher in the Chicago area.
“She trains professional singers,” Cowell said. “I started with her when I was 17 years old, and have continued off and on since then. About 8-10 years ago, I began taking voice lessons again.”
Previous performances have been with church choirs in the Chicago area. He plays piano and several other instruments.
“I love music,” he said, “and the purpose of a musician is to perform. This is a chance for me to do more.”
Cowell will sing “Love Changes Everything” from “Aspects of Love,” “Sunset Boulevard from Webber’s show of the same name and the title song from “The Phantom of the Opera.”
Other selections for the evening will be performed as solos, duets and other combinations of the cast.
The evening will feature an extended intermission so guests can enjoy desserts from Esther’s Deli in Covington, Ind.
“We’ll have about a half an hour break,” she said. “The cast and members of the DLO board of directors will serve the desserts, pour the coffee and the tea and tend bar. They’ll also mingle with the audience.”
Esther’s Deli owner Natalie Bridwell said guests can choose from baked Alaska, white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, almond macaroons and a variety of other desserts she sells in her restaurant.
“It will be a chance to dress up, eat chocolate and fruit and hear beautiful music,” Girard said.
IF YOU GO
Danville Light Opera will present “An Evening with the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber” at 7:30 p.m. Friday and March 3 at the Harrison Park Clubhouse. Tickets for the concert-style fundraiser are $40 per person or $75 per couple. Front-row tables for four, including two drinks per person, cost $200. For reservations and information, call DLO at 431-1660.
