By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
An evening of show tunes from multiple musical eras performed by local talent will be presented this Friday at Sitka Community Theater’s annual Broadway Night.
With a full century of musical works as source material, Sitka vocalists have a broad array of options for their performances, and that variety is one of the best aspects of the show, said longtime master of ceremonies Andrew Hames.
“Broadway Night is always a highlight of January every year,” Hames said in an interview. “I’ve been lucky to be the MC for several years now, and it’s just a really fun night of performances from musical theater and other Broadway-inspired selections. It’s always a really varied list of music and what I like most about it is that it’s just kind of an unexpected variety show.”
The show will begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20, at the Odess Theater on the Sitka Fine Arts Campus. Sitka Community Theater is part of the Greater Sitka Arts Council.
“I love the community aspect of it,” Hames said. “Like most great events in Sitka, there’s a really good community vibe... It’s all based around our shared love of musical theater, which is such a fun art form. We all know that musical theater, on its face, is a little bit ridiculous – people breaking out into song and dance at random times to express emotion or to move a storyline forward – and everybody who performs just loves the art form.”
Andrew Hames sings at Broadway Night in 2022. This year’s event takes place Friday at Odess Theater. (Sentinel file Photo)
Zeke Blackwell, well-known locally as an actor and play director, is one of the townspeople who will have a turn on stage, and likens Broadway Night to karaoke.
“It’s like high quality karaoke because the performers know what they’re going to do ahead of time,” Blackwell said. “They practice, they love the songs and they’re excited to share them with an audience.”
Musical fare will range from such oldies as “King and I” and “Anything Goes” to modern tunes from “Frozen” or “High School Musical.”
“If you are a casual Broadway fan, there’ll be stuff that you’ll recognize. And then there will also probably be stuff that you haven’t heard before,” Blackwell said. This will be his sixth year as a Broadway Night singer.
“What’s really special about Broadway Night is that people get to choose songs that they’re really passionate about, and potentially play characters that they might not otherwise get to play,” he said.
Sotera Perez, who is a writer and director in local theater, will assist on the production side of Broadway Night.
“There’s just such a range of talents,” she said. Many performers will be familiar faces, “but for some this is the only event they do and it feels a little bit like it’s hidden talent,” she said. “And I think the variety is going to be really good this year.”
She doesn’t know for sure what music will be on the program, but said she expects there will be an adaptation of “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” something from “Mary Poppins,” and classics by Rodgers and Hammerstein. She admits she’s a fan of “Les Miserables,” especially the song, “Do You Hear the People Sing?”
Hames shares that love of “Les Miserables,” but said he doesn’t have a single favorite.
“I grew up on the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals,” he said. “I really like all of those. ‘Hamilton’ - I was really into for a number of years when that first came out and it was just so new and different. I do agree, I think ‘Les Miserables’ is probably the best musical ever. But one of my personal favorites is ‘Seussical.’ That’s just a show with a really great message.”
Hames, who teaches band and choral music at Sitka High School, is excited to see generations of Sitka families turn out to enjoy and participate in Broadway Night.
“One of the really fun things that usually happens at Broadway Night is you’ll get multi-generational performances,” he said. “I started performing with my daughter, Morgan, the last couple of years. And you’ll see other families like that where there might be two or three generations of people performing. And also Broadway Night is really fun because you see people that you see around town all the time and you don’t necessarily know that they enjoy getting up on stage and singing a Broadway tune. So like I said, the element of surprise is always just one of the best things about the night.”
Tickets for the Sitka Community Theater fundraiser are $45 and available at fineartscamp.org and at Old Harbor Books. Appetizers, snacks and wine are included with admission.
