The Orange County Performing Arts Center's 2010-2011 Cabaret and Jazz Series are star-studded celebrations of award-winning singers, musicians and artists from Broadway to the Metropolitan Opera, from television to motion pictures and from concert stage to the top clubs in the
country.
In the Cabaret Series, versatile actress, comedienne and singer Megan Mullally returns to the Center with Supreme Music Program, making her Samueli Theater debut. Center favorites Jason Graae and Lillias White are back with David Zippel in a special tribute, Broadway Up Close and Personal: A Tribute to Cy Coleman, to the late great Broadway composer. One of Broadway's most-loved leading ladies, Tony® Award winner Sutton Foster, makes her Center debut in the series. Nathan Gunn, who possesses one of the opera world's greatest voices with movie star looks, showcases a different side to his artistry with songs and ballads. And Wicked's Tony winner Idina Menzel, together with a full symphony orchestra, performs a one-night-only concert in Segerstrom Hall.
The Center's Jazz Series is renowned for bringing the best, the brightest and the hottest jazz artists to Samueli Theater, one of the greatest little night spots around, as well as to the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. The 2010-2011 Jazz Series pairs award-winning artists for a mega season of great music. Audiences are in for another discovery - two of the top new artists on the jazz scene, Sara Gazarek and Sachal Vasandani, will open the season. Legends and masters make up the balance of the year, with Renaud Garcia-Fons' La Línea del Sur Quartet, Blues at the Crossroads: Robert Johnson Centennial assembles an all-star line-up to celebrate the great Mississippi master, Chick Corea and Gary Burton together in one evening, the Branford Marsalis Quartet sharing the same evening with the Terence Blanchard Quintet, and the Bill Charlap Trio featuring Special Guest Vocalist Freddie Cole in a class act to close out the season.
Megan Mullally and Supreme Music Program
October 7 - 10, 2010 in Samueli Theater
One of Hollywood's most versatile talents, Megan Mullally is an actress and
singer who has appeared on Broadway, in concert halls, in films and on television.
She is best known for her Emmy®-winning performances as Karen Walker on
NBC's Will and Grace, the role that she will reprise in Karen: The Musical,
currently in development. She can be seen now in the Starz hit cable series Party
Down and is the Chief on the new Adult Swim comedy, Children's Hospital.
Mullally's appeared on NBC's Parks and Recreation, in the 2009 remake of FAME
and was Beverly Wilkins in the critically acclaimed West Coast debut of The
Receptionist at the Odyssey Theatre in LA.
Idina Menzel | Center Debut
November 7, 2010 at 3 p.m. in Segerstrom Hall
Broadway powerhouse Idina Menzel - the Tony award-winning "Elphaba" from
internationAl Blockbuster Wicked - performs in Segerstrom Hall with a full
symphony orchestra. With a diverse repertoire of classic pop, musical theater
favorites (including hits from Wicked and Rent) as well as songs from her album
"I Stand," Menzel demonstrates why she is one of the great vocal performers of
our time. Catch her this spring on the popular FOX television series "Glee."
Broadway Up Close and Personal: A Tribute to Cy Coleman
December 9 - 12, 2010 in Samueli Theater
This loving tribute to the great Cy Coleman, composer of such shows as
City of Angels, Sweet Charity and The Will Rogers Follies, and songs
such as "Witchcraft" and "The Best is Yet to Come," has been created
by Michael A. Kerker, ASCAP Director of Musical Theater and producer
of Sunday Night ASCAP Songwriters' Series at the Firebird Café in New
York. The ensemble includes lyricist David Zippel, who collaborated with
Coleman on City of Angels. Jason Graae, a Center favorite, returns. Graae's special way around a song
has taken him to Broadway, the Metropolitan Opera, the Hollywood Bowl, Birdland and the Rainbow
Room in New York, and The Plush Room in San Francisco. Lillias White, who has starred on Broadway
and in numerous national tours and at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, joins the group. The
formidable chanteuse won a Tony for her star turn in Coleman's The Life. Additional casting to be
announced at a later date.
2010-11 Cabaret and Jazz Series NEWS 3/6
April 8, 2010
600 Town Center Drive Costa Mesa, CA 92626 T 714.556.2121 F 714.556.8984 OCPAC.org
Sutton Foster | Center Debut
January 6 - 9, 2011 in Samueli Theater
Tony Award winner Sutton Foster is one of the brightest stars Broadway
has seen in a long time. She received her Tony for Thoroughly Modern
Millie and Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award
nominations for her performances in such shows as Mel Brooks' Young
Frankenstein, The Drowsy Chaperone and Little Women: The Musical.
Foster has also appeared in Lincoln Center's American Songbook series, with the Philly Pops and New
York Pops at Carnegie Hall as well as at Feinstein's and Joe's Pub in New York. Her debut solo CD,
Wish, was recently released to critical acclaim.
Nathan Gunn | Center Debut
March 24 - 27, 2011 in Samueli Theater
Nathan Gunn is one of the most exciting and in-demand baritones in the world, appearing at the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera House and the Paris Opera to name just a few. He is also a distinguished concert performer and recitalist. But Gunn brings another side of his star power and passion for music to Samueli Theater, performing ballads and romantic tunes that he has featured on his CD, Just Before Sunrise. He has selected songs ranging from favorites in the Great American Songbook and contemporary composers.
