A group that has been an island entity for half a century is set to mark that milestone with an extra special concert next weekend. Broadway Gold: Celebrating 50 Years of Salt Spring Singers runs Saturday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 7 at 2 p.m. at ArtSpring.
Choir director Don Conley said in deciding on a theme for the 50th anniversary, it seemed that some of the most popular concerts that occurred in the past had to do with either film or Broadway music.
“So we went that route,” he said, with selections from musicals spanning from the 1920s through the 20th century, and a stage decorated like a Broadway-style theatre.
Most audience members will be familiar with the music, Conley said, with well-known pieces from shows like South Pacific, Fiddler on the Roof, Phantom of the Opera, Camelot, Oklahoma and My Fair Lady. Four medleys are included, celebrating the genius of George Gershwin, Lerner and Loewe, Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story) and the Wizard of Oz.
“Choir members are really getting into the Wizard of Oz medley because we’re doing ‘character portraying’ throughout,” said Conley of his choir. “We have a Tin Woodman and a Cowardly Lion and a Scarecrow. They’re acting those things out and when they’re Munchkins they use Munchkin-type voices to sing. It’s quite entertaining, fun and comical.”
He also said the group was having a lot of fun with the music from West Side Story, and is enjoying the challenge of Send in the Clowns, a Stephen Sondheim piece from A Little Night Music.
“This is one of the ones that they like the best, even though it’s really challenging.”
“I think the joy factor is pretty big for the choir members and I’m sure it will be for the audience,” he said.
Tickets are available through ArtSpring.