The popular choral ensemble Coro de Cámara perform April 30 and May 1. Courtesy/Thomas Graves

By ANNE MARSH
Coro de Cámara Board

The lights are shining again on Broadway, where theaters were shuttered during the pandemic. But there’s no need to travel to New York City to hear those favorite show tunes.

The versatile singers of Coro de Cámara will offer two performances of “Give My Regards to Broadway”:

• 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 30 at White Rock United Methodist Church (580 Meadow Lane); and 
• 3 p.m. Sunday, May 1 at Kelly Hall, Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church (Los Alamos).

At both concerts, audience members will have the chance to buy raffle tickets. The grand prize is two tickets to the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta Reserve Tasting in the fall, with a night at a B&B included. There also will be several enticing gift baskets.

Why a spring concert of Broadway hits?

“I was thinking about how difficult the last two years have been for the performing arts and for our audiences, and I wanted to do a program that would be both fun and meaningful for all of us,” Coro’s Artistic Director Nylea Butler-Moore said. “Stephen Sondheim, known to many as ‘Mr. Broadway’, passed away last November, and it seemed important to pay tribute to his work as well. Some of our singers have musical theater backgrounds, so now seems like a good time to offer this program to our community.”

The concert opens with pianist Yelena Mealy playing “Give My Regards to Broadway” and singers sharing “Seasons of Love” from Rent. Coro’s salute to Sondheim then begins with two songs from Into the Woods: the title song and “Children Will Listen.” Later in the program, the “Agony” duet from Into the Woods features the comedic flair of Peter Bloser and Kevin Pelzel.

Other Sondheim offerings include three songs from West Side Story: “Tonight,” with soloist Alissa Grissom; a shortened version of “America;” and “Somewhere”. The program closes with two of Sondheim’s best-known songs, “Send in the Clowns” and “Being Alive”. Maura Taylor is the soloist on the latter.

In between the Sondheim pieces, audiences will hear other Broadway favorites, including “Beautiful City” from Godspell, “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman, and “Sympathy, Tenderness” from Jekyll & Hyde, featuring soloist Elizabeth Meek. The songs are interwoven with narration by Carolyn Connor illuminating the timely themes in the music.

One highlight of the program is “Found/Tonight” a mash-up of “You Will Be Found” from Dear Evan Hansen and “The Story of Tonight” from Hamilton.

“This rhythmically complex piece originated as a duet by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt,” Nylea Butler-Moore said. “They donated part of the proceeds to the March for Our Lives movement, a response to school shootings. Their duet was arranged for choral groups by Jacob Naverud, and the result is a message of hope and encouragement.”

Indeed, the whole “Give My Regards to Broadway” concert brings a message of hope and encouragement.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for college students, free for 18 and under, and available on the Coro de Cámara website at corodecamara-nm.org or at the door.