Broadway Bonus

Alumni from the College of the Arts joined students on stage in the Clayes Performing Arts Center Sept. 11 for a special benefit for the college. The one-night-only event showcased the talents of promising students, as well as a parade of accomplished grads who have taken their careers to Broadway and beyond.

“Broadway & Barbecue” included a catered dinner in the Quad, where the Department of Music’s Violin Duo & Jazz Combo performed for those seated at tables arranged under the trees. Attendees then moved to the Little Theatre for a 90-minute show saluting “Broadway Through the Years.”

College of the Arts Dean Joseph Arnold welcomed attendees, and Micaela Martinez, a junior theatre arts major pursuing a musical theatre concentration, sang the national anthem.

The performers — theater and dance majors, plus faculty members and alumni — earned enthusiastic applause and a standing ovation from the audience. Along the way, The Preeminents, a musical theatre entertainment ensemble, ushered in each segment of the show through their signature song-and-dance medleys.

Caption: Sueling Chen, principal of Arborland Education Center, and longtime university supporter Bill McGarvey, President's Associates member,  enjoyed dinner in the Quad before the show.Download Photo

Alumni performers from each of the last four decades were represented in the cast. Kate Peters, Class of ’79, performed “Think of Me” from “Phantom of the Opera.” Another Class of '79 graduate, Theresa Finamore, sang "Another Hundred People" from the musical "Company."

From the '80s, Class of '84 grad Roger Castellano performed "The Lady Is a Tramp" from “Babes in Arms,” and "Rafael Duran, a ’90s alumnus, sang "The Impossible Dream” from "Man of La Mancha."

Grads from the current decade who performed were: Brooke Aston ’02, Michael Baker ’00, Jennifer Hubilla ’02, Erin McNally ’02, Emily Mitchell ’00, Andy Scott ’07 and Megan Swanson ’06. Their songs spanned the musicals “Cabaret,” "Camelot," “Funny Girl,” "Good News," "Spamalot” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie."

McNally reprised her popular “Good Eats” medley, which marries popular tunes to her lyrics — mouth-watering descriptions of favorite foods and desserts.

Pamela Hillman, vice president for university advancement, also took the stage to perform “He Loves Me” from the musical “She Loves Me.”

Grammy winner Bill Cunliffe and Chuck Tumlinson, director of jazz sudies, were the evening's band leaders. Mitchell Hanlon, professor of theatre and dance, was the show’s musical director, conductor and pianist.

Many of the alumni in the show had performed before in the university’s annual Concert Under the Stars, which was canceled this year due to budget constraints.

Attendees included: President Milton A. Gordon and his wife, Margaret Faulwell Gordon; Trulette Clayes, a trustee of the Joseph A.W. Clayes III Charitable Trust, which donated $5 million to the College of the Arts; plus members of such university affinity groups as: the Art Alliance, MAMM Alliance for the Performing Arts, Music Associates, Emeriti and Presidents Associates.

Caption: Among the evening's attendees were, from left, Jeff Partrick, Kathryn T. McCarty, CSUF President Milton A. Gordon and Trulette Clayes.Download Photo

Sept. 28, 2010