J. Mark McVey, October 6, 2007

J. Mark McVey

Ohio Valley Symphony bound for Broadway in season opener There’s nothing like autumn in New York, but there’s no need to wait in an airport line, drive for hours or negotiate cabs and subways. Let the Ohio Valley Symphony take you to the Great White Way for “Broadway and Beyond,” opening concert of the orchestra’s 18th season.

Broadway star Mark McVey joins the OVS — southeast Ohio’s only professional orchestra — at 8 p.m. Oct. 6 on the stage of the historic Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in downtown Gallipolis. The Huntington, W.Va., native joins the orchestra, under music director Ray Fowler, for a tribute to America’s own music. He will perform songs by some of the stage’s greatest composers, from Irving Berlin to Andrew Lloyd Webber and from Leonard Bernstein to Richard Rodgers. Audiences will leave the Ariel humming such classics as “All the Things You Are,” “Anything Goes,” “Music of the Night,” “One,” “Somethings Coming,” and “The Way We Were.”

Mark McVey made his Broadway debut as Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” — after having won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actor while on tour with the show. He has sung the stirring role nearly 3,000 times, and he was the first American to perform it in London’s West End. McVey has appeared in nationally-televised performances with the Boston Pops and the National Symphony, under Marvin Hamlisch, in a Christmas special for U.S. troops overseas.

McVey has released three CDs, “Broadway and Beyond,” “If You Really Knew Me,” his crossover into the adult contemporary world, and the inspirational “One Among Few.”

After the concert, come to the Dater Centre’s ballroom for a reception, featuring dancing accompanied by live music. Have two left feet? Dr. Joe Li offers a beginner lesson in ballroom dancing from 7-7:30 p.m. Admission to both is included with the price of an OVS concert ticket.

McVey will be offering a Masterclass 10-11 am the day of the concert on the Ariel stage. Tickets are $5 for students and $7 for adults. McVey will be discussing vocal techniques, working in musicals, the business aspects of working on Broadway, etc.

The Morris & Dorothy Haskins Theatre of the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre is at 426 Second Ave. in Gallipolis, Ohio. Tickets for “Broadway and Beyond” cost $25 for adults and $23 for seniors and are available at www.ohiovalleysymphony.org or by calling the theatre’s box office at (740)446-ARTS (2787). The box office is open Tuesdays through Fridays 9 am to 4 pm and 90 minutes prior to the show.

Funding for the symphony is provided by The Ann Carson Dater Endowment.

The OVS is also supported by the Ohio Arts Council. The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.