Daly, Wopat, Lazar et al. Join New York Pops 28th Birthday Celebration, 5/2

Music Director Steven Reineke has announced that Tyne Daly, Tom Wopat, Gregg Edelman, Aaron Lazar, Tony DeSare, Michele Lee and Jamie Barton have joined the roster of guest artists to perform at The New York Pops' 28th Birthday Gala, Celebrate Hope, on May 2, 2011. A grand gala evening celebrating the legacy of late actor and comedian Bob Hope and honoring decades of support by Interpublic Group, the event begins at 7:00 PM with a concert at Carnegie Hall featuring a special lineup of concert artists, followed by a black tie dinner and dance held at the luxurious Plaza Hotel.

The concert program will offer musical selections from Hope's extensive career that spanned decades of vaudeville, Broadway, radio, film and television, such as "Ballin' the Jack" and "Thanks for the Memory" - as well as works of his contemporaries whom have been inspired by his iconic talent. Previously announced guest artists include Cheyenne Jackson, Christine Ebersole, Kelli O'Hara, Maurice Hines, Cartier Williams and special guest Angela Lansbury. Reineke and The New York Pops will also be joined on stage by the singers of The Camp Broadway Kids and the West Point Glee Club.

The evening's honorees are The Bob Hope Legacy, an organization founded by Linda Hope to preserve her father's memory, and Interpublic Group, Michael I. Roth, Chairman and CEO, in thanks for their continued support of The New York Pops.

There will be an online auction on www.CharityBuzz.com/NewYorkPops from April 19 to May 10, featuring items generously donated by the orchestra's many friends from the world of arts and entertainment. Auction items include a recording session with professional musicians, a catered cocktail party with live music and a chance to conduct The New York Pops. All gala and auction proceeds support the orchestra and its free education programs throughout New York City.

Tyne Daly is a six-time Emmy Award-winning American actress best known for her role as Detective Lacey in the television series Cagney & Lacey and her Tony Award-winning performance as Rose in the 1989 revival of Gypsy. Tyne first worked on stage and appeared in TV guest spots starting in the early ‘70s, after graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Art.
Then in 1981, Tyne Daly was cast in the pilot of Cagney & Lacey, a series that would win Day four Emmy Awards by the time it ended in 1988. In subsequent years Daly switched venues, devoting her energies to the Broadway stage. Her accomplishments during this period included her award-winning portrayal of Rose in Gypsy, the role of Madame Arkadina in the 1992-93 production of The Seagull, and taking on untold challenges in a five-role, one-woman show, Mystery School, at Gotham's Angel Orensanz Foundation Center in 1998. As time rolled on, the actress returned to television, notably with a key supporting role as the lead character's domineering, judgmental mother on the series drama Judging Amy (1999-2005). Having caught the theatrical bug, however, Daly also retained her footing on stage in such outings as the acclaimed Rabbit Hole (2006) opposite John Slattery and Cynthia Nixon). In summer 2011, Daly will star as Maria Callas in a Broadway revival of Terrence McNally's Master Class, a role she first took on in a Kennedy Center production of the play in spring 2010.

Tom Wopat first came to public attention in the late-1970s as the freewheeling Luke Duke on the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard. In 1977, he made his Broadway debut in Cy Coleman's I Love My Wife, and went on to perform in the Tony Award-winning City of Angels and Guys and Dolls. He starred as Billy Flynn in the 1996 revival of Chicago, and in 1999 received Tony and Drama Desk nominations for his portrayal of Frank Butler in the Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun, opposite Bernadette Peters. Broadway credits to follow were revivals of 42nd Street and Glengarry Glen Ross, and in 2008, Wopat received his second Tony and Drama Desk nominations for his lead performance as Tom Hurley in A Catered Affair opposite Faith Prince and Harvey Fierstein. He is currently on Broadway as Frank Abagnale Sr. in the new musical adaptation of Catch Me If You Can.

Though Wopat had never done a sitcom before, he seized the opportunity when Chuck Lorre offered him a leading role in Cybill. Other credits include a recurring role on Home Improvement, the critically acclaimed NBC movie Just My Imagination, and most recently HBO's Taking Chance alongside Kevin Bacon. Wopat has also become a successful recording artist with many albums to his credit, including A Little Bit Closer, Don't Look Back, Learning to Love, and The Still of the Night. In 2005, he released Dissertation on the State of Bliss-featuring the music of Harold Arlen-and his most recent offering, Consider it Swung.

Gregg Edelman has been seen on stage, television and in film for 25 years. His stage credits range from Broadway to the concert halls of Europe. Over the years, Mr. Edelman has been in 15 Broadway shows garnering four Tony award nominations, a Drama Desk award, and many other accolades. His New York stage roles have included: Edward Rutledge in 1776; Colonel Ricci in Passion; Constantine Levin in Anna Karenina; Stine in the Original Cast of City of Angels; Javert in Les Misérables; Cinderella's Prince in Into The Woods; Clifford Bradshaw in Cabaret; Georg Nowack in She Loves Me; Robert Baker in Wonderful Town; and Marvin in Falsettos. His concert career has allowed him to sing all over the U.S. and Europe performing with great orchestras like the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and great artists like Dawn Upshaw in Roundabout. His TV and film credits range from a regular on CBS' Hack to roles in films like Spiderman 2, Little Children, City by the Sea, Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Green Card. His greatest joy comes from his family; wife, Carolee Carmello, and their children, Zoe and Ethan.

Aaron Lazar has performed on Broadway in the 2006 revival of Les Misérables, the Broadway production of Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities, Impressionism with Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons, and the 2009 production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. Lazar has also starred on Broadway as Fabrizio Nacarelli in Lincoln Center's Tony Award-winning production of The Light in the Piazza, which was viewed by an audience of over 3 million through PBS' live broadcast. In concert, Lazar has performed with Grammy Award-winner Barry Manilow at Madison Square Garden and Las Vegas' Mandelay Bay, and has been a guest artist with various symphony orchestras, including The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Steven Reineke, The National Symphony Orchestra under Marvin Hamlisch, The Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart, The Cincinnati Pops under the late Erich Kunzel. Mr. Lazar sang the role of Lt. Cable in South Pacific at The Hollywood Bowl with Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell in 2007, and the role of Paul in a star-studded concert of Sondheim's Company with the New York Philharmonic in 2011. His film and television credits include The Notorious Bettie Page, Ugly Betty, New Amsterdam, White Collar, and The Today Show, in addition to the upcoming film J.Edgar, a Dustin Lance Black biopic of J. Edgar Hoover starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Clint Eastwood.

Tony DeSare is a celebrated singer, pianist and songwriter - named a "Rising Star" Male Vocalist in the 2009 Downbeat Critics Poll - whose takes on classic standards and sophisticated original compositions channel infectious joy, wry playfulness, and robust musicality. DeSare's noted versatility enables him to headline a variety of venues, such as major jazz rooms like Birdland and the Blue Note; posh nightclubs like Café Carlyle and Feinstein's at the Regency; or concert halls like Jazz at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He has won critical and popular acclaim for his concert tours throughout the U.S., Australia, Japan and China.

Shortly after moving to NYC in 1999, DeSare was cast as the star of the long running Off-Broadway musical smash, Our Sinatra - in which he was praised by Variety for his "dapper charm" - and was also featured in New York TV personality Bill Boggs's Off Broadway show Talk Show Confidential at the John Houseman Theater. In 2002, DeSare performed at the legendary Apollo Theater where he first met guitar icon Bucky Pizzarelli, who would become a regular collaborator with DeSare's band. DeSare was personally selected by Sam Arlen to perform with the Duke Ellington Orchestra at Birdland for the recent Harold Arlen Centennial, and his new big band show was presented by "Saturday Night Live" alum Joe Piscopo in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
Tony's 2007 recording Last First Kiss debuted at #5 on the Billboard chart and #2 on the iTunes jazz chart, and was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition. "Let's Just Stay In," one of the original songs from his newest album Radio Show, was featured in the 20th Century Fox film The Tooth Fairy, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Ashley Judd, Billy Crystal and Julie Andrews. He also composed and performed the title theme to the critically-acclaimed independent documentary feature film My Date With Drew. DeSare has performed on national broadcasts of the CBS Early Show, NBC Weekend Today and Fox News Channel.

Michele Lee is known worldwide for her Emmy-nominated role as Karen Fairgate MacKenzie in the landmark CBS series Knots Landing. Ms. Lee's career began on the stage when discovered as a teen by producer David Merrick. At age 18, she starred in Bravo Giovanni on Broadway with opera star Cesare Siepe, which led to her breakout role as Rosemary in the original Broadway production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opposite Robert Morse. In 1974, she starred in Michael Bennett's musical Seesaw, which earned her a Tony nomination, and Drama Desk and Outer Critics Awards for Best Actress. In 2002, Ms. Lee completed her long run as Lee Green in Charles Busch's Broadway hit The Tale of the Allergist Wife opposite Linda Lavin and Tony Roberts, for which she received her second Tony nod.

Ms. Lee made her silver screen debut in the movie version of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying ,starred with Dick Van Dyke in Carl Reiner's cult classic The Comic, and in the worldwide Disney favorite The Love Bug. She was last seen in Along Came Polly opposite Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston. Ms. Lee has starred in and produced numerous films for television, including CBS's Emmy-nominated Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story, When No One Would Listen, and Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story. Other TV movies include Dark Victory, Bud and Lou and Neil Simon's Broadway Bound. In 1996, Ms. Lee became the first woman to produce, direct, co-write and star in a motion picture for television, with Lifetime's Color Me Perfect.

Jamie Barton, a Grammy-nominated mezzo-soprano and winner of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, has been described by Opera News as "a rising star" with a "sumptuous voice". In the 2010-11 season, Ms. Barton performed in Die Zauberflöte at the Metropolitan Opera, made her debut at Munich's Bayerische Staatsoper as Mère Marie in Dialogues des Carmélites, and was a featured recitalist in "The Song Continues" at Carnegie Hall, an annual weeklong series of recitals organized by the Marilyn Horne Foundation. This summer brings her debut with the Santa Fe Opera in productions of Gounod's Faust and Gian Carlo Menotti's The Last Savage. Concert appearances included: Domenico Scarlatti's rarely performed comic intermezzo La Dirindina with Ars Lyrica, Mozart's Requiem with Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra under Edo de Waart, Schubert's Mass No. 6 with San Diego Symphony and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Omaha Symphony. She also appeared as a guest soloist in the Marilyn Horne Foundation Gala at Carnegie Hall. Future engagements include debuts with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Atlanta Opera, and returns to the Bayerische Staatsoper and Houston Grand Opera.

The New York Pops is the largest independent pops orchestra in the United States, and the only professional symphonic orchestra in New York City specializing in popular music. Led by Music Director Steven Reineke, the orchestra performs an annual subscription series and birthday gala at Carnegie Hall, enjoying one of the venue's highest subscription renewal rates of any series. The New York Pops was founded by former NBC Music Director Skitch Henderson in 1983 with a mission to create greater public awareness and appreciation of America's rich musical heritage. Along with performing at Carnegie Hall, The New York Pops tours throughout the world and gives free concerts in New York City parks. The orchestra's media projects include performing for the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular on NBC, nationwide radio broadcasts, and numerous recordings. The New York Pops' extensive education programs allow thousands of public schoolchildren to participate in concert and music-making experiences at Carnegie Hall and in schools throughout New York City's five boroughs.

Steven Reineke's boundless enthusiasm and exceptional artistry have made him one of the nation's most sought-after pops conductors, composers and arrangers. In recognition of his successful leadership, The New York Pops has extended his contract through the 2015-2016 Season. In addition to conducting the orchestra's annual Carnegie Hall concert series, Reineke leads concert tours, recordings and nationwide telecasts, including the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks on NBC Television. Reineke also serves as Principal Pops Conductor of the National Symphony, Long Beach and Modesto Symphony Orchestras. Previously, he was Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, where for fifteen years he served as a composer, arranger and conducting protégé of the late celebrated pops conductor Erich Kunzel. Reineke's notable guest conducting appearances include the National Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Philadelphia Orchestra and his debut at the Hollywood Bowl in 2007. Mr. Reineke is also an established symphonic composer, with his works recently performed by the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Single tickets to the concert-only are $60 and $90, and are open to the public. To purchase, call CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, visit the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th St and 7th Ave, or online at www.carnegiehall.org.

Tickets to the full gala evening range from $1,000 (for one concert ticket and dinner seating) to $50,000 (for a premier first tier box and dinner table for eight). For more information about the black-tie benefit dinner dance at The Plaza Hotel, call 212-765-7677 or visit www.newyorkpops.org.

 

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos