Brian Hilbrand - Page 3

Jersey Boys is a musical biography of The Four Seasons that showcases their most iconic hits and reveals the story behind the music that entertained audiences for a limited engagement in Grand Rapids this past weekend. It includes many of their well-known musical hits that will have you singing along including: "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Sherry," "December 1963 (Oh What A Night)," "Stay," "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," "Beggin," and many more.Far from a show filled with only the group's musical hits and other numbers, Jersey Boys gets to the heart of the relationships at the center of the group. It does have special focus on front man, Frankie Valli, the small kid with the big falsetto. In the show each member of the group takes a turn narrating events, illustrating how a rough and diverse group of guys from New Jersey, and their long friendships, became music history. 

They were just four guys from Jersey, until they sang their very first note.  They had a sound nobody had ever heard... and the radio just couldn't get enough of. But while their harmonies were perfect on stage, off stage it was a very different story-a story that has made them an international sensation all over again. Go behind the music and inside the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons in the Tony Award®-winning true-life musical phenomenon, Jersey Boys. From the streets of New Jersey to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this is the musical that's just too good to be true.  The premiere engagement of Jersey Boys in Grand Rapids in 2013 was seen by over 15,000 theatregoers in our city at DeVos Performance Hall.  I recently talked to former Jersey Boy Actor and choreographer about His role with the production not only on the Canadian tour, and North American tour as well as currently on the Norwegian Cruise Line ship. This is what he had to say:

Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, one of the largest and oldest community theaters in the nation, is proud to present Disney's The Little Mermaid, which opens this weekend and runs through December 16th in Grand Rapids.

A little over a week ago I attended my first opera, Opera Grand Rapids' production of The Magic Flute, a fairy tale with the traditional fairytale themes of love and of good versus evil. The show starts with Prince Tamino, played by Dennis Shuman, alone in the woods fleeing a deadly serpent. He faints but is saved by three ladies played by Jessica Dold, Christine Amon, and Diane Schoff who were all very entertaining in their roles and had the audience laughing throughout the show. 

The Halloween classic Nightmare Before Christmas made its appearance a few weeks ahead of the holiday this past Saturday night in Grand Rapids to kick off the Grand Rapids Symphonicboom Series. The score was brought to life by the symphony located right on stage under the screen who played the music from the movie from played beginning to end for the audience to enjoy as they watched the film live

Broadway Grand Rapids is proud to present Finding Neverland as it opens the season of bringing Broadway tours into Grand Rapids. This has become a staple for the Grand Rapids area even attracting audience members from surrounding states, when before if you wanted to see shows of that caliber you would have to venture into Chicago or even all the way to New York City. It has been an honor to have Broadway Grand Rapids right here in our back yard. Finding Neverland follows the story of play writer J.M. Barrie, played by Jeff Sullivan, as he struggles to come up with a new play concept after all his thoughts keep coming back to his previous works, with only minor things changed, making them the same 'old' story. This is when he goes to the park and with out realizing it right away meets Sylvia, played by Ruby Gibbs, whose husband has just passed away and her four sons, Peter (Seth Erdley), George (Paul Schoeller), Jack (Josiah Smother), and Michael (Brody Bett), in the park.

A couple weekends ago, September 28th, I was fortunate enough to attend the season kick off for the 51st season of Opera Grand Rapids. They had performances from nine local Artist and a surprise from one of the vocally trained members of the office staff, who if you follow our twitter @BWW_Detroit, was featured in a short clip of her performance of 'He's Got the Whole World in His Hands'.