Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts has announced Andrea McArdle and Donna McKechnie: Celebrate Sondheim & Hamlisch on Monday, July 8 at 8 pm as part of Bay Street Theater's Music Mondays concert series. Tickets range from $79 - $125 and are on sale now at baystreet.org and through the Box Office at 631-725-9500, open daily from 11am to showtime.
Andrea McArdle and
Donna McKechnie, two of Broadway's most endearing leading ladies, who starred in two of Broadway's most iconic shows (Annie and A Chorus Line) bring their ever-vibrant talent and personal connection to this celebration of two of America's most beloved Musical Theatre composers:
Stephen Sondheim and
Marvin Hamlisch. Opening with Sondheim's "Another Hundred People" from Company, Andrea and Donna take the audience on a musical journey as they share personal stories and this collection of wonderful songs, finally looking back on the life they have chosen with Hamlisch's "What I Did for Love" from A Chorus Line. Other shows represented in this evening include A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to The Forum, Follies, A Little Night Music, and They're Playing Our Song. Also expect songs from films including The Way We Were, Ice Castles, and The Entertainer. It will be a night of legendary songs performed by these favorite Broadway leading ladies who were there!
Andrea McArdle first captured the hearts of theatergoers everywhere in 1977 when she originated the title role in the mega-musical Annie, based on the popular
Harold Gray comic strip "Little Orphan Annie". Since then, she has starred in several Broadway musicals and appeared in theatres in New York, nationally and internationally. She has performed in concert halls from
Carnegie Hall to the Hong Kong Philharmonic and casino hotels in both Las Vegas and Atlantic City. She has honed her craft by working with some of the great legends of the entertainment industry such as
Ethel Merman,
Liza Minnelli,
Julie Andrews,
Bob Hope, Liberace,
Frank Sinatra,
Steve Martin and
Martin Short, to name a few, and was privileged to have appeared on television with
Johnny Carson,
Merv Griffin and
Dinah Shore. As "Annie", Andrea became the youngest performer ever to be nominated for a Tony Award as Best Lead Actress in a Musical. She also received the Theater World and Outer Critics' Circle Awards for her performance and went on to star when the show was produced on London's West End. Coming full circle, Andrea was tapped by Academy Award nominated director
Rob Marshall to appear as "The Star to Be" in the Disney/ABC television production of Annie starring
Kathy Bates and
Victor Garber. And in the summer of 2010, Andrea played Miss Hannigan in a production at the
North Carolina Theatre and at Musical Theatre West in California. Also, on Broadway, Andrea starred in the
Jerry Herman musical Jerry's Girls alongside
Carol Channing and
Leslie Uggams; she portrayed the Smoking Car, Ashley, in
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express and starred as Margy Frake in State Fair; as Fantine in Les Miserables and Belle in Disney's Beauty and The Beast. She toured nationally starring as Sally Bowles in Cabaret and as Eponine in Les Miserables and appeared as herself in The Vagina Monologues, which she appeared in Off-Broadway as well. Andrea appeared Off-Broadway in the satirical Newsical and regionally as the title role in Mame and Hello Dolly. Andrea continues to tour around the country in the concert event, 4 Girls 4 with
Maureen McGovern,
Donna McKechnie and
Faith Prince. Other theatre appearances include starring as Esther, the
Judy Garland role, in Meet Me in St. Louis; Mrs. Johnstone in Blood Brothers, Penelope Pennywise in Urinetown, Sonia in They're Playing Our Song; Luisa in The Fantastics; Eva Peron in Evita; Nancy in Oliver; the Narrator in Joseph and The Technicolor Dreamcoat; Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun, Sandy in Grease and as Mama Rose in Gypsy. In addition to Annie, Andrea's film and television credits include starring as
Judy Garland in Rainbow, appearing in The Leading Ladies of Broadway on PBS, All My Children on ABC and headlining her own PBS special
Andrea McArdle on Broadway.
Donna McKechnie, who received a Best Actress Tony Award for her performance in A Chorus Line, is regarded internationally as one of Broadway's foremost singing and dancing leading ladies. She recently returned from starring in a highly acclaimed production of Pajama Game at
Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. McKechnie was last seen on stage in the Broadway bound new musical, Halftime, that was presented at the
Papermill Playhouse in NJ, this past spring. Other Broadway shows include, How to Succeed in Business Without Trying, The Education of
Hyman Kaplan, Sondheim: A Musical Tribute (also choreographed), Promises- Promises, Company, On the Town, State Fair, (
Fred Astaire Award) The Visit and A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to The Forum,? (Nat'l tour). Donna was invited by
Bob Fosse to play the lead in his last production, a national tour of Sweet Charity, (
Helen Hayes Award Nomination). Other regional productions include: Follies, Mack and Mabel, Gypsy, The Glass Menagerie, Annie Get Your Gun, I Do- I Do, Cabaret, The Three Penny Opera, Chris Gattelli's In Your Arms,
Warren Carlyle's Carefree, and
John Doyle's Ten Cents A Dance. Donna was also featured in New York productions of Annie Warbucks, and Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Donna has starred in numerous productions in London's West End including Promises- Promises, Company, No Way to Treat A Lady (also choreographed),
Cole Porter's Can-Can,
Stephen Sondheim's Follies, and Michael John La Chuisa's The Wild Party. A few seasons ago she choreographed Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, starring
Leslie Caron, and Guys and Dolls at the Hollywood Bowl. Donna has appeared at 54 Below with her cabaret show, Same Place- Another Time and at London's Crazy Coqs, and recording the show live which was produced by Jay Records. Donna has also performed extensively on the concert stage and with symphony orchestras all over the country. She has appeared as a guest star in numerous television specials and dramatic series including HBO's Showstoppers, Fame, Cheers, Family Ties, Hullabaloo, Twirl, and Dark Shadows. McKechnie's memoir, Time Steps - My Musical Comedy Life, was published by Simon and Schuster. Donna was featured in the documentary film, Every Little Step and played the Rose in the film of The Little Prince.
Music Mondays at
Bay Street Theater bring the hottest cabaret acts to the East End! Music Mondays at
Bay Street Theater continue with
Linda Lavin on July 15, LaChanze on August 5,
Pat Benatar &
Neil Giraldo on August 12,
John Lloyd Young on August 19 and
Isaac Mizrahi on August 26
Bay Street Theater's Music Mondays are sponsored in part by Douglas Elliman Real Estate and GroundLink.
Bay Street Theater and Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is a year-round, not-for-profit professional theater and community cultural center which endeavors to innovate, educate, and entertain a diverse community through the practice of the performing arts. It serves as a social and cultural gathering place, an educational resource, and a home for a community of artists.
Comments
To post a comment, you must
register and
login.
