Program Notes PDF - The Grant Park Music Festival

Christopher Bell’s biography can be found on page 10.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Rebecca Luker’s Broadway credits include Mary Poppins
(Tony Award nomination), Nine, The Music Man (Tony, Drama
Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations), The Sound of Music
(Outer Critics Circle Award nomination), Showboat (Tony Award
nomination), The Secret Garden (Drama Desk Nomination) and
The Phantom of the Opera. With New York City Opera, Ms.
Luker was featured in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X and
Brigadoon. In concert she has appeared with orchestras across
the country and at the Library of Congress and New York’s Town
Hall, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Her television credits include the CBS Television
movie Cupid and Cate, Law and Order-SVU, Boardwalk Empire, Matlock, An Evening
with the Pops, An Oscar Hammerstein Celebration and A Tribute to Rodgers and
Hart, The Kennedy Center Honors honoring Julie Andrews, and a Richard Rodgers
Celebration with the Boston Pops. Rebecca Luker was born and raised in Birmingham,
Alabama and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Montevallo.
Doug LaBrecque has appeared in both the title role and as
Raoul in the Harold Prince production of The Phantom of the
Opera. His additional Broadway credits include Ravenal in the
Hal Prince revival of Showboat. Mr. LaBreque was featured in
Oscar Hammerstein’s 100th Birthday Celebration on Broadway at
the Gershwin Theatre and toured nationally with Les Misérables.
A graduate of University of Michigan, Mr. LaBrecque has been
soloist with many of America’s leading orchestra, including the
National Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra,
Atlanta Symphony and San Francisco Symphony. In a tribute to Richard Rodgers, Mr.
LaBrecque recently made his Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist with the New York Pops,
the same season he debuted with the Boston Pops. His other special engagements
have included singing with Carole Bayer-Sager at Feinsteins’ in Manhattan and the
Cinegrill in Los Angeles, and appearing onstage with Senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin
Hatch (singing together!) at Hickory Hill, the legendary home of Ethel Kennedy.
WILLIAM MICHALS made his Broadway debut as The Beast in
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and later returned to play Gaston
in the same production. His career has continued in such roles
as Javert in Les Misérables, Billy Flynn in Chicago, Don Quixote
in Man of La Mancha, Harold Hill in The Music Man and the title
role in The Phantom of the Opera. A recipient of the prestigious
Anselmo Award, Mr. Michals also earned recognition by the
National STAR awards for his portrayal of Chauvelin in the national
tour of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Mr. Michals appears regularly with
the country’s leading orchestras, including San Diego, Utah and Hartford; he recently
returned to Peter Nero and the Philly Pops for another sold-out evening of “Broadway
Showstoppers.” He enjoys the rare distinction of performing for the joint leadership of
the House and Senate inside the United States Capitol. Mr. Michals also enjoys a career
in opera, having appeared in leading roles in Le Nozze di Figaro, Carmen, La Bohème,
Die Walküre and The Merry Widow.
A16 2013 Program Notes, Book 3