Broadway Divas Appear At Merrill Auditorium

On Saturday, February 10 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, February 11 at 2:30 p.m., the Portland Symphony Orchestra (PSO) will present the Three Broadway Divas, featuring the vocal talents of Debbie Gravitte, Jan Horvath and Christiane Noll. Guest conductor Markand Thakar will lead the PSO, bringing Broadway tunes from A Chorus Line, Les Misérables, Evita, Gypsy and other favorites to life on the Merrill Auditorium stage.

Markand Thakar first came to national attention in 1997 when he made his debut with the New York Philharmonic, stepping in for Leonard Slatkin on short notice and with no rehearsal. He returned to the podium that summer, opening the Philharmonic's outdoor season with concerts in Central Park and the boroughs. He is Music Director of both the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, and has been widely praised for his compelling programming.

Thakar has appeared with the National, San Antonio, Columbus, Birmingham, Winnipeg, Charlotte, Knoxville, Richmond, Colorado Springs, Greensboro, Illinois and Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestras, and has guest conducted frequently at the Aspen Music Festival, appearing with Yo-Yo Ma and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and with Itzhak Perlman and the Boulder Philharmonic. An accomplished scholar, he is the author of "Counterpoint: Fundamentals of Music Making."

Debbie Gravitte's varied career has taken her from the Broadway stage to Symphony Hall and many points between. She won a Tony Award for "Best Featured Actress In A Musical" for Jerome Robbins' Broadway, along with a Drama Desk Award Nomination and New York Showstopper Award. After making her Broadway debut in the original cast of They're Playing Our Song, she went on to appear in Perfectly Frank (Drama Desk Award Nomination), Blues In The Night, Ain't Broadway Grand, Zorba, Chicago and Les Miserables. Gravitte has appeared in the Encore's series productions of The Boys From Syracuse, Tenderloin and Carnival at New York's City Center.

For the past ten years, Jan Horvath has been the soprano soloist with Bravo Broadway. She has worked with such legendary talents as Marvin Hamlisch, Doc Severinsen, Erich Kunzel, Richard Hayman, Skitch Henderson and has appeared as a guest soloist with over one hundred orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic (Tel Aviv), National Symphony, New York Pops, Minnesota Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Syracuse Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and Shanghai Radio Orchestra in China among many others. She was a member of the original Broadway company of The Phantom of the Opera, where she performed the roles of Christine and Carlotta.

Christiane Noll made her Broadway debut starring in Jekyll & Hyde, playing the role of Emma. She received an Ovation Award for her comedic turn as Hope Cladwell in the National Tour of Urinetown and wowed audiences again as Vanna Vane in the new musical The Mambo Kings. She has been a frequent guest soloist as part of Bravo Broadway with symphony orchestras around the world, including the National Symphony and Marvin Hamlisch, the Cincinnati Pops and Eric Kunzel, the Jerusalem Symphony and Don Pippin, the Philadelphia Pops and Peter Nero, as well as appearances with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, The San Francisco Symphony and the Sinfonica Brasileira in Rio. Noll made her opera debut with Plácido Domingo and the Washington National Opera in The Merry Widow as Valencienne at The Kennedy Center and her Carnegie Hall debut with Skitch Henderson, in his last pops performance, as one of the 3 Broadway Divas with The New York Pops.

The Three Broadway Divas concerts are sponsored by the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram and the Maine Printing Company. -- www.portlandsymphony.com