Harrisburg Symphony Sets Sail On Gilbert Pinafore

The Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Stuart Malina conducting, continues the Capital BlueCross Pops series with Gilbert and Sullivan's popular comic opera "HMS Pinafore." TV and film actor Joshua Malina, perhaps best known as Will Bailey on "The West Wing," will perform the role of Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter.

The satirical light opera playfully focuses on love between members of different social classes in English society. "HMS Pinafore" combines comedy and memorable tunes to delight audiences of all ages! This concert version of "HMS Pinafore, or the Lass that Loved a Sailor" features a strong cast of guest vocalists, as well as the Susquehanna Chorale.

The main characters and performers are as follows:

The Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, KCB - Joshua Malina

Captain Corcoran - Jonathan Rabb

Ralph Rackstraw - Joel Malina

Josephine (the Captain's Daughter) - Illana Davidson

Dick Deadeye - Jeff Gardiner

Bill Bobstay - Damian Savarino

Hebe (Sir Joseph Porter's First Cousin) - Sonja Bontrager

Mrs. Cripps (Little Buttercup) - Tracy Bidleman

Chorus - The Susquehanna Chorale under the direction of Linda Tedford

Joshua Malina is cousin to Maestro Stuart Malina. The concert also marks the return of Stuart Malina's brother Joel Malina to the Harrisburg Symphony.

"HMS Pinafore" was first performed at the Opera Comique in London on May 25, 1878.

Performances will be held on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 28 at 3 p.m. at the Forum located at 5th and Walnut streets in downtown Harrisburg.

Capital BlueCross Pops tickets are available from just $10 to $42. The box office at the Forum opens one hour prior to performance. Additional information and advance tickets are available online at HarrisburgSymphony.org, or by calling (717) 545-5527.

The Capitol BlueCross Pops series concludes on March 24 and 25, 2007 with a return performance by Broadway stars Christiane Noll and Doug LaBrecque in "Bravo Broadway!" featuring songs from shows like My Fair Lady, Gypsy, Les Miserables, and Phantom of the Opera.

JOSHUA MALINA

Upon graduation from Yale University with a bachelor's degree in theatre, Malina made his professional acting debut in the Broadway production of Aaron Sorkin's "A Few Good Men." He went on to star as Jeremy Goodwin in the critically acclaimed television series "Sports Night," for which he and his castmates were nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy."

Later, Malina co-starred as Will Bailey in Sorkin's multi-Emmy winning "The West Wing." Other Sorkin projects involving Malina include the hit features "The American President" and "Malice."

He also appeared in the comedy "A View from the Top" with Gwyneth Paltrow and Mike Meyers. Additional film credits include "In the Line of Fire" with Clint Eastwood and "Bulworth" with Warren Beatty and Halle Berry.

A co-creator (With Andrew Hill Newman) of Bravo's hit show "Celebrity Poker Showdown," Malina is currently co-starring in the recurring role of Howard Meeks on the CBS drama "NUMB3RS."

Joshua Malina is recreating the role of Sir Joseph Porter, which he first performed as a youth at summer camp in 1975.

JOEL MALINA

After graduating cum laude from Yale University in 1986, Joel Malina spent seven years as a musical theater actor, starring in numerous productions around the country, including: the title roles in "Candide" at Atlanta's Alliance Theater and "George M!" at the Fireside Playhouse in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin; the original cast of "Fame: The Musical" at Miami's Coconut Grove Playhouse, Baltimore's Morris Mechanic Theater, and Philadelphia's Walnut Street Theater; and the New York productions of "The Rothschilds," "Philamon," "Bloffler Tonight!" and "Forever Plaid."

For the past 14 years, Malina has been a lobbyist with Wexler and Walker Public Policy Associates, a consulting firm in Washington, D.C., where he serves as managing director alongside firm chairman and former Pennsylvania Congressman Robert S. Walker.

Malina has kept up with his performing as a member of "The Tone Rangers," an award-winning a cappella septet; as a featured soloist in pops concerts with the Harrisburg Symphony and the Charleston and Greensboro Symphony Orchestras.

Joel Malina resides in Annandale, Va.

JONATHAN RABB

Jonathan Rabb has performed extensively with New York's Blue Hill Troupe in such Gilbert and Sullivan roles as Major General Stanley in "Pirates of Penzance", Jack Point in "Yeoman of the Guard," Alexis in "The Sorcerer," Bunthorne in "Patience," Captain Corcoran in "HMS Pinafore," and Koko in "The Mikado."

He made his Off-Broadway debut in Fermat's "Last Tango" with the York Theatre Company in 2000. Along with Joel Malina, he was a member of the Yale Whiffenpoofs of 1986.

When not on stage, Rabb is a novelist, having authored "The Overseer," "The Book of Q," and "Rosa."

ILANA DAVIDSON

Ilana Davidson continues to gain international attention for the musicality, interpretive insight and beautiful lyric soprano voice she brings to repertoire ranging from the baroque to the contemporary.

At Carnegie Hall she appeared as soloist in Mahler's "Second Symphony" with Benjamin Zander and the Boston Philharmonic and Bolcom's "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony. The recent recording of "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" with Leonard Slatkin won four Grammy awards in 2006 including "Best Classical Album."

She made her Lincoln Center debut in Carl Orff's "Trionfo di Afrodite" with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra. Davidson most recently sang the role of Zerlina in "Don Giovanni" with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as Adina in "L'Elisir d'Amore" and Gilda in "Rigoletto," both at the Crested Butte Music Festival.

She has sung principal roles with companies in Vienna, Stuttgart, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Miami, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and New York. She will sing her first Rosina in "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" next season with the National Philharmonic Orchestra at Strathmore Hall.

Davidson is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music. She was a vocal fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and a participant in the Aston Magna Early Music Academy.

JEFF GARDNER

Jeff Gardner has appeared in numerous shows on Broadway. His most recent Broadway adventure was to serve as a stand-by for Mandy Pantinkin in "The Wild Party," directed by George C. Wolfe. His other Broadway credits include: "The Scarlet Pimpernel," "Cyrano the Musical," Jerome Robbins' "Broadway," "The Queen and the Rebels," "Linda Eder at the Gershwin" and the national tour of "Les Miserables."

In regional theatre he has played many of the great roles of the musical theatre repertoire, including Emile in "South Pacific," Don Quixote in "Man of La Mancha," El Gallo in "The Fantasticks," and Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof." During his last performance with the Harrisburg Symphony, Gardner sang the role of the Pirate King in "The Pirates of Penzance."

Gardner's comedy tribute show "The Legends of Vaudeville" played Off-Broadway in the summer of 2005 at New Yorks' prestigious Playhouse 91, in which he recreates the famous songs and scenes of Groucho Marx, Jimmy Durante, and Al Jolson.

He is presently in the process of bringing a stage musical based on the film "Grumpy Old Men" to Broadway, with a score composed by Neil Berg.

DAMIAN SAVARINO

Damian Savarino has appeared throughout the country performing such roles as Sparafucile in "Rigoletto" with Harrisburg Opera, Zuniga in "Carmen" with Ithaca Opera Association, Guglielmo in "Cosi Fan Tutte" with Bay View Opera (MI), the Jailor in "Tosca" with Central City Opera, Étienne in "Naughty Marietta," Pish-Tush in "The Mikado," and Michael in "I Do! I Do!" with Light Opera Oklahoma.

While at the Ohio Light Opera, Savarino sang and recorded the roles Colonel Lester in Victor Herbert's "Eileen" and Lord Dramaleigh in Gilbert and Sullivan's "Utopia Limited" for the Newport Classic label as well as performed roles in "Patience," Eduard Künneke's "Der Vetter aus Dingsda," Romberg's "New Moon," and "Camelot."

Recent concert performances include the bass-baritone solos in Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem" with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra/Symphonic Choir and the Choral Arts Society of Messiah College, Handel's "Messiah" and Mozart's "Requiem" with the Choral Arts Society of Messiah College.

Savarino is a graduate of Ithaca College (NY) and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he worked and trained extensively with John Moriarty. He currently serves on the voice faculty of Messiah College and resides in central Pennsylvania.

TRACY BIDLEMAN

Tracy Bidleman, has delighted audiences with her portrayals of such diverse characters as Fiordiligi in "Cosi fan Tutte," the Mother in "Hansel and Gretel," The Mother in "Amahl and the Night Visitors," Alice Ford in "Falstaff" and Micaela in "Carmen."

Bidleman has performed with symphony orchestras in Seattle, Phoenix, Colorado, Colorado Springs, Wyoming and Harrisburg, as well as the Boulder Philharmonic, the Martinu Philharmonic, the Pacific Northwest Chamber Orchestra and the Women's Philharmonic in San Francisco.

Since her arrival to New York, she has sung as a soloist in Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall. She has worked with conductors Janos Acs, Jacques Delacote, Julius Rudel, Emerson Buckley, Anton Guadagno, Nan Washburn, JoAnn Faletta, Stuart Malina, David Lockington and Jack Herriman.

Not a stranger to the lighter side of repertoire, Bidleman is equally at home with operetta and musical theater. Upcoming this season she will also be reprising the two-woman cabaret act "A Coupla' Hot Chicks Well-Seasoned," to be directed by Barry Kleinbort at Dillon's cabaret in New York City.

Bidleman is also a voice-over artist and has been heard regionally for Sprint LD, Stouffers, United Media, Cablevision and 1-800-Flowers. In her spare moments, she also enjoys being a fit model for Josephine Chaus, Just My Size and Selene.

SONJA BONTRAGER

Although this is Sonja Bontrager's fourth time performing on the Forum stage, this is her first time performing a titled role. She previously sang with the chorus in the most recent performances of Beethoven's "9th Symphony," Mozart's "Requiem," and Mahler's "3rd Symphony."

Bontrager graduated magna cum laude from Messiah College in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in music composition, where she also studied voice and piano. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, Bontrager performed with various choral ensembles, including "New Light," a summer touring team. She was also assistant producer of "Musica Nova," a twice-yearly recital of new student works.

She is employed as director of education and office manager for the Harrisburg Symphony. Bontrager also serves as vice-president of operations on the Susquehanna Chorale Board of Directors.

Bontrager lives in Harrisburg.

STUART MALINA

Maestro Stuart Malina is one of America's most versatile and accomplished conductors. In a wide variety of concerts, from masterworks and grand opera to pops, Malina's ease on the podium, engaging personality, and insightful interpretations have thrilled audiences and helped to break down the barriers between performer and listener wherever he has worked. Malina has been music director and conductor of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra since June 2000.

Malina will be making his Carnegie Hall debut in February 2007 by conducting the New York Pops in an all-Gershwin tribute including "Rhapsody in Blue," which he will conduct from the keyboard.

Malina won a Tony Award® for orchestration with Billy Joel for the musical "Movin' Out," which Malina helped create with director and choreographer Twyla Tharp.

An accomplished concert pianist, Maestro Malina has impressive credits as a soloist having performed in numerous concerts in the United States, the Netherlands, and with the acclaimed Piccolo Spoleto Contemporary Music Festival. -- www.harrisburgsymphony.org