Show Brings Slice of Manhattan to Florissant

A parade of Broadway musical hits will entertain viewers at an upcoming performance.

For the next-to-last show in the Florissant Fine Arts Council's Applause Applause season, the St. Louis Theatre Musicians Orchestra presents the Best of Broadway showcase. The orchestra, comprised of union members of the American Federation of Musicians Local 2-197, will be joined by a pair of professional vocalists for the 8 p.m. concert on Saturday.

"These are all members who play in pit orchestras for professional musicals that are either produced here in St. Louis or that tour," Civic Center manager Gary Gaydos said. "They’re taking their best musicians to present the best of the Broadway plays they’ve performed over the years."

Professional trumpet player Vicky Smolik conducts the orchestra and serves as the president of the Musicians’ Association of St. Louis. Counting Smolik, vocalists Charles Glenn and Patricia Scanlon and members of the strings, woodwinds, percussion and brass sections, there are 22 performers in the group.

"I think it's going to be a great show," Smolik said. "It just goes from one hit to another. We take what we think are the best songs out of all the shows and put them on."

Musical selections include pieces from productions as diverse as Oklahoma!, Cats, The Sound of Music, The Wiz, Les Miserables, Jesus Christ Superstar, Fiddler on the Roof and fan favorite The Phantom of the Opera.

The narrated show includes a bit of history behind the songs and the composers who wrote them, too.

Most of the musicians perform at The Muny and the Fox Theatre, and some of them have formed their own groups, Smolik said. 

Among the instrumentalists is Bob Ceccarini, a trumpeter who handles booking at the Fox Theatre and manages the orchestra for The Muny. Glenn, the son of an opera singer, has performed the national anthem for the St. Louis Blues, Rams and Cardinals. Scanlon specializes in backing orchestras as a vocal soloist.

Although this is their first Best of Broadway show at the Civic Center, the same group has also performed at several conventions and high schools in the St. Louis region throughout the past several years.

Several tickets are still available for the show, Gaydos said, as of late last week.

Tickets cost $27 for adults and $25 for students and seniors. To purchase tickets in advance, call the Civic Center box office at 314-921-5678 or visit the online ticketing site.

The final show of the 2010-2011 Applause Applause season comes next month, with the annual Big Band Patriotic Salute. The May 30 show celebrates Memorial Day.