New Concert Celebrating Jeanette MacDonald And Nelson Eddy

Sheldon Nulty Music presents “Will You Remember?” starring soprano Sandra Oman and baritone Simon Morgan in an unforgettable tribute in concert to Silver Screen Icons of the 1930s and 1940s, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy.  All of their famous songs, arias and duets – Will You Remember?; Rose Marie;  Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life; Lover Come Back to Me; Wanting You; – will be interspersed with exclusive projected images and voiceover narrative chronicling their careers and turbulent private lives.  The concert takes place at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre on Saturday 9 September 2017, 8pm.

Thought by many to be on less than friendly terms off-screen, Jeanette and Nelson were, in fact, hopelessly in love over a period of more than 30 years.  Their relationship, however, was thwarted at every turn by their boss at MGM, the powerful Louis B. Mayer, causing them both to enter unhappy marriages and ultimately led to their early deaths.

New Concert Celebrating Jeanette MacDonald And Nelson Eddy1

Jeanette MacDonald And Nelson Eddy

An incredibly talented group from different artistic walks have come together to collaborate on this piece of theatre. Decorated American author,Sharon Rich, wrote the biography of the MacDonald/Eddy tragic love story and has given her kind permission to use her biography as the basis for the Voice Over Narrative that punctuates the live vocal performances.  The Voice Over will be read by Head of Opera, Oslo Opera Academy and the former Artistic Director of the Swedish Folkoperan in Stockholm, Mira Bartov (Sweden) and she will also semi-stage the musical segments.   The magnificent photographic stills that will be projected on to 3 large screens, to accompany this Voice Over, are kindly provided from the personal collections of MacDonald/Eddy experts and long-time collectors, Angela Ridolfo Messino and Katie Gardener (USA), some of which have never been previously published.  The Musical Direction comes from Kent-born Pianist, Opera Repetiteur and Orchestral Arranger, David Wray (UK).  Both soprano Sandra Oman (Irl) and baritone Simon Morgan (Irl) have established and respected careers in the classical/opera industry and are both Number One selling recording artists on iTunes.

 

In the history of the Silver Screen, MacDonald and Eddy would rank among the greatest screen partnerships of the Golden Age of Cinema.  The most successful team in musical history, their 8 movie collaborations between 1935 and 1942 almost single-handedly lifted their studio, MGM, out of a financial crisis and brought it back to profitability, thanks to the millions of dollars their movies amassed.  In 1935, Nelson Eddy surpassed even “The King” himself, Clark Gable, as the male star receiving the largest volume of fan mail, with Jeanette MacDonald holding the female record.  Eddy held the record as the highest paid singer in the world, only to be eventually surpassed by a certain Frank Sinatra.  And yet their private lives were in constant turmoil.  Madly in love, they wanted to marry but MGM Mogul Louis B. Mayer stepped in, terrified that marriage/divorce would destroy his money-spinning screen duo.  Jeanette was manoeuvred by Mayer, and her mother, into marriage to actor Gene Raymond, and Eddy, in a drunken stupor, eloped to Vegas with Ann Franklin.  Both marriages were disastrous.  Eddy declared “I will go to my grave loving her”.   Both stars died relatively young, within 2 years of each other.

New Concert Celebrating Jeanette MacDonald And Nelson Eddy

Sandra Oman and Simon Morgan

TITLE:        “Will You Remember? – A Celebration of MGM Legends

Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy”

 

PERFORMANCE DATE:   09 September 2017, 8pm

 

VENUE:   Birr Theatre & Arts Centre

 

https://birrtheatre.ticketsolve.com/shows/873572568    Tel No.  (057) 91 22911

 

TICKET PRICE:    23euro (Concessions 20euro)

 

FEATURING:    Sandra Oman, soprano; Simon Morgan, baritone; David Wray, piano

 

A concert for all lovers of operetta and the Silver Screen!

 

Tickets on sale now: www.birrtheatre.com Box Office (057) 91 22911

 

 

ABOUT SANDRA OMAN: Dublin-born soprano Sandra Oman’s award-winning debut album, LIBERTY, was launched at a Sold-Out Concert at the National Concert Hall in September of 2015.  It went to Number One in the iTunes Vocal Download Charts in November 2015.  The recipient of the 2004 Margaret Burke-Sheridan Award for her excellence in the field of opera, she commenced her studies at the DIT Conservatory of Music, graduating with the Ely O’Carroll Gold Medal, the College’s highest honour.  She later studied in London with renowned La Scala soprano Graziella Sciutti and with her husband, the respected vocal coach Conor Farren.   She has performed extensively in opera and concert in Ireland, UK, USA, Germany, Poland, Latvia and the Faroe Islands at venues including the Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw;  the National Opera House, Riga;  St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York and Carnegie Hall.  A principal artist with Opera Ireland for over 11 years, her roles include Susanna, Despina, Donna Elvira, Illia, Semele, Ismene, First Lady, Papagena, Mimi, Musetta, Liu, Suor Genovieva, Micaela, Frasquita, Adele, High Priestess, Valencienne, Mabel, Dew Fairy/Sandman, Rosina, Adina, Tisbe, Eunice Hubbell A Streetcar Named Desire (European Premiere), Kitty Hart (Dead Man Walking) and Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) with companies including Opera Holland Park, Longborough Festival Opera, Opera Project UK, Lyric Opera Productions, Co-Opera Ireland, Lismore Opera Festival, Opera 2005, Opera Interludes UK and Opera in the Open.   She has performed with both the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the RTE Concert Orchestra and is an experienced recitalist.  In Winter 2016, she will release her second CD, a Christmas EP entitled Noel!      www.sandraoman.com

 

Simon Morgan, also a chart-topping recording artist, has embraced an eclectic cross-section of vocal repertoire throughout his impressive career.   In the field of opera, Simon has performed with Opera Ireland, Wexford Festival Opera, Loughcrew Opera, Wonderland Productions, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Cork Opera House, in roles including Silvio, Belcore, Marcello, Cox Cox and Box, Ipparco L’Egisto, Aeneas Dido and Aeneas. He performed as Silvio in The Everyman Palace Theatre’s production of I Pagliacci, which won the Best Opera Production Award at the Irish Times Theatre Awards 2013.  At Dublin’s internationally reknowned Gate Theatre, Simon played the role of Antony in their acclaimed production of Stephen Sondheim’sSweeney Todd (Winner of best Opera Production at the Irish Theatre Awards).  He has performed with orchestra, as a soloist, in Ireland and the UK and currently performs as Onassis in “Casta Diva: The Maria Callas Story” with Regina Nathan…a show that has had sold out performances nationwide.  Furthermore Simon has written and arranged music for RTE, the BBC, Placido Domingo, and The RTE Concert Orchestra, for whom he has performed as guest soloist live on Lyric FM as part of the Lunchtime Choice Series at the National Concert Hall. Simon launched his first solo Album with Orchestra, I’ll Be Seeing You, at The National Concert Hall of Ireland. This Album went to number 1 in the Irish Album Charts, after a much Heralded performance on The Late Late Show.   www.simonamorgan.com

 

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