Introduction
Coloratura Soprano
ACT I of Benton County Artist in Residence
January and February, 2000
We are pleased to welcome Kathleen Berger to Vinton as part of ACT I’s 20th anniversary season. Kathleen will portray Lily in “The Secret Garden,” direct our children’s theatre production of “Hansel and Gretel,” perform two local recitals, teach an opera class for ACT I STAGE! and will present assemblies and master classes in our area schools.
An Evening on Broadway with Kathleen Berger
January 15 and 22, 7:30 PM
Wesley United Methodist Church, Vinton
Featuring Kathleen singing a collection of her favorite show tunes in an informal cabaret atmosphere!
Program
Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
Bewitched, bothered, and bewildered
(from Pal Joey)
My funny valentine
(from Babes in Arms)
Richard Rodgers &
Oscar Hammerstein II
Mr. Snow
(from Carousel)
George and Ira Gershwin
Summertime
(from Porgy and Bess)
But not for me
(from Girl Crazy)
The Saga of Jenny
(from Lady in the Dark)
Jerome Kern
Smoke gets in your eyes
(from Roberta)
Can’t help lovin’ that man
(from Showboat)
Cole Porter
So in love
(from Kiss Me Kate)
What is this thing called love?
(from Wake Up and Dream)
Mark Blitzstein
I wish it so
(from Juno)
Modest maid
(from The Cradle Will Rock)
In the clear
(From No for an Answer)
Intermission
Alan Jay Lerner &
Frederick Loewe
The Simple Joys of Maidenhood
(from Camelot)
Meredith Willson
Till there was you
(from The Music Man)
Marvin Hamlisch
Nothing
(from A Chorus Line)
Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick
Far from the home I love
(from Fiddler on the Roof)
Schmidt and Jones
Old maid
(from 110 in the Shade)
Stephen Sondheim
Green finch and linnet bird
(from Sweeney Todd)
Leonard Bernstein
Glitter and be gay
(from Candide)
Pianist: Mary Ann Welchel
Stage Manager: Aaron Murphy
Catering by the 4th Street Coffee Co.
Kathleen Berger Classical Concert
January 30, 2:00 PM
The Palace Theatre
An exciting afternoon of classical and operatic selections from Kathleen’s lyric coloratura repertory. The first half of the program features works by 18th and 19th century composers, with all 20th century works featured after the intermission.
Pianist Lori Ferguson and Kathleen Berger, on stage at the Palace Theatre
Program
Georges Frederic Handel
Da tempeste
(from Giulio Cesare)
Giacchino Rossini
La promessa
L’invito
Vincenzo Bellini
Almen se non poss’io
Giuseppe Verdi
Stornello
Franz Schubert
An die Musik
Standchen
Du bist die Ruh
Gretchen am Spinnarade
Intermission
Igor Stravinsky
No word from Tom . . . / I go, I go to him
(from The Rake’s Progress)
Francis Poulenc
La Courte Paille
Le sommeil
Quelle aventure!
La reine du coeur
Ba, be, bi, bo, bu
Les anges musiciens
Le carafon
Lune d’avril
Jean Berger
Four songs on texts by Langston Hughes
In time of silver rain
Heart
Cabin
Lonely people
Ben Schuman
Three Love Songs by Women Poets
(Iowa premiere performance)
Song
Four-Word Lines
Come not near my songs
Pianist: Lori Ferguson
Stage Manager: Aaron Murphy
Synthesizer: (final number) Mary Ann Welchel
Kathleen Berger recently performed Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Brooklyn, and Dalinda in Handel’s Ariodante with the New York Chamber opera in June of 1999. A Phoenix native, she also has appeared as Adele in Die Fledermaus with Operesque Classical Concerts, and with The Brandenburg Opera as Madame Silberklang in Mozart’s The Impresario. Ms. Berger debuted on the opera stage in 1991 as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro at Opera in the Ozarks, where she also appeared in 1996 as Musetta in La Boheme. While completing her Bachelor’s degree in Music at the University of Missouri—Kansas City, she was seen as Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi (for which she also served as assistant director), and as Marion in The Music Man with Shawnee Mission Theater-in-the-Park. Prior to that, she attended Arizona State University, where she sang the roles of Geraldine in Barber’s rarely-performed A Hand of Bridge and the Sandman in Hansel and Gretel. She has appeared in and around New York as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte (New York Opera Forum), Blanche in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, and as The Cabaret Singer in the world premiere of The Quiet American by Wendy Griffiths. Ms. Berger’s interests extend to the concert stage as well. As part of the series entitled Karen Hendricks and Friends, she participated in a recital in Fraser, Colorado, last winter, and plans future concerts with Ms. Hendricks in New York and Phoenix, Arizona. She has also appeared in several recitals with Musique Pour Tous in Grenoble, France. Currently, Ms. Berger lives in New York City, where she studies voice with Bruce Norris. Upcoming engagements include Lily in The Secret Garden with Act I of Benton County in Vinton, Iowa, and her first Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the New York Opera Fourm.
Miss Berger’s appearances with ACT I of Benton County are sponsored in large part with funds provided by a grant from the R. J. McElroy Trust of Waterloo, Iowa.
Lori Ferguson (Accompanist, Classical Concert) is very active in all things musical both in Vinton and Cedar Rapids as a singer and pianist. She has appeared in several Theatre Cedar Rapids musical productions, most recently 40s on First, and is a regular performer in the annual Follies production. She is director and keyboardist for the Wesley United Methodist Church praise band Messenger. Until recently Lori was a law enforcement officer for the Linn County Sheriff’s department but now devotes herself entirely to musical endeavors.
Mary Ann Welchel (Accompanist, Broadway Recital) has lived in Vinton the last two years. She currently teaches music at Madison Elementary School in Cedar Rapids. She performed at the Palace Theatre during our Variety Show in December as accompanist for the vocal group Sonshine.
Aaron Murphy (Stage Manager) is very familiar to our audiences. He played the roles of Hugo in “Bye Bye Birdie,” Tumnus in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” and Miles Hendon in “The Prince and the Pauper,” and appeared in our last two Variety Shows. He is in tenth grade at Washington High School in Vinton and is active in music, theatre, and dance. He played the role of Mr. Frank in the recent WHS production of “The Diary of Anne Frank” and will serve as assistant director to Miss Berger in our upcoming production of “Hansel and Gretel.”
Ben Schuman (Composer, Three Love Songs by Women Poets) is a native of Baltimore now living in New York City. A tenor as well as a composer, he has performed with the New York Chamber Opera and various other companies. Find Harvey. He is an occasional on stage colleague of Miss Berger, and will soon sing Count Almaviva to her Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the New York Opera Forum. He has completed graduate work at the Peabody Conservatory and has also sung professionally with the Baltimore Opera.
Following the classical concert — her third solo recital performance in three weeks for Vinton audiences — Artist in Residence Kathleen Berger, an avid football fan, unwinds at a Super Bowl party held in her honor with fellow cast members from The Secret Garden.
