Fans spoke up on changes to ‘Grand Night’ show tune revue. And UK listened.
Two years ago, the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre’s production of its annual “Grand Night for Singing” concert was one of the first signs the Lexington arts community was emerging from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While it was a live performance with an in-person audience, it still bore many of the hallmarks of the pandemic including masking, vaccine requirements, and a modified program, shortened and without an intermission to limit circumstances where the virus could spread. This year, UK Opera Theatre director Everett McCorvey says he sees COVID in the rear view, but some changes to the more than 30-year-old pop and Broadway show tune revue remain.
Some of those changes are behind the scenes such as making sure there are backups for everyone from technical directors to key performers in case someone gets sick. Other changes the audience, particularly long-time attendees, will definitely notice like the shorter program without an intermission.
“We’re staying with the 90-minute show,” McCorvey says. “We did a survey after the show — we did 90 minutes the past two years — and that has been one of the things that people have enjoyed.”
It works out as a win-win, McCorvey says, as it has allowed the production to add a Saturday matinee performance that has quickly proved to be one of the most popular tickets, and losing about an hour off the show allows them to focus on each number more. McCorvey is also excited students in the Governor’s School for the Arts are getting to interact with the show.
As always, “Grand Night” tries to be tuned in to what is happening in musical theater and the times, so this year has a nod to the fact Lexington’s own Colton Ryan will be up for a Tony Award Sunday Night for his performance in “New York, New York” with a performance of the show’s iconic title tune.
Fans of the Apple TV+ series “Schmigadoon” might appreciate selections from Broadway musical hits “Chicago” and “Hair,” whose styles were prominently featured in the satirical series’ recent second season, and there is a touch of Pride in the “La Cage Aux Folles” hit “I Am What I Am,” which appeared in a recent episode of “Ted Lasso.” McCorvey is particularly excited about an a cappella rendition of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly,” and a performance of the “Barnum” showpiece, “Come Follow the Band.”
Like every year, the process of putting “Grand Night” together involves assessing the talent on hand and building the best showcases for them and the audience. McCorvey reflects on how, more than three decades in, many people in the show have gone on to successful careers on stage and screen.
“It’s really nice to be able to sit and listen to all of these singers and hear their growth,” McCorvey says. “And you just wonder, ponder what’s going to be next for them; where they will go next. And of course, that makes me nervous, because then I’m thinking, ‘Oh no, we have to have more talent for next year.”
‘Grand Night for Singing’
What: UK Opera Theatre show tune concert featuring student and community performers
When: 7:30 p.m. June 9 and 16; 2 and 7:30 p.m. June 10 and 17; 6 p.m. June 11; 2 p.m. June 18
Where: University of Kentucky’s Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall, 405 Rose Street
Tickets: $17-$59; SCFAtickets.com or call 859-257-4929
