Laura Osnes, Lindsay Mendez, and More Join American Pops Orchestra 2016-17 Season
(© David Gordon)
Washington, D.C.'s American Pops Orchestra, helmed by Luke Frazier, has announced the lineup set for its 2016-17 season.
I’ll Be Seeing You: A World War II Love Story will open in November, featuring featuring Tony nominee Ron Raines (Follies), Florence Lacey (Follies), Claybourne Elder (Bonnie and Clyde), and Rachel Eskenazi-Gold (The Phantom of the Opera). The original show tells the love story of "Spark" and Charley Frazier (Maestro Luke Frazier’s own grandparents) through actual letters written between the couple during World War II with supplementary narrative.
On January 13, 2017, the orchestra will pay tribute to Barbra Streisand with Don’t Rain on My Parade: 75 Years of Streisand. The concert will feature performances by Amber Iman (Shuffle Along), Lindsay Mendez (Significant Other), Tony nominee Laura Osnes (Cinderella), among others.
The season will also include a matinee performance of Cinderella on March 11, 2017, featuring Austin Colby, MaryJoanna Grisso, Hilary Morrow, and Dale Sampson — as well as an April 7, 2017 performance of You Spin Me 'Round: An '80s Dance Party, featuring Warren Freeman, Bayla Whitten, and DJ Shea Van Horn.
In addition to the regular concerts of the season, Frazier and the American Pops Orchestra will perform at the Hispanic Heritage Awards on September 22 (to be nationally broadcast); the Beacon Prize, given by Human Rights First to honor commitment to the American ideals of freedom and human dignity, in December 2016; and the DC Standing Ovation Awards, celebrating excellence in the DC Public Schools, in February 2017.
