Broadway Voices has never had a concert quite like the one promised by Jeff Kready and Talley Sessions.
“We think the audience can expect a great time,” Kready said. “We’ll make them laugh, we'll make them cry, hopefully even on purpose. It will be an evening of Broadway favorites, spirituals, and some new songs that will become favorites.”
A few tickets remain for the concert on Feb. 15 at the Garner Performing Arts Center.
Kready and Sessions bring impressive Broadway resumes . Talley will rush home to enter rehearsals for a highly anticipated revival of Company _ but when they get together hijinks ensue.
“We have a lot of fun,” said Kready, who delighted a sold-out audience last year in a solo concert at the GPAC. “Talley is super talented.”
Originally, Kready was returning to Garner this year with wife Nikki Renee Daniels. It was going to be a romantic evening for Valentine’s Day.
But when Daniels was cast in a major new musical and was unavailable for the concert, Kready turned to his pal Sessions, a University of North Carolina grad, for a revival of their fun-filled show.
“I can't wait to be back in Garner!’ Kready said. “We had such a wonderful audience last year that I was excited to have the opportunity to come back.
“This will be my fourth time performing in the area, and I'm thrilled to bring my good buddy Tally with me this time, especially since he is a native North Carolinian and UNC grad.”
The jokes will take a back seat to the singing, though. Kready currently is in Tootsie and was the youngest Broadway Jean Valjean in Les Misérables on Broadway. He also has appeared in A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Billy Elliot. Sessions is a veteran of Company, War Paint, Falsettos and School of Rock.
It is expected to be a night of soaring tenor and booming baritone. And laughs. And tears.
But the fun will start before the concert does. Kready and Sessions are coming into town early to conduct the PNC Arts Immersion Project. They, and their musical director Laura
Bergquist will be working with elementary and high school students in the area. The Garner Magnet High School singers will perform during the concert.
“Working with the students is what really makes this experience special,” Kready said. “Laura Bergquist and I were absolutely blown away by the talent of the kids last year, so we are thrilled to get to expand on that this year by not only having Die Meistersingers perform on stage again, but also by doing a program for elementary students the day before the concert. As a former elementary school music teacher, I'm looking forward to returning to my roots that afternoon.”