Musical revue samples Broadway hits at Charleston Music Hall

DAMON R. SMITH
The Post and Courier

Tiffany Parker dances in the number 'Cabaret' from 'Broadway Showstoppers,' a summer special to be presented by Jennifer and Brad Moranz at the Charleston Music Hall.

Singer, dancer and director Brad Moranz guarantees that when Randy Frizado belts out the number "Who Loves You" from the Broadway show "Jersey Boys," audience members will be groovin' in their seats.

"We wanted to present some truly first-rate musical talent, even in the middle of the summer, and so we are bringing down the musical revue 'Broadway Showstoppers,' a song-and-dance sampling from Broadway hits over the past 100 years," Moranz explains. "After all, not absolutely everybody takes off for the mountains!"

Brad and Jennifer Moranz, a husband-and-wife acting and directing team, have assembled a professional cast to perform in the two-hour musical revue to be staged Thursday through next Sunday at the Charleston Music Hall.

"We originally created this revue for the American Music Theatre in Lancaster, Pa., where it ran for five months last year," says Brad Moranz, whose New York off-Broadway stints include playing Groucho Marx in "A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine," and the lead of the timid flower shop worker Seymour in "Little Shop of Horrors," just to name a few of his stints in the Big Apple.

Having danced with the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall for four years, Jennifer Moranz performed in the original Broadway production of "42nd Street" and on a television dance special "Stompin' at the Savoy."

After coming to Charleston to perform with Calvin Gilmore's "Serenade" show, which ran from 1995 to 1999, the couple decided not to return to New York, but to stay in the area. After buying a home in Mount Pleasant, they also established a relationship with American Music Theatre to produce several shows a year in Lancaster.

Their latest productions in Charleston have included "The Charleston Christmas Special," which drew more than 8,000 people last year, and the "Tribute to Bob Hope," a USO-style show for Veterans Day.

"For 'Broadway Showstoppers,' we picked the songs that truly stand out through the past century, such as '76 Trombones' from 'The Music Man' and 'If I Loved You' from 'Carousel,' but we also have 'On Broadway' from 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' and 'One Night Only' from 'Dreamgirls.' "

Other contemporary songs come from "Mamma Mia!" and "The Wedding Singer."

At the time the Moranzes began working with the American Music Theatre, they recruited Goose Creek native Charles Ancheta to be the theater's music director. Conducting the eight-piece orchestra will be Ancheta, who has performed as a concert pianist and vocalist through the United States, Canada, Italy and Australia.

"One of the great moments will be listening to Charles Ancheta sing a medley from 'The Sound of Music' and music from 'The Phantom of the Opera,' " says Brad Moranz.

Among the professionals performing will be Frizado, who has appeared in national tours of Barry Manilow's "Copacabana" and in "Seussical: The Musical"; Patrick Dodd, who opened for Lionel Richie in Las Vegas; Tracy Distefano, featured singer for Opryland, at the Alabama Theater and Princess Cruises; Michael Minor, lead vocalist at the Dixie Stampede in Branson, Mo.; Michelle Mishler, who performed in "Crazy for You" and "All Shook Up" at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, N.H.

Angela Walker, a former Miss Charleston, joined the Pennsylvania cast last year and will perform along with Charlestonians Tiffany Parker, Brooke Caldwell, Amanda Callison, Blake Pritchard, Tiffany Carpenzano and Abigail Ruz.

Sets for the dance numbers have been designed by Dany Kapp with costumes designed by Renee Bouchard and Jennifer Moranz.

Reach Dottie Ashley at 937-5704 or dashley@postandcourier.com.