BY KAREN BOSSICK
Don your old Hollywood glam and walk the red carpet when Company of Fools stages “Once Upon a Song: A Tribute to the Golden Voices of the Silver Screen.”
Broadway’s leading lady Teri Bibb and Fools’ Musical Director R.L. Rowsey are joining voices to pay tribute to the singers and songs of the classical Hollywood era in two performances this week at The Liberty Theatre in Hailey.
The first—a Gala Benefit performance—takes place on Thursday, March 29, with a pre-show cocktail party and red carpet reception starting at 5:30 p.m. followed by the concert at 7 and a glittering Hollywood after-party at 8:30 p.m. Vintage Hollywood and cocktail attire is encouraged.
A public performance will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, March 30.
Bibb will share her personal connection to women like Judy Garland, Julie Andrews, Shirley Jones, Kathryn Grayson and Jane Powell, who inspired her and helped shape her career, during the show. As a result, you can expect to hear Bibbs’ renditions of such familiar tunes as “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and Shirley Jones’ “Till There was You” from “The Music Man.”
“The gala benefit is going to be a really fun night,” said Rowsey. “It’s a time to dress up.”
Bibb, a longtime friend of Rowsey’s, has performed in the valley before. The soprano has performed on Broadway and on tour in more than a thousand performances as Christine in “The Phantom of the Opera.”
She also has given command performances at the White House, on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and on the stages of Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall and London’s Royal Albert Hall.
They’ve performed this show in California and Kalamazoo, Mich.
“The chance to do it here is a gift,” said Rowsey. “Teri has done a few things here before, but this is all brand new. If I had to choose someone to sing with, I would choose Teri. She makes my heart sing. She’s the quintessential performer—an exceptional artist, a delight and my dear friend.”
Rowsey, one of the Company of Fools’ original Core Company artists, is no stranger to the stage. He sang the title role in Michael Nyman’s “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” directed at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and served as music director and conductor for the national tours of several Broadway musicals.
Tickets to the Gala Benefit performance start at $125. The $2,500 Foolish Visionaries tickets include two tickets to the performance and complimentary Center Guardian membership.
Tickets for the public performance on Friday cost $35 for balcony seats and $45 for orchestra seats, available by calling 208-726-9491 or by visiting www.sunvalleycenter.org/cofgala.