HMC Presents “Show Tune Showdown”
Perfect for the Broadway Show Junkie in All of Us!
A Broadway Mash Up of Game Show, Sing-A-Long and Show Tune Trivia, Show Tune Showdown will truly be THE HMC concert that you must see this season!
Over 100 years of Broadway’s biggest hits presented by Heartland Men’s Chorus . . . the two go together like Rogers and Hammerstein! Who better to perform pieces of more than 90 musical classics than Kansas City’s gay men’s chorus!
Under the baton of Artistic Director Dustin S. Cates, bright lights and jazz hands are just the start of the concert as we present the continuum of Broadway musicals from 1900 to today.
Starting off with tunes from “A Chorus Line,” “George M,” “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” and others just to get you in the mood, Show Tune Showdown leads us through the decades of Broadway favorites starting with the music of Tin Pan Alley. If you can “Button Up Your Overcoat,” you’ll sing “Hallelujah” to be able to “Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody!”
We’ll visit the creations of Rogers and Hammerstein and their contemporaries from musicals like “Carousel,” “Oklahoma,” “Annie Get Your Gun,” “South Pacific,” and “The Sound of Music.” Next we’ll stopover in the Golden Years of Hollywood with tunes from musicals like “Gypsy,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Peter Pan,” “Hello Dolly,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” and so many others.
The history of Broadway wouldn’t be complete without the music of Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Schwartz, and Kansas City native John Kander, to name just a few. And just when you think we can’t come up with another tune to sing, we’ll ramp up the “Showdown,” our game show portion of the evening where audience members get to show off their own musical theater chops.
During the “Showdown,” Game Show Host, Brian Ellison, will challenge participating audience members on their knowledge of musical theater trivia and history. Contestants will play iconic TV show games with lifeline assistance from the Chorus during musical interludes. Wild wacky fun will ensue as each contestant vies for the “Showdown Championship!” Brian Ellison is a host/contributor at KCUR 89.3, where he hosts the political podcast Statehouse Blend Missouri, and is substitute host for the station’s talk shows and newscasts. He is also executive director of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, a national organization doing education and advocacy on LGBTQ issues in church and society. Brian previously narrated the Heartland Men’s Chorus’ Modern Families concert in 2015 and added, “With this concert, I am literally fulfilling my lifelong ambition of being a game show host!”
Artistic Director Cates summed it up best, “The curtain will be rising on ‘Show Tune Showdown’ in June to a mash-up of Broadway, sing-along and game show as we invite our loyal audience members to the stage. Our concerts have something for everyone and will always leave you with a message or a song in your heart. This time they can leave with prizes, too, as they compete with their knowledge of musical theater trivia. It will be a concert for all ages . . . anyone who loves Broadway musicals will love this concert!”
Show Tune Showdown will be performed at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 10th and 4 p.m. Sunday, June 11th at the historic Folly Theater, 300 W. 12th Street in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
Tickets to both performances are available online at https://hmckc.org/tickets/ or by calling 816-931-3338. Prices range from $18 to $43 with special student pricing at $7. Come as you are, dress is casual, and visit hmckc.org today!
