Movie Musical Magic!

St. Augustine Community Chorus offers “Movie Musical Magic!”

We all love going to the movies and often leave singing or humming tunes from the score, especially with musicals.  For audiences who enjoy music from Broadway or the cinema, this is an opportunity to attend the upcoming St. Augustine Community Chorus concert: These are a few of our favorite things: Movie Musical Magic!  The concert will take place at 7:30 PM on Saturday, March 14 and at 3:00 PM on Sunday, March 15 at the Performing Arts Center of St. Augustine High School, 3205 Varella Avenue.

From the early days of films in the thirties up through the 1990’s, there are many memorable melodies that we all love, including: “My Favorite Things”, “Unchained Melody”, “As Time Goes By”, “My Heart Will Go On”, “Singin’ in the Rain” “Under the Boardwalk”, and “Hooray for Hollywood”.  Director Kathleen Vande Berg has selected all of these and more to be performed by the chorus and guest soloists during the spring concert, which will be the final concert that Ms. Vande Berg will be directing the chorus.  Having been a Chorus Director since 2005, she will remain active as the Director of the St. Augustine Singers and involved in many other community activities, including Co-Chair of the Romanza Festivale.  The new director, Michael Sanflippo, will take over the baton for the May 17, 2015 concert and subsequent concerts in the next season. 

The accompanist for the concert is Ray McDonald and Gary Bunt has arranged the music for the musical ensemble.   Joining the chorus are soloists Ronda Paoletti, Soprano, and Mani Cadet, Tenor, who are well known to local music enthusiasts.   

Ronda Paoletti has sung Gretel in “Hansel and Gretel” with the First Coast Opera in November 2013.   She was a featured soprano soloist with the First Coast Opera in their November 2011 concert entitled “Grandi Voci: Voices of Love,” where she sang scenes and arias from “Lucia di Lammermoor”, “Don Pasquale”, and “The Marriage of Figaro”.   Ms. Paoletti teaches at the Valwood School, a private college preparatory school in Valdosta, GA and maintains a private voice studio as well as an active singing career.

Mani Cadet is a seasoned performer having achieved acclaim in opera, musical theater and as a concert entertainer.  Mr. Cadet has performed on such world-renowned stages as the Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Martinique Opera, Bergenz Opera, The Music Theatre of Wichita, Broadway and Off- Broadway tours and productions.  Most recently he has performed Ole Mister in the Alhambra Theatre’s production of “The Color Purple”, productions of “Little Shop of Horrors” as the The Voice of Audrey II and the role of W.E.B. Dubois in “Knock me a Kiss” by Charles Smith at the West Coast Black Theatre in Sarasota.

Tickets for the concert are:  Adults $20 in advance and $25 at the door, Student $5.  Tickets can be purchased at: Music Matters, Carter’s Jewelry, Flowers by Shirley, Herbie Wiles Insurance, The Print Shop, Southern Horticulture and through PayPal online at: www.staugustinecommunitychorus.org.   For more information visit the website or call Nell Toensmann at 904-484-4960.