''Pops on Broadway'' will be appearing at the Reg Lenna Civic Center on Friday and Saturday nights at 8. Starring in the musical review is Broadway performer Keith Buterbaugh.
Sophistication and style are Buterbaugh trademarks. With credits such as Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash hit to handsome leading man Gaylord Ravenal in the national tour of ''Showboat,'' Buterbaugh has captured audiences across the country and the world with concert appearances and his recent Broadway run of ''Company'' and national tour of ''Sweeney Todd.'' He has also sung at a command performance at the White House.
With all of these amazing credits, Keith is known to the students of the Drama Enrichment Program of Jamestown as a down-to-earth teacher with a vast knowledge of performance skills.
Article Photos
Keith Buterbaugh is seen with co-star Christina DeCicco in a performance of ‘‘Tartuffe.’’ Buterbaugh will join students from Michele Constantino’s Drama Enrichment Program on stage at the Reg Lenna Civic Center for ‘‘Pops on Broadway’’ on Friday and Saturday night at 8.
Submitted photo
Buterbaugh became acquainted with DEP program director Michele Constantino through a mutual friend, Julie Livengood, who attended Clarion State College with him. After the tragic events of Sept. 11, Buterbaugh was thrilled to come to the beautiful and laid-back Southern Tier. He fell in love with the area and the program and has been coming back every summer since - with the exception of the summer of 2007 when he was on Broadway with ''Company.''
Mrs. Constantino comes from a very different performance background. She toured with Toronto-based show group ''Collage'' before she married and started a family. With ''Collage,'' she toured the eastern seaboard and Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Paradise Island in showrooms of Americana and Hilton Hotels as well as the Playboy Club in Manhattan. While settled in the area, she has been a guest performer for area functions and director of the award-winning Jamestown High School Musical at the Reg Lenna Civic Center. Michele and the Drama Enrichment Program were awarded the Chautauqua County Arts Award in 2007 for outstanding achievement as Arts Educator in Chautauqua County.
She has written and produced five dramas for the DEP: ''Signs'' (a murder mystery thriller with links back to Imperial Russia), ''Dear Mrs. Roosevelt'' (about young people during the Great Depression), ''The River is Wide'' (a Civil War drama), ''They Speak in Numbers'' (about the underground movement during the Holocaust), and ''Titanic - Voices from Within'' (about survivors of the Titanic). All of these plays and performances were teaching tools for young actors. The casts range in age from 4 to 22, with an occasional veteran actor gracing the stage with the student performers.
Mrs. Constantino began the Drama Enrichment Program in 2001 at the request of parents who wanted an in-depth acting program for their children. As a result, hundreds of young students from all over the Southern Tier and Warren, Pa., have attended drama and musical theater training sessions. These students have gone on to become actors, teachers, directors and graduate students. One of her very first students is now a teacher/director in the program. Multi-talented Kate Amatuzzo received her master's degree in vocal performance at prestigious New York University and is now an education graduate student at Mercyhurst College. Having performed in numerous operas in Erie and New York - and studying voice abroad in Florence, Italy - Kate is well-equipped to work the students of the Drama Enrichment Program.
Talented students of the Drama Enrichment Program will be performing on stage with the Jon Wilder Band, Keith Buterbaugh, Kate Amatuzzo and Michele Constantino. Music ranges from traditional Broadway show tunes to contemporary pop music. Tickets are available at the Reg Lenna Civic Center Box Office, 484-7070, for $15 general admission, and $12 for seniors and students. For $25 general admission, and $20 for seniors and students, patrons will get tickets for an opening night show and a post-show reception on the stage with Buterbaugh.