Hot Summer Nights | Theatre Raleigh Present OH, WHAT A NIGHT! II, Now thru 9/2

Hot Summer Nights | Theatre Raleigh's Oh, What a Night! II will take the stage at Fletcher Opera Theater inside the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. The show runs tonight, August 31-September 2.

Oh, What a Night! II will be directed and choreographed by Broadway star and Raleigh native, Lauren Kennedy, who is also Artistic Director of HSN | TR. Kennedy says after lasts year’s inaugural production and stellar reception from audiences, the theatre company felt it was time to expand. “It was such a big hit last year, we decided to move it up to The Fletcher”, says Kennedy. She added, “A lot of patrons asked if we would do it again. So, we decided to make it annual event. This year we have a new crop of songs and talent of all ages.”

The cast of 16 will perform songs from the hottest shows on Broadway that are too big to produce at Hot Summer Nights | Theatre Raleigh. Theatre-goers can expect to hear selections from some such popular musicals from yesterday and today like Les Miserables, Big River and Little Shop of Horrors to The Book of Mormon, Wicked and even 13.

Oh What a Night! II includes performances by Katie Bottomley, Curtis Brown, Riley Campbell, Patrick Clanton, Mary Kate Englehardt, Carly Grissom, Adam Kaplan, Nicholas Kraft, Lydia Leggett, Kate McMillan, Kaitlin Mercurio, Morgan Parpan, Heather Patterson-King, Amad Ratliff-Brown, Zach Teague, Jeffrey Visciano and Felicia Wright.
McCrae Hardy (Musical Director/Keyboard 1) has put together an amazing group of musicians for the concert including some from the Triangle Youth Symphony. Under Hardy’s direction are Stephen Cox (Violin 2), John Hanks (Drums), Hailey Kim (Viola), Drew Lile (Guitar), Myriah Luke (Cello), Jonathan Ng (Violin 1), Michael Santangelo (Keyboard 2), John Simonetti (Bass) and John Skinner (Woodwinds).

The extraordinary creative team includes Chris Bernier (Set and Lighting Design), Eric Colins (Sound Design), Christine Rapp (Stage Manager) and Will Mikes (Projection Design). In addition to Kennedy, the executive team includes Alan Campbell (Executive Director), Hilary Russo (Publicity & Media Relations Director), Adam Twiss (Associate Artistic Director) and Michele Weathers (General Manager). Additional crew includes Liz Ray (Assistant Stage Manager and Cameron Wade (Assistant Choreographer/Kid Wrangler).

Oh What a Night! II performances will take place at Fletcher Opera Theater tonight, August 31-Sept 2 on Friday and Saturday at 8PM and Sunday at 3PM. Tickets range from $24-$35 (military, student and senior discounts available) and can be ordered through ovationtix.com or by visiting the HSN | TR website. For more information about Hot Summer Nights | Theatre Raleigh and the 2012 season, visit HotSummerNightsAtTheKennedy.org.

More Articles by This Author...