From April 7-9, Ottawa residents won’t have to take the long drive to New York City to see Broadway stars. Instead, they can just come to the National Arts Centre and experience Broadway’s Leading Men, which will feature several hit songs from different shows, sung by one female and three male performers who have experience with Broadway’s bright lights.
Ted Keegan is one leading man who will perform at the show and he will sing songs from Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, West Side Story and more.
“One of the things I like about this show is the fact that there’s so much diversity in it, you’re not pigeonholed into singing one type of song,” says Keegan.
The show will highlight famous songs from Broadway shows including “Maria” from West Side Story, “I Am What I Am” from La Cage Aux Folles, as well as songs from The Music Man and Oliver!.
“To have the opportunity to have more than one leading man, to have three guys come together and to get to sing together, that doesn’t happen very often, so it’s a real treat for us and the audience to have these voices all come together,” says Keegan.
The performance will feature solos, duets, trios and more, including a chorus of 25 young men from the Ottawa area who will be closing the show with a finale piece from Les Misérables.
The chorus will feature singers from three different Ottawa vocal ensembles, including one from Canterbury High School, one from De La Salle High School, and one from the University of Ottawa. Performers are between the ages of 14 and 25 years old, says Laurence Ewashko, director of the chorus.
“It’s been a great experience for the boys, I think it’s brought an understanding of what it takes to be on Broadway,” says Ewashko.
The Broadway performers will join the chorus during the final piece, which will be about 12 minutes long, says Keegan.
“All of us come together and we do an amazing medley which I think the audience will love,” says Keegan.
The chorus has the songs memorized, and will continue to rehearse in different settings in preparation for opening day, says Ewashko.
Looking back on his journey to Broadway, Keegan pointed out that practice like this is what got him into big shows like Camelot and The Phantom of the Opera.
“How did I get started on Broadway? Practice, practice, practice. I went to college and then moved to New York and immediately started pounding the pavement and going to as many auditions as I could,” says Keegan.
Since then, Keegan has worked with the other performers featured in the show, Ed Staudenmayer, Heath Calvert, and Brynn O’Malley, in previous productions. “It’s a great group of people,” he says.
The show will be conducted by the NAC’s principal pops conductor, Jack Everly.