Broadway in Bryant Park

Broadway in Bryant Park, the annual series of free concerts featuring performances by the casts of upcoming and currently running Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, began July 8 and is now at its halfway point. The weekly 106.7 Lite fm event is held from 12:30 to 1:30PM every Thursday through August 12 on the lawn in Manhattan's Bryant Park. Typically, 4 different shows are featured each week, each one performing usually 3 numbers. A schedule of performances can be found on the 106.7 Lite fm and Bryant Park websites.

I attended a couple of the concerts last year. One was on July 9, and my main reason for going was because the cast of Avenue Q was performing. The show's Broadway closing notice had been posted, and I thought it would be my last chance to see a live performance from the musical for a while. At the time it hadn't been announced yet that the show would go back to playing Off-Broadway. Even so, I was glad I came out to see the show in the park because I got to see original cast members Ann Harada, who returned for the Broadway closing, and Jennifer Barnhart, who stayed the entire run, perform their roles one last time.

Along with Avenue Q, other shows in the lineup that day were Stomp, Phantom of the Opera, and In the Heights. Also, The Joe Iconis Rock and Roll Jamboree opened up the concert with a few songs. Below is a small selection of photos I took during the concert.

The Joe Iconis Rock and Roll Jamboree:


Stomp:



A future Stomp cast member?

Avenue Q:

Ann Harada and Anika Larsen performing "The More You Ruv Someone."


Jennifer Barnhart, Seth Rettberg, and Robert McClure performing "If You Were Gay."

Phantom of the Opera:




In the Heights:

Christopher Jackson and Mandy Gonzalez performing "When You're Home."


Singing "96,000."

The other Broadway Bryant Park concert I saw was on August 13, the final for that year. The shows that participated that afternoon were Mamma Mia!, Altar Boyz, South Pacific, and Billy Elliot. In addition, there were 2 special guests appearances. Musical theater and television actor Matthew Morrison, best known for starring on the hit TV show Glee, performed a song cut from the show's pilot episode; and actor John Stamos stopped by and spoke about being in the then-upcoming Broadway revival of Bye Bye Birdie. Several photos can be seen below.

Mamma Mia!:




Altar Boyz:

I had finally seen the musical less than a week before and really enjoyed it!

South Pacific:

Loretta Ables Sayre singing "Bali Ha'i."

Sayre later introduced former fellow cast member and the revival's original Lt. Cable, Matthew Morrison, who sang "Leaving On a Jet Plane" as performed on the television show Glee.


Lite fm personality and Broadway in Bryant Park host for that day, Christine Nagy, with John Stamos:


Billy Elliot:

The cast singing "Once We Were Kings."

Many more photos can be seen on my Flickr photostream.