Marsha Oliver
They say there’s always magic in the air! And the lights will be bright here at Robson Ranch on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 18 and 19, when the Robson Ranch Singers present their Spring Show, “On Broadway.”
Many of us in Singers did musical theater in high school, college, or community theater, and a very few of us actually performed on Broadway. In addition to the joy we found in singing all those great songs, we enjoyed the camaraderie being in a show can bring. And we knew for the audience there was the thrill of sitting in a darkened theater and experiencing the beauty of hearing amazing music performed live!
As I have for previous shows, I asked my fellow Singers for their “Broadway” show experiences. I’ll lead off…
My senior year in high school we performed Camelot and I so wanted to play Guinevere. Our musical director cast a SOPHOMORE—I guess he knew what he was doing as she spent her career in opera. I still dream of playing that fantastic role on Broadway, but realize I’ll need to find a very old Arthur to make me come across as a credible, virginal princess!—Marsha Oliver
One of my most memorable ‘Stage moments’ was when I played ‘Hodel’ in Fiddler on the Roof. The show ran for a couple of weeks, and on closing night those of us backstage heard a giant ‘boom’ followed by hysterical laughter coming from the audience. Come to find out, when the actors playing Tevye and Golde got into their onstage bed, the entire thing crashed down around them and they had to do the whole rest of the scene on the floor with the bed in shambles. We learned they never broke character but definitely never lived down the fact that they ‘broke the bed’ during our last show!—Laurie Laramie
In our previous lives on the East Coast, music was always the focus. Rich wrote the score to the musical “Ebenezer”—based on “A Christmas Carol”—and to an Alan Bennett play, “Habeas Corpus.” He sang in numerous choruses and played with several jazz trios.
Pete was in theater and summer stock—in such shows as “Kiss Me Kate” and “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”—did studio recordings for “Camelot,” sang backup vocals for a pop singer, and performed in some of the top cabaret venues in the Broadway District.
For the past 40 years, we’ve performed together as a duo act and are delighted to have opportunities to continue doing what we love here at Robson Ranch and in the surrounding communities.—Rich and Pete Marks
Please mark your calendar for March 18 and 19 and plan to attend our Spring Show, “On Broadway”—we’ll see you across the footlights!