‘100 Years of Broadway’ performed at Keith-Albee

Huntington got a little piece of Broadway when the number one Broadway touring concert in the United States, Neil Berg's "100 Years of Broadway," performed at the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center yesterday.

Ashley Monet, junior theatre major at Marshall University, said the stars from the show were "obnoxiously talented."

"Everybody on that stage has had long running careers on Broadway, and they did songs that are staples for what Broadway is and what it stands for," Monet said.

The show included stars from some of the biggest shows on Broadway such as: Carter Calvert who is best known for her roles in "It Ain't Nothing But The Blues" and "Cats," Danny Zolli who is best known for his roles as Jesus and Judas in "Jesus Christ Superstar," Ivan Rutherford who is best known for his role as Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables," Sandra Joseph who has starred as Christine Daae in "The Phantom of the Opera" and Chuck Wagner who played Athos in "The Three Musketeers" on Broadway.

Neil Berg, creator and co-producer of Neil Berg's "100 Years of Broadway," said he hopes they get a chance to come back and perform in Huntington again.

"I loved every little tiny second of it," Berg said. "The audience was incredible, the theater (Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center) is old and majestic and beautiful and the vibe was incredible."

The performances included a number of songs from a variety of Broadway shows. There were songs from "West Side Story," "Funny Girl," "Chicago," "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Rent."

Monet said the show was great and a treat for Huntington to have such well-known stars here.

"To see real professionals on the stage, you don't get that a lot and it's hard to get to New York City, so to have them here is just really a really great experience," Monet said. "With the theatre becoming so commercial with things like Disney, it's really nice to have people come here and do what it stands for and what made it great."

Ivan Rutherford was born in Huntington, and Neil Berg said he hopes they can come and perform every year.

"I just hope we get a chance to come back. We feel very blessed to get a chance to come here and perform for everyone," Berg said. "I think I enjoyed it even more than the audience did and they stood for like 10 minutes."

The show ended with the song Season of Love from the Broadway musical "Rent," and received a standing ovation.

Keyaira McCauley can be contacted at mccauley12@marshall.edu.