Long history behind ‘Broadway’ concert event

Friday, Aug. 3, 2001 | 9:45 a.m.

What: The Performing Arts Society of Nevada's "Broadway Sound Connection."

When: 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Winchester Center Theater, 3130 S. McLeod Drive.

Tickets: $15.

Information: 658-6741.

It's been a busy 11 years for Thomas Gallagher and John Meren, co-founders of the Performing Arts Society of Nevada.

There have been the numerous musical performances at the old Debbie Reynolds casino as part of its Brown Bag Concert Series. There have been recitals at senior centers and plays and frolicking opera highlights held in community centers and libraries throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

"We've done over 700 varied programs in the last 11 years," Gallagher said. "One Christmas we did 18 concerts in 2 1/2 days in senior homes and senior centers."

But there were few other options for the retirees from the East Coast.

"We knew when we came here we couldn't spend the rest of our life playing cards and bingo," said the 69-year-old Gallagher, who occasionally sings at some of the Performing Arts Society's events. "You've got to produce something. You've got to be giving. You've got to be living."

On Saturday the Performing Arts Society of Nevada will present "Broadway Sound Connection," an afternoon of Broadway music performed by cast members from Strip production shows and local community theater.

Featured performers include cast members from "The Rat Pack is Back" and "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" (which closes Sunday at the Flamingo Las Vegas), as well as singer Tina Walsh of "EFX Alive."

Saturday's performance will serve as a benefit for the nonprofit Sound Foundation, an organization that assists hearing-impaired children and their families.

"There's a lot of talent here," Gallagher said of the scheduled performers. "This is the cream of the crop."

Eleven cast members from Actors Repertoire Theatre's upcoming performance of "Annie" will sing "It's a Hard-Knock Life," and Ernie Sabella, who was the voice of Pumbaa in the movie "The Lion King" and performed in the Broadway musical "Chicago," will sing "Mr. Cellophane."

Gallagher, a former music teacher and opera singer, said that the Performing Arts Society's mission is to entertain and educate the public about the performing arts by exposing it to "good music in an unintimidating way."

"It's never too late to open those windows, to expand," Gallagher said, explaining that some of audience members, including many seniors, will taste opera and theater for the first time.

In an effort to introduce baroque music and comic opera, the Performing Arts Society presented "It's Delicious, Delightful, Delectable," which featured Bach's "The Coffee Contata."

"It was 22 minutes of fun," Gallagher said of the opera performance. In keeping with the production's lightheartedness, the second half of the show featured commercial jingles and novelty songs about food.

Depending on its repertoire, the Performing Arts Society presents each of its concerts under the title of Las Vegas Lyric Opera Company, the National Globe Theatre or Brown Bag Concerts.

The Performing Arts Society also arranges group trips to Los Angeles, London and New York to see stage shows.

The efforts have created a close-knit group of followers who have maintained friendships through the concerts.

"I felt there was a need to get people out of the casinos, to give them a purpose," Gallagher said. "They got out and started talking to each other. It has filled a void in our lives and in the people who come to our concerts."