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Home , Ira Gershwin

Department of

MFulton Schouol of sLibeiracl Arts

SENIOR RECITAL Rebecca E. Norris LYRIC MEZZO-SOPRANO

In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Bachelor of Arts in Music, Vocal Performance And Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, Musical Performance

From the voice studio of LEIGH USILTON Accompanied by ROBERT A. BAKER, pianist

Assisted by BRIAN KUHN , baritone LUKE WARRINGTON , tenor ALYSSA MULLINS , soprano AVERY JOHNSON , pianist

www.salisbury.edu PROGRAM

Musical Theatre Set: Composer Study ...... George and Ira Gershwin “They All Laughed” from Shall We Dance “” from Tip-Toes “Someone to Watch Over Me” from Oh, Kay! “Could You Use Me” from Accompanist: Avery Johnson Baritone: Brian Kuhn

Character Study: Sarah Brown ( Guys and Dolls ) ...... “I’ll Know” “If I Were a Bell” “Marry the Man Today” Sky Masterson: Luke Warrington Miss Adelaide: Alyssa Mullins

Intermission

Exploration of Independence, Money and Love “100 Easy Ways to Lose a Man” from Wonderful Town , Leonard Bernstein “Stars and the Moon” from Songs for a New World , Jason Robert Brown “The Trolley Song” from Meet Me in St. Louis , Martin/Blane

Musical Theatre Set: Performing Artist Study ...... Sutton Foster “Not For the Life of Me” from Thoroughly Modern Millie , Scanlan/Tesori “Astonishing” from Little Women , Howland/Dickstein “I Don’t Wanna Show Off” from Drowsy Chaperone , Lambert/Morrison

1 REBECCA E. NORRIS Saturday, November 21, 2009 7:30 p.m. Holloway Hall, Great Hal

PROGRAM NOTES

GEORGE GERSHWIN 1898-1937) was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin’s compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are universally familiar. He wrote most of his vocal and theatrical works in collaboration with his elder brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin. His compositions have been used in numerous films and on television, and many became jazz standards recorded in many variations. Countless singers and musicians have recorded Gershwin songs.

FRANK LOESSER (1910-1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying , among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the for the latter. He also wrote numerous songs for films and , many of which have become standards. He was nominated for five Academy Awards for best song, winning once for “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.

LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist and author. Writing for small ensembles, symphony orchestras, Broadway, film and houses, Bernstein projected a simple message in understanding and hope in both simple and complex forms and styles. His theatrical works include Fancy Free , On the Town , Peter Pan, Wonderful Town and his best-known work West Side Story .

2 PROGRAM NOTES continued

JASON ROBERT BROWN (1970- ) has a very personal composing style. His music is often rhythmically challenging. Most of his songs are written in an AABA form with recognizable themes that always come back. Brown’s Broadway works include Songs for a New World, Parade, The Last Five Years, 13 and The Urban Cowboy .

MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS is a 1944 romantic , which tells the story of four sisters living in St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World’s Fair in 1904. HUGH MARTIN and RALPH BLANE wrote “The Trolley Song.” It is one of the most popular songs from this show and it was made famous by Judy Garland. The song tells the story of a girl riding on a trolley when a man who catches her eye comes to sit next to her. She explains how her feelings match the sounds the trolley makes.

SUTTON FOSTER (1975- ) has become a popular name on the Broadway stage in the past nine years. Her career started in 1996 when she played Sandy in Grease . She then appeared in The Scarlet Pimpernel , as Star to Be in Annie in 1997 and as Eponine in Les Miserables in 2000. Her “big break” came with Thoroughly Modern Millie in San Diego, which led to her Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Foster followed as Jo March in Little Women in 2005, Janet van de Graaf in The Drowsy Chaperone in 2006 and Inga in Mel Brooks’ musical Young Frankenstein in 2007. Foster is currently starring as Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical . She has been nominated for four Tony Awards and has released her first solo album, Wish .

3 BIOGRAPHIES

REBECCA E. NORRIS (BECKY) was born and raised in Leonardtown, MD. She is in her final semester at Salisbury University where she is a double major music and theatre performance. Norris discovered her love for performing in the third grade when she played the Duchess in Alice in Wonderland . During her time at Salisbury University she has been in numerous ensembles: Chamber Choir, Musical Theatre Workshop, Choral, Opera Workshop and Squawkapella. She has been featured in many music and theatre productions, including Rough Night at the North Pole (Missy), Honk! (Maureen), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), Summer and Smoke (Rosa), Dido and Aenaes (Second Witch), and Much Ado About Nothing (Beatrice). Norris is also a member of St. Mary’s County Summer Stock where she has performed many roles in musicals such as Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast, Guys and Dolls, and Seussical the Musical . She has been actively involved at Salisbury, holding positions on the MENC board, the Music Advisory board and the Sophanes executive board. After graduation in December, Norris intends earn certification as an event planner, which should come in handy while she plans her own wedding in August.

BRIAN M. KUHN is a graduate (2007) of SU’s Music Department. He holds a degree in music education. Currently, Kuhn is the choral director at Washington High School in Princess Anne, MD. He is originally from the Western Shore of Maryland where he enjoyed many years participating in his high school and church choirs. In college, Kuhn sang in the SU Chorale and Chamber Choir under the direction of Dr. William Folger. In 2005, he started SU’s first ever a cappella group, Sqwakapella. Kuhn currently resides in Salisbury and is engaged to be married to Becky Norris next August.

4 BIOGRAPHIES continued

AVERY JOHNSON grew up in Salisbury, MD, and has studied piano since the age of six. She attended Salisbury University and graduated in May 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in music. She spent the following year teaching piano at a small international school in Madrid, Spain, and upon her return, began teaching elementary music in Wicomico County. In addition to classroom teaching, she also offers private lessons in the area. She was recently married and lives in Salisbury with her new husband Stephen.

LUKE WARRINGTON is from Milsboro, DE. He is a sophomore at Salisbury University. He is a member of Salisbury’s a cappella group Squawkapella and performs with many of the areas theatres.

ALYSSA M. MULLINS is a sophomore theatre major at Salisbury. She has been around the Music and Theatre departments at SU for longer than she can remember. While she loves nothing more than musical theatre, she is studying classical techniques under the instruction of Leigh Usilton. She is thrilled to perform with such a great friend as talented as Becky Norris and thanks her profoundly for the opportunity.

ROBERT A. BAKER (born 1970, Toronto, Canada) believes in stylistic pluralism and strives for the articulation of musical form principally through the control of fluctuating degrees of musical pulse. At the heart of Baker’s aesthetics is a deep fascination with issues of listener perception, expectation, time and memory. Baker is an experienced conductor of orchestras and choirs, and most recently he conducted SU’s spring 2008 production of Dido and Aeneas from the harpsichord. Baker completed his Ph.D. in composition in November 2008 studying under composer John Rea at McGill University in Montréal, Canada. Currently Baker is on faculty at Salisbury University.

5 REBECCA E. NORRIS Saturday, November 21, 2009 7:30 p.m. Holloway Hall, Great Hall

SPECIAL THANKS Becky offers the following thanks: “Thanks to the SU Department of Music and the Theatre Department faculty for their guidance and knowledge. I also thank my family and friends for coming to support me. I want to thank Leigh, Rob, Avery, Luke and Alyssa for their assistance and support. I have so much respect and appreciation for my brothers, Christopher and Stephen, for putting up with my constant singing! Brian, thank you for being there and always knowing what to say. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you! Lastly, and most importantly, thanks to my mom for never missing a minute of what I do and to my dad for singing me to sleep when I was little. Thank you for the music … for giving it to me.” ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Dr. Janet Dudley-Eshbach, President, Salisbury University Mrs. Martha N. Fulton and the late Charles R. Fulton Dr. Maarten Pereboom , Dean, Fulton School of Liberal Arts Dr. Linda Cockey , Chair, Department of Music Karen Noble , Program Management Specialist, Department of Music Ushers | Current Music Majors of the Department of Music If you would like to make a donation to support other performances like this one, please make your check payable to the Performing Arts Fund and mail it in care of the Salisbury University Foundation, Inc. at P.O. Box 2655, Salisbury, MD 21802 . Please call 410-543-6385 for information regarding upcoming Department of Music performances. For more information about our academic program, please visit us on the Web at www.salisbury.edu/musicdept. Department of Music Fulton School of Liberal Arts Salisbury University 1101 Camden Avenue, Salisbury, MD 21801 Phone: 410-543-6385 / Fax: 410-548-3002 E-mail: [email protected]

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