Laura Lucas

This year’s music scholarship benefit concert will feature two special guests. Broadway stars Emily Harvey and Gavin Lee will perform a 90 minute concert for the Brookings community.

“This should be a fun show. Gavin and I have never been cast in a show together,” said Harvey.

According to Harvey, the concert will feature 20 songs from shows she and her husband have done. The songs range from “old fashioned theater to new songs and choral pieces.” Some of the songs Harvey and Lee will perform come from plays including Oklahoma, Phantom of the Opera, Sunday in the Park with George and Mary Poppins.

Harvey, who was born in Brookings, said she had contacted the college about doing a concert.

“Gavin and I have time off and wanted to put on a concert we have been working on. If it works out, then we could take it to the road,” she said.

Although Harvey is from the United States, she received her degree from drama school in England. She has also been working in professional theater since 2002. Her resume includes being a part of the London European tour and the U.K tour of the London Phantom of the Opera and doing Shakespeare in the Park in Minneapolis.

Lee is most known for playing Bert in Mary Poppins since 2004. He was nominated for Best Leading Actor in a Musical at the Tony Awards in 2007 and won a Theatre World Awards award for Outstanding Broadway Debut. Lee also appeared in the movie version of Phantom of the Opera.

The concert will also feature the SDSU concert choir for some of the songs.

“I’m excited. We have not done this before at SDSU, and it is out of our normal choral music genre,” said Kate Wismer, a senior music education major who has been a part of concert choir for five years.

Wismer said she hopes the concert will raise a lot of money for the music scholarships. Since this is different than anything else ever presented on campus before, she hopes many people will come and enjoy it.

Senior choir member Emily Humke agreed. “I’m so excited. Being a theater minor, it is very cool and exciting getting to perform with Broadway stars,” she said.

The concert will not only consist of singing. According to Harvey, she and Lee will chat between songs about their theater experiences, auditions, theater training and what West End London is like.

Rina Reynolds, development director of the College of Arts and Science, is the coordinator of Woodbine productions (the company presenting the artists). Reynolds said the faculty are very happy to have Harvey and Lee on campus. This is an extraordinary opportunity for students and the community to see Broadway stars.

Lee and Harvey will perform in the Performing Arts Center on Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at MetaBank, Wink’s Fine Jewelry and the SDSU Music Department. Student tickets cost $5 and adult tickets cost $15. All proceeds from ticket sales go to scholarships for the music department.