Baltimore Symphony Orchestra SuperPops Kicks-off BSO Under the Big Top Festival with Mysterioso: Music, Magic, Mayhem & Mirth, March 4-7

Jack Everly and the BSO team up with magicians and comedians

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, led by BSO Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly, will open its four-week BSO Under the Big Top festival with Mysterioso: Music, Magic, Mayhem & Mirth on Thursday, March 4 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore and Friday, March 5 and Saturday, March 6 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 7 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The program features quick-change artists David and Dania and the comedic magic act of Les Arnold and Dazzle. This family-friendly program marks the start of the BSO’s four-week festival of circus-themed programming, titled BSO Under the Big Top—the cultural centerpiece of the Orchestra’s 2009-2010 season.

This program combines a variety of musical styles with winning visual performances. The concert features Les Arnold and his daughter, Alex, also known as “Dazzle,” who offer impressive magic with a comedic flair, set in the timeless era of the 1930s and 1940s. The father-daughter pair brings a satirical look at the stereotypical “stuffed shirt” magician and his obnoxious, scene-stealing assistant. Dazzle’s costume, hairstyle and makeup are over the top, while Les, with his pencil-thin mustache, grandiose floor-length cape and top hat, attempts to be the ultimate in understated elegance. Also on the program are quick-change artists David Michael Kaas and Dania Kaseeva, whose elegant ballroom sequences combined with a series of dramatic and colorful costume transformations have audiences asking, “How did they do that?”

COMPLETE CONCERT DETAILS
BSO Superpops: Mysterioso: Music, Magic, Mayhem & Mirth
Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—The Music Center at Strathmore
Friday, March 5, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 3:00 p.m.—Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

Jack Everly, conductor
Les Arnold & Dazzle, comedy magic
Joseph Gabriel, magician and illusionist
David & Dania, magical transformations
Christiana Bianco, vocalist

Tickets for these performances range from $25 to $80 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 877.BSO.1444, 410.783.8000 or BSOmusic.org.

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Jack Everly, conductor
Jack Everly is the principal pops conductor of the Baltimore and Indianapolis symphony orchestras, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa). He is widely known for his innovative approach to programs that have brought new audiences to the time-tested and beloved symphonic pops genre. This season he makes his Cleveland Orchestra debut at Blossom Music Center and appears as guest conductor in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Toronto, Cincinnati and Detroit.

Mr. Everly is the Music Director of Yuletide Celebration, now a 24-year tradition. These theatrical symphonic holiday concerts are presented annually in December in Indianapolis and are seen by more than 40,000 concert-goers. Mr. Everly led the ISO in its first Pops recording, Yuletide Celebration, Volume One, including three of his own arrangements.

Originally appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mr. Everly was conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years, where he served as music director. In addition to his ABT tenure, he has teamed with Marvin Hamlisch in Broadway shows that Mr. Hamlisch scored including The Goodbye Girl, They’re Playing Our Song and A Chorus Line. He conducted Carol Channing hundreds of times in Hello, Dolly! in two separate Broadway productions.

In television and film, Jack Everly has appeared on “In Performance at the White House” and conducted the songs for Disney’s animated classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He has been music director on numerous Broadway cast recordings, and conducted the critically praised, Everything’s Coming Up Roses: The Complete Overtures of Broadway’s Jule Styne. A CD released in July 2005, In the Presence, features tenor Daniel Rodriguez with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of Prague conducted by Mr. Everly.

In 1998, Mr. Everly created the Symphonic Pops Consortium serving as music director. The Consortium, based in Indianapolis, produces a new theatrical pops program each season providing a superior quality artistic program for all. In the past nine years, more than 225 performances of SPC programs have taken place in 25 cities across the U.S. and Canada.

Les Arnold & Dazzle, comedy magic
Les Arnold and his daughter, Alex Dazzle, have show business running through their veins. The Arnold magic bloodline originated with Mr. Arnold’s grandfather, The Great Leon, a vaudeville headliner and creator of the celebrated act “Fire & Water.” Mr. Arnold’s mother was a dancer in vaudeville and performed in a 1930’s bicycle act and his uncle was a magician and sound engineer. Mr. Arnold started performing magic when he was only 10 years old. While still in his teens, he developed a love for building magic props and soon had enough illusions to perform a 30-minute show. In 1975, he started dating and eventually married Charlee Ann, who became his new assistant, adding elegance to the show that quickly became booked at the Magic Castle, resorts, colleges and various events. Together they had a daughter, Alexandra, who by the age of 3 had sealed her fate as a fourth-generation magician. In addition to performing as Dazzle, she has also teamed up with friend Britney Cole in “The Dupree Sisters.”

Joseph Gabriel, magician and illusionist
Joseph Gabriel’s creativity and power of performance has brought him to the forefront as one of the leaders in shaping the future of magic. After launching his career in 1983 as a guest on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show,” he appeared on virtually every major television variety show, most notably the televised “President’s Command Performance” for President Reagan. He made is Las Vegas debut in Lido de Paris at the Stardust Hotel in 1984. He was the starring act in City Lites at the Flamingo Hilton from 1986-1996. He left Vegas in 1996 for Broadway, where he created and opened his own full evening show Magic on Broadway. The show opened to rave reviews and ran for an unprecedented 18 months. Within the first three months, Joseph’s show broke all box office records at the Lamb’s Theatre. After returning to Las Vegas, he performed at Caesar’s Magical Empire in Caesar’s Palace.

David and Dania, magical transformations
Dania Kaseeva is the daughter of Russian circus legend Rustan Kaseev. She began training at age 6 in sport-gymnastics and later in acrobatics and dance. Combining these techniques to create a unique hula-hoop act, she made her professional debut at 14 in a touring production of the Moscow Circus. Her finely polished technique coupled with dynamic choreography and a magnetic stage personality soon earned her work an international reputation as the world’s greatest hula-hoop act, winning the Gold Medal at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris in 1988. A headliner of the Moscow Circus from 1981 to 1990, she has performed extensively in Europe, South America, Asia and North America. In 1991-1992, she was a featured attraction of the Big Apple Circus at New York’s Lincoln Center and on tour.

David Maas trained in acrobatics, dance and theatre. At age 19, he embarked on a 12-year journey as the singing ringmaster for major shows in the U.S., Canada and England, including Circus Circus Hotel and Casino in Reno, Nevada, and Fountain Blue in Miami Beach, Florida. In 1994, he won the Bronze Medal at the International American Performing Arts Festival.

Together, they have appeared with the National Basketball Association halftime as the featured act, appeared at the Arnold Schwarzenegger TV Classic, perform throughout the year at the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and are entertainers of the year at the Showboat Casino in Atlantic City.

Christina Bianco, vocalist
Christina Bianco recently starred off-Broadway in Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab and received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her work in the production. She originated the role of Dora in the long-running national tour of Dora The Explorer Live, performing for families all over the country, including an unprecedented sold-out run at Radio City Music Hall. Ms. Bianco received her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from New York University. A proud member of The Actors Equity Association, Ms. Bianco’s other professional credits include Broadway roles in Raffi On Broadway, off-Broadway’s Forbidden Broadway, Dances With The Stars and Tony and Tina’s Wedding. She also works as a voice-over artist, jingle singer and can be heard singing lead vocals on many Stage-Star Records instructional albums including Beauty & the Beast, Les Miserables, Into the Woods and The Little Mermaid (Ariel). An active cabaret artist, she received a 2009 MAC Award nomination for her solo cabaret debut, Small Wonders. She currently performs to sold-out crowds with the New Orleans funk-style band Brother Josephus, and is a lead female vocalist for the band Celebration with Jason-Craig Entertainment.