The award-winning cabaret concert series returns to the Twin Cities for Live at the Square
Saint Paul, MN, Tuesday, January 16, 2024: The Broadway Songbook Series finds a permanent home in Park Square Theatre’s Live at the Square programming. This acclaimed series, created right here in the Twin Cities by industry veteran James A. Rocco, are cabaret-concerts that take an intimate look at the stories behind the songs that have become the soundtrack of our lives, exploring different Broadway themes and topics.
“It’s a comfortable atmosphere with lots of laughs and knockout performances by some of the Twin Cities’ best musical theater artists,” says Rocco.
This wildly successful theatrical anthology series ran for over 7 seasons at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts, where it played to standing room only crowds and became a subscription series of its own. As the winner of Broadway World’s “Best Concerts of the Decade,” the Broadway Songbook Series has become a fan favorite for its unique blend of storytelling and musical performances.
“As for returning home to the Twin Cities, I am ecstatic. I love the Twin Cities theater community. It is rich with diverse artists and I cherished the opportunity to create beautiful things together. Having a home at Park Square Theatre to regularly explore the songs that shaped musical theater with artists I love and admire is a dream come true,” says Rocco.
Previous Songbooks have explored the life and works of Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Rodgers & Hammerstein & Hart, Stephen Sondeheim, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, The Singer- Songwriters of the 1970s, The Sounds of the 1950s, Contemporary Broadway, The Golden Age of Broadway, The Hollywood Songbook, The Holiday Songbook, and others.
“We are thrilled to have James’ Songbook series at Park Square,” says Executive Artistic Director Stephen DiMenna. “He is a multi-talented performer and director of great acclaim and I’m honored to give him a permanent home at Park Square.”
BROADWAY IN LOVE
The Broadway Songbook Series is reborn on the Park Square Theatre stage with a special Valentine’s Day edition, Broadway in Love. This highly anticipated concert will take audiences on a journey through the ups and downs of love, as told through the iconic songs of Broadway’s greatest musicals.
“Love is a universal theme that has been explored in countless Broadway musicals,” says Rocco. “With the Broadway in Love Songbook, we wanted to delve deeper into the stories behind these beloved songs and hear more about the songwriters themselves, their inspiration, and experiences.”
Audiences can expect to hear songs from popular musicals such as South Pacific, Show Boat, Rent, Wicked, and more.
Broadway in Love is a reunion of the original Minnesota Musical Director of the Broadway Songbook series, Raymond Berg, who helped get the original series off the ground.
Broadway in Love will run on the Park Square Theatre Proscenium Stage from Friday, February 16 – Sunday, February 18, 2024.
CALENDAR INFORMATION:
Tickets for Broadway in Love are available for $40 (including taxes and fees) at www.parksquaretheatre.org.
JAMES A. ROCCO is a multi-hyphenated practitioner of the performing arts. Director Producer-Performer-Writer are just a few of his Award-Winning passions. His freelance work as a director/choreographer includes award-winning productions of 33 Variations at Park Square Theatre (Broadway World’s, Best Regional Production of the Decade), Maladies (Winner 2023 Best Play, Create Theatre Festival, Theatre Row, NYC), Grey Gardens, Yankee Doodle Dandy (World Premiere), Sweeney Todd, The Wizard of Oz (with Eartha Kitt, and Mickey Rooney), Chess, She Loves Me, Violet, South Pacific, As Bees in Honey Drown, A Little Night Music, Songs For A New World, Damn Yankees, Pirates of Penzance, Guys & Dolls, On the Town, A Christmas Story, and more. Rocco’s theatrical career started at three years old as the youngest member of the (Art) Linkletter Totten Tots! He appeared in Oliver! with Ray Walston and Jules Munschin; Carousel as Enoch Snow Jr with John Raitt; Sheppard in Sidney Lumet & David Merrick’s Paramount motion picture Child’s Play and played The Rum Tum Tugger on Broadway in CATS. He is the first man to play The Witch in Into The Woods and received critical acclaim for his performance of Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar. He is the visionary CEO of Thirty Saints Productions and the creator of the Songbook Series and Broadway Songbook®. Thirty Saints Productions is a dynamic and innovative company that excels in creating original theatrical works for a diverse range of venues across the globe. In 2022, the company expanded its horizons, venturing into negotiating, consulting, and acquiring music licenses for popular jukebox musicals, solidifying its position as an industry leader. From 2005-2017, Rocco was Producing Artistic Director of The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, where he presented and booked the best of touring Broadway (August, Osage County, An American In Paris, Kinky Boots, Les Misérables) and produced and directed award-winning theatricals (In The Heights, Love, Janis, Cabaret, West Side Story.) As the Ordway’s representative and member of the Broadway League and the IPN (Independent Producers Network), he was a producing partner and investor in Fun Home, Legally Blonde, The Color Purple, Monty Python’s Spamalot, and others, as well as serving on the IPN’s Governance Committee. In 2019, he was recognized by The Broadway League and The Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds for “30 years of dedication, craft, and contribution to the theater” at their annual Broadway Salutes ceremony.
PARK SQUARE THEATRE. 20 W. Seventh Place, Saint Paul
www.parksquaretheatre.org
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