Broadway In Franklin - : A Weekend with the Stars at THE BLACK BOX

Franklin Performing Arts Company (FPAC) presents Broadway In Franklin: A Weekend with the Stars on March 27-29, featuring Broadway headliners Sara Jean Ford and Tyler Hanes in a Broadway Revue of show-stopping numbers from the Great White Way. Bringing the magic of 42nd Street to Boston's MetroWest suburbs, the Broadway Revue will be presented at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 29, at THE BLACK BOX, FPAC’s new theater, music, and event venue, located at 15 West Central Street in downtown Franklin. The show also features appearances by young musical theater students and by Electric Youth. 

Electric Youth (EY), a dynamic ensemble of talented singer-dancers trained at the Franklin School for the Performing Arts, will kick off the weekend with two performances on Friday evening, March 27, at THE BLACK BOX. Backed by an eight-piece band of Boston musicians who’ve performed with music legends Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Diana Ross and many others, EY delivers high-energy music, including contemporary pop, classic rock, Broadway and country hits. The two shows, at 7 and 9 p.m., will feature fully choreographed performances of Adele, The Beatles, Imagine Dragons, Jason Mraz, Frank Sinatra, Styx and more.

Guest artists Ford and Hanes will lead a series of musical theater master classes at the Franklin School for the Performing Arts (FSPA) on Saturday, March 28, that will include dance workshops and coaching on song interpretation. Rehearsals for Sunday’s revue will round out the weekend programming with the Broadway performers.

Sara Jean Ford

Sara Jean Ford starred as Christine Daaé in Broadway's The Phantom of the Opera, with additional Broadway credits including How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, A Little Night Music and Finian's Rainbow. She starred off Broadway as Luisa in The Fantasticks. National tours include Wicked (Glinda/Nessarose cover) and The Phantom of the Opera (Christine Daaé). Sara Jean Ford can be heard on Michael Jackson’s HIStory album, Harry Connick Jr.’s When My Heart Finds Christmas, and the revival cast recordings of Finian’s Rainbow and The Fantasticks.

Tyler Hanes

Tyler Hanes' numerous Broadway credits include A Chorus Line (Larry), Hairspray (Fender, Link Larkin), Sweet Charity (Charlie), The Frogs with Nathan Lane, The Boy from Oz with Hugh Jackman, Urban Cowboy and Oklahoma! (Jake). National tours include Fosse (first national) and The Will Rogers’ Follies (Will Rogers, Jr.). Broadway cast recordings include The Boy from Oz, The Frogs, Sweet Charity and A Chorus Line.

Electric Youth has released six professional albums and toured Europe 11 times, with performances at England’s Arundel Festival, Disneyland Paris, professional theaters in Bristol, London and Windsor, and such renowned venues as Sanremo’s Ariston Theatre and Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Musikverein and Schonbrunn Palace. EY has also headlined Fourth of July shows for U.S. troops and their families stationed in Italy at Camp Ederle, Camp Darby, and Aviano Air Force Base. The ensemble has performed on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, on Fox-TV and WBZ Radio, and at Fenway Park, Gillette Stadium, Mechanics Hall, the Smithsonian Museum Theater and the United Nations. EY’s music, including the 2014 album, Power Chord, is available at amazon.com and iTunes. Electric Youth 2015 will tour England and France this summer.

Proceeds from Broadway In Franklin weekend support Electric Youth’s 2015 European summer concert tour and EY’s mission to give back through musical performance, education and ambassadorship. For additional event information about Broadway In Franklin or to purchase tickets for Friday’s Electric Youth shows or Sunday’s Broadway Revue, call (508) 528-3370 or visit www.THEBLACKBOXonline.com.