McAninch Arts Center (MAC) welcomes “Nathan Gunn and Friends: A Stroll Down Broadway” at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19. “Nathan Gunn commands an operatic baritone whose mighty hefty and richness confer an outsize authority on everything it touches,” raves The New York Times.
Gunn is widely acclaimed for his diverse performing career that bridges opera, musical theater and recitals. He will be accompanied by pianist, vocalist music director Julie Jordan Gunn, who is also his wife. Program selections include classic musical theater works from Rodgers and Hammerstein, Jerome Kern, and their artistic heirs Jason Robert Brown, Jeanine Tesori and Adam Guettel.
Born in South Bend, Ind., Gunn’s many awards include the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording “Billy Budd” and the Metropolitan Opera’s first ever Beverly Sills Award. He has collaborated with many stars of musical theater, including Mandy Patinkin, Audra McDonald and Kristin Chenoweth. Last spring Gunn starred in two sold-out performances of Broadway in Concert: “South Pacific” at the McAninch Arts Center. As professor and Swanlund Chair at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Gunn developed and founded the first Bachelor of Musical Arts in the Lyric Theatre curriculum.
Julie Jordan Gunn has performed on many of the world’s most prestigious recital series, including the Aspen Festival, Auckland’s Aotea Centre, Boston’s Celebrity series and Brussel’s La Monnaie. As Music Director, she has served as a coach or conductor at the Chicago Opera Theater, Highlands Opera Studio, the Metropolitan Opera Young Artists program and more. As Co-Director of the Lyric Theatre program at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, she annually produces three mainstage operas or musical theater works at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.
Pictured: Julie Gordan Gunn and Nathan Gunn. Photo by Anna Longworth.
Tickets:
McAninch Arts Center, located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage presents “Nathan Gunn and Friends: A Stroll Down Broadway” at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19. Tickets are $58-$68. For tickets or more information visit www.AtTheMAC.org or call 630.942.4000. MAC Box Office is open noon-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and two hours prior to performance.
About the MAC
McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355. It houses three indoor performance spaces (780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; 186-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and a versatile black box Studio Theatre), outdoor Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season.
The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. For more information about the MAC, visit www.AtTheMAC.org or @AtTheMAC on Facebook and Instagram.
Support for the McAninch Arts Center is provided in part by Bank of America, Brookdale Senior Living Glen Ellyn, the DoubleTree by Hilton Lisle/Naperville, Anonymous, Sullivan Taylor Family Trust, The DuPage Foundation, Ball Horticultural, Clayco, Enjoy Illinois, Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; JCS Arts, Health and Education Fund of the DuPage Foundation; Wight & Company, WDCB 90.9 FM and College of DuPage Foundation.
Established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation, visit www.foundation.cod.edu or call 630.942.2462.