“The Penn Glee Club has created greater understanding between the United States and the people of South America than could be possible at this time on higher diplomatic planes.”
New York Times (and one of many positive reviews they have received over the years)
To learn more about this fabled and fabulous group, or hear samples of their moving and inspirational music, please go to their website: Penn Glee Club website
Click here to buy your tickets!!!
Buy EARLY for best prices (all tickets will be held at WILL CALL)
If you love music or want to ignite your passion, just listen to stirring Penn Glee Club Audio Clips (go to Multimedia, which includes sample Audio Files, YouTube clips, and more) from past Glee Club performances (marked with **), some of these and other popular favorites with audiences of all ages will be on the program on April 4:
They are but a few hors d'oeuvres in the musical feast that awaits you.
The W's Relevant to You, and We Don't Mean Wharton (quite yet):
WHAT: This Year's Spring Musical: Actually Excerpts from varied classics and popular songs
No doubt cutting edge humor, fun and music for your entire family and friends.
Here are the other relevant details and W's you need to know:
WHEN: Saturday, April 4, 2009
7:30 - 9:30 pm: Performance
9:30 - 10:30 pm: Reception with desserts & beverages
Your opportunity to meet the Glee Club perfomers and network with area alumni
WHERE:
Bethesda-Chevy Chase (BCC) High School Auditorium, 4301 East-West Highway, Bethesda 20814. We are delighted to be having our production in this superb, modern auditorium. An outstanding high school, BCC is an International Baccalaureate World School near the heart of Bethesda. To learn more about BCC, click here .
Parking: in high school lot, across from the auditorium, or public garage on Waverly Street/Montgomery Lane
Metro: Bethesda, just a few blocks away. About an 8 to 10-minute walk.
Dining before the show: Bethesda has over 150 restaurants from which you can choose, including many cuisines, and every price range. To learn about some of the many options open to you before or after the show, click here .
Lodging Request: for lodging, for these superstars of campus and our event, just need some rooms for Saturday night. Members of the Glee Club, all well-behaved, proper, entertaining young men, and some of Penn's finest, will be coming down to DC on Saturday afternoon, staying Saturday, and visiting downtown sites on Sunday. If you are able to host one or more: you will receive a complimentary ticket for each Glee Club member who stays with you.
Please contact Alan Schlaifer or Cheryl Ginyard-Jones if you reside in NW DC, Montgomery County (esp. Bethesda, Chevy-Chase, Rockville, or Potomac), or even possibly in Fairfax County, and might be coming to the show and are able to provide one or more rooms.This helps us keep down ticket prices, while also giving you a chance to help this fabulous group.
WHAT PRICE (YOUR ANTE, definitely UP):
Current Members of DC Penn or Wharton (the last W) Clubs, or
MARAB (Penn's Middle Atlantic Regional Advisory Board):
$20/person for each current member of those groups,
and all of your adult guests through Tuesday, 3/31; $25/person after that
Non-Members (who are not members or guests of Members)
and Public, and Members & Adult guests after 3/31; all walk-in adults above 18 years of age: $25/person
Full-Time Students 22 and under: $12/person thru 3/31; $15/person after
Patrons: $50/person; includes mention in program and VIP Seating
Ben Franklin Benefactors: $100/person; includes mention in program and Best VIP Seating
All prices include the Glee Club Performance and Reception with Light Refreshments (refreshments aspects based on working out arrangement with the facility) with Glee Club Members and attendees following the show
Click here to buy your tickets!!!
Tickets will be held in your name at Will Call or box office; they will not be mailed. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
WHY: or more precisely, why not, especially if you're in tune with Wharton and Penn, or you'd like to enjoy this Anatomy of a Musical with fellow members on Saturday night, in this case very "Live, and from Philadelphia, not New York, on Saturday Night!"
(This is one show that, medically and politically speaking, will be enjoyed all Red and Blue-Blooded Penn alumni of every political star and stripe)
This is a history of this talented and energetic group, which has entertained audiences for nearly one and a half centuries, as adapted from their site:
With the University of Pennsylvania Glee Club [now firmly in] the 21st century, it remains an institution atop the world of fine male choral singing. Featuring a unique blend of musical excellence and theatrical showmanship, the Glee Club has won worldwide acclaim. In Erik Nordgren's [ninth] year of leadership as the Club’s Director, the Penn Glee Club continues to delight audiences of all ages.
Its world-renowned and tradition-rich history began modestly [147 years ago,] in 1862, when eight undergraduate men formed the Club, making the Penn Glee Club the oldest performing arts group at the University of Pennsylvania. Subsequently, another eight men were added to the group. The Glee Club’s premier performance was in the chapel of Collegiate Hall at Ninth & Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia for “an audience that was unusually select and large, the Hall filled to its utmost capacity”. At this concert, each man wore red and blue ribbons in his buttonhole, thus becoming the first known Penn group to wear the University colors as part of its uniform.
Growing Popularity: Becoming a Penn Tradition
The Glee Club quickly became an integral part of campus life, singing at football rallies, basketball games, alumni events, and chapel services. With the turn of the century, the Club continued to grow in popularity. Soon, much of the University's musical demands depended upon the Glee Club. As a result, the reliance on such traditional collegiate songs such as Gaudeamus Igitur and Integer Vitae gave way to original pieces composed especially for the University and the Glee Club which themselves became traditions: The Red and Blue, Afterglow, and Fight On, Pennsylvania.
In 1934, under Director Harl McDonald, the Penn Glee Club began performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra. The Club's partnership with this world-renowned symphony has produced many memorable performances including the acclaimed 1938 performance of the Brahms Alto Rhapsody with Marian Anderson and the 1970 world premiere broadcast of then-Director Bruce 'Monty' Montgomery's Herodotus Fragments. The 1950's saw the first of many Glee Club appearances on national television with such celebrities as Ed McMahon and Carol Lawrence. The Club has been showcased on television specials, in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and at professional sporting events. The Philadelphia Phillies had the Club sing its acclaimed rendition of the National Anthem at the 1993 National League Championship Series. In 1976, the Penn Glee Club first performed with the Boston Pops. The Club has also shared the stage with such superstars as Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, and Bill Cosby.
"Stepping Up" to Staged Productions
Tours Across U.S., Abroad and for World Leaders
The Penn Glee Club stepped out of the formal lines of choral performance in 1928, performing its first fully staged production, Hades, Inc., written by then-director H. Alexander Matthews. Staging became standard fare for the modern Club in 1969’s Handel With Hair.
Each year the Club writes and produces a fully staged, Broadway-style production, highlighting fine male choral singing, clever plots and dialogue, dancing, irrepressible humor, colorful sets and costumes, and a talented pit band. This annual performance accentuates the notion that this Club is like no other glee club in the world.
The Penn Glee Club has toured internationally since 1959 and has traveled to nearly all 50 states in the United States and 35 nations and territories on five continents. Since its first performance at the White House for President Calvin Coolidge in 1926, the Club has sung for numerous heads of state and world leaders. One of the highlights of 1989 was the Club’s performance in Poland for President Lech Walesa. In 1990, the Club arrived in Budapest, Hungary, on the very day of the inauguration of President Árpád Göncz, Hungary’s first democratically elected president in forty-two years. In 1999, several prominent Japanese executives sponsored a tour to Guam and Japan, the Club’s first tour of the Asian Pacific. And in 2004, the Club returned to Asia, this time touring China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.
The modern Club is a reflection of its rich heritage and its contemporary character. Now in its 144th season, the University of Pennsylvania Glee Club remains, as former Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp once remarked, "one of the finest musical organizations in existence." It proudly represents the University in its grand tradition and is equally proud to preserve its unique blend of choral excellence and theatrical showmanship, the hallmark of the Penn Glee Club. This is more of the praise they have received, from the four corners of the globe:
“This magnificent musical group...blends its presentations, alternating serious music with interpretations of modern music, unfolding different scenes and dance numbers.”
- El Comercio; Lima, Peru
“Despite an ever-changing ensemble, the Penn Glee Club has sustained the highest level of excellence and given the greatest measure of satisfaction to members and audiences alike."
- Former President Ronald Reagan
“This concert was a real Theatre Party with music to delight everyone no matter what his tastes...If this is what glee clubs are doing today then here’s one reviewer who hopes that more find their way to our city.”
- Kansas City Star
“The young men fascinated the audience with their humor, singing and dancing, giving a fantastic show...a universe full of music and smiles.”
- Apogevmatini; Athens, Greece
“We expected to have to review this concert with the patronizing tone of an account of a plesasant amateur chorus out to entertain its prejudiced alumni. What we found was a slick, professional performance that holds its own with any show in town.”
- Boston Herald
Click here to buy your tickets to join us in celebrating this Penn tradition!!!
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Directions to Venue, pictured to the right: Best to get through Mapquest or Google Maps.
From NW DC and MD - BCC High School is at 4301 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814. It is a few blocks east of the intersection of East-West Highway and Wisconsin Ave., on the east side of Wisconsin. On the west side E-W becomes Old Georgetown Road. It is also a few blocks east of the Bethesda Metro.
Before the show, you can choose from more than 125 restaurants and dining spots representing dozens of types of cuisine within a short walk from BCC. The Bethesda and Chevy Chase areas have a greater variety of nice dining spots than any comparable area outside downtown DC.
From Northern Virginia
You can take the Beltway, I-495, and take the Old Georgetown Road exit into Bethesda.
Parking: Free parking on Saturday night in front of BCC Auditorium (pictured above) and at Public Garage one block south of East-West Highway at Montgomery Lane (just before you are at McDonald's).
