Broadway stars come to Akron Opera House stage

(Photo contributed) The Best of Broadway cast includes, from left: Scott Harlan at piano, Diane Ketchie, Raymond Saar and Valerie Perri. The performers, who all have impressive resumes, will perform songs of Andrew Lloyd Weber when they appear at the Akron Opera House this Sunday, Jan. 11. A 5-piece musical group will accompany them. There will be two performances: a 3 p.m. matinee and at 7 p.m. Raymond Saar will meet with area high school music students after the 3 p.m. performance to discuss his career, which includes Broadway roles and appearances at the White House and Carnegie Hall. (Photo contributed.) [Click to enlarge]

The songs of Andrew Lloyd Weber will ring out from the Akron Opera House stage this Sunday when The Best of Broadway comes to Akron.

Raymond Saar, who starred in Les Miserables on Broadway, heads the four-member group who will perform many of the songs they sang in Andrew Lloyd Weber productions. His resumé includes a command performance at the White House.

"Ray Saar's credentials are as great as anyone we could ever get to come to Akron," said Mark Cline, the opera house's new executive director.

Saar and his fellow performers -- Diane Ketchie, Valerie Perri and Scott Harlan -- travel around the nation to perform in cities both large and small. Akron's opera house might have a special category.

"We're probably going to be the smallest audience in the smallest performance hall Ray has performed in during the past year," Cline said. "Most performers of his caliber just will not do that anymore."

Saar is committed to bringing the performing arts to smaller venues, Cline said. Saar has agreed to meet afterwards with high school music students who attend the 3 p.m. performance. He will discuss his career and answer questions during the special session.

The Best of Broadway is one of 11 performances scheduled at the opera house this season. Two of those performances are Akron Community Theater (ACT) productions. The other nine productions -- ranging from country western bands to the Irish musicians Gaelic Storm -- are being brought in.

Cline said The Best of Broadway production, which also includes a 5-piece band, is the season's most ambitious undertaking.

"We wanted to bring something very special to our first season for our awakening of the opera house," Cline said. "This is kind of the star on top of the tree."

Cline had stars in his eyes when he first saw Akron's 1906 opera house. Although he grew up in Marcus, he said he didn't know about Akron's opera house until last May.

A friend who appeared in the ACT production of Guys and Dolls invited Cline to Akron to see the play. Cline says he fell in love with the building.

"This building, in this little town, has in place what new buildings can't even build!" he exclaimed. "The acoustics are so superior to about any place you can go."

Cline, a former band instructor who now works as a business consultant in Sioux Falls, decided that Akron's theater needed his help.

The ACT board accepted his offer to assist, and Cline began his part-time job as executive director for the Akron Opera House July 1. His position involves more than lining up performances for the theater; he also is spearheading efforts to renovate the opera house.

He has stirred up plenty of interest in the project. Ed Storm, who was the primary architect for the Sioux City Orpheum's renovation, has agreed to work on the Akron project.

The opera house restoration has been broken down into three phases, which Cline prefers to call acts. Preparation for Act One is underway.

The first act involves outside restoration and securing the building from the elements and any further deterioration, he explained. That will include doing what is necessary to secure the building and restore it to its original condition. Cline hopes the first portion of the project will be finished by the end of this year.

The next part of the project -- Act Two -- will include all improvements and restoration that are related to performances in the theater. That includes new stage, lighting, sound equipment, ropes, pulleys, catwalks and dressing rooms.

The final part of the project -- Act Three -- will involve work on the audience space, including restoration of the entrance hall and lobby.

If things go as planned, Act Two would be done during 2010 and Act Three would be completed by the end of 2011.

The timing for the actual work will depend upon availability of funds.

Cline and his team are busy researching and applying for various grants. He said the theater board does not intend to go into debt for the project.

"The opera house is debt free, and we expect to finish the project debt free," he emphasized.

He admits that finding all of the necessary funding will be a challenge, but he believes people will support the theater financially once they know that it is again alive and viable.

"This is a year of rebuilding the audience and reintroducing audiences to the opera house," he explained. "We will grow our audience."

First National Bank of Akron is sponsoring The Best of Broadway. Other businesses and private individuals have agreed to sponsor other productions.

The Best of Broadway will be presented twice at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Jan. 11. Reservations are available by calling 712-568-8747. The theater, which is located in the second story of the opera house building at Second and Reed Street in downtown Akron, is now handicapped accessible.