Sat 3/12 @ 8PM
Sun 3/13 @ 3PM
There’s never been a performance by the North Coast Men’s Chorus that hasn’t been wildly entertaining. This ensemble doesn’t just SING — they put on a show. They gesture, they dance, they tell stories, they combine solos and choral work, they wear costumes.
But now, for their next concert (their second live show since their two-year pandemic hiatus), they’re REALLY putting on a show, one three years in the making. Titled Shoeless — A Musical Tale of Cinderella, it was supposed to be their June 20202 concert but … not further explanation needed. The show, which will have two performances at Playhouse Square’s Mimi Ohio Theatre, features an actual script written by long-time chorus member Bryan K. Fetty, fueling a production they call “part concert and part musical, a con-sical, if you will.” It includes the chorus’s usual eclectic mix of tunes by artists such as Pink, Nat King Cole, the Beatles, Patsy Cline and Beyonce
Fetty says, “Shoeless is kind of hard to categorize. It isn’t a traditional concert with a bunch of guys standing there singing. We’ve added dances, costumes, and a story line to it. But at the same time, it isn’t a musical either, since most of the songs are performed by the full chorus. If you’re looking for something that you won’t see on most stages in the area, this is it!”
All the characters are played by men, of course, putting still another spin on things. (I think I heard the sound of some of our state legislators hitting the floor in a dead swoon.) The show was directed by Fetty and the chorus’s longtime choreographer Lora Workman, who also choreographed the dance numbers. More than 50 chorus members will be part of the show, along with cast members Patrick Carpenter, Ross Williams, Shawn Belt, Jerry Zak, Ralph DiLudivico, Michael Majer, Don Pedley, Brandon Krapes, Jonathan Williams and Fetty.
For tickets go to ncmchorus or Playhouse Square.