'Grand Night for Singing' Celebrates 10th Anniversary

'GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING'
CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY

UK graduate and New York Metropolitan Opera star Gregory Turay will be among the 50-plus performers in this year's show, along with his wife, Courtney, and his brother, Michael Turay, another voice student of music Professor Everett McCorvey.

May 20, 2002 (Lexington, Ky.) -- One of the most popular annual musical events conducted at the University of Kentucky - It's a Grand Night for Singing - will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year with performances at 8 p.m. June 7 and 8 and a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee on June 9.

McCorvey, who directs UK's renowned opera program, was the musical director for the first Grand Night in 1993 which had 21 singers. He continues to work and perform in the show. Stage director is theater Professor James W. Rodgers.

Grand Night will feature songs from such theater productions or movies as "42nd Street," "Annie Get Your Gun," "Jesus Christ Superstar," "The Sound of Music," "South Pacific," "Jekyll and Hyde," "The Wizard of Oz," and the movie hit "O Brother, Where Art Thou," which featured traditional genre such as Bluegrass and gospel music.

In addition to Gregory Turay, other singers who were in the original Grand Night and who will be singing in this year's production are Victoria Guy and Ervy Whitaker, who works in the UK Chandler Medical Center.

Whitaker will sing "There's A Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon for New York" from the George Gershwin Broadway hit "Porgy and Bess."

Tickets to Grand Night are $18 for general admission, $12 for students and $10 for children under age 12 and are available from the ticket office at the Singletary Center for the Arts, (859) 257-4929.

VIP option tickets at $50 each are available for the June 8 performance. These tickets include preferred seating, reserved parking and a post-performance reception with members of the cast.