New Beginnings
Presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Programs in Theater and Music Theater in collaboration with the Department of Music
April 30, 2022
Forum, Lewis Arts complex
Run Time
Approximately 45 minutes with no intermission.
Special Notes
Please silence all electronic devices including cellular phones and watches, and refrain from text messaging for the duration of the performance.
Members of the Playhouse Choir
Anecia Henry ’23
Danielle Ranucci ’23
Grace Rosenberg ’23
Juliana Wojtenko ’23
Lana Utley ’24
Neyci Gutierrez Valencia ’23
Ally Wonski ’22
Carrington Johnson ’24
Jackie Xu ’22
Juliette Carbonnier ’24
River Reynolds ’24
Qing Huang ’22
Grace Zhao ’22
Jenni Lawson ’23
Sydney Hwang ’24
Halle Mitchell ’23
Jamie Feder ’23
Rosemary Paulson ’23
Sophie Gerchikov ’23
Kate Stewart ’25
Aaron Ventresca ’24
Daniel Greenidge ’18
Matt Gancayco ’22
Parker Blumenberg ’23
Aaron Cohen ’23
Alan Lin ’22
Kevin Yeung ’23
Minjae Kim ’21
Instrumentalists
Piano: Scott Etan Feiner
Percussion: Tommy Kim ’23
Bass: Ewan Curtis ’23
Guitar: Daniela Vita ’24
Violin: Haram Kim ’24 and Isabella Khan ’22
Viola: Trey Hydock ’25
Cello: Brandon Cheng ’25
Flute: Matthew Weatherhead ’23
Program
“Opening Up” from Waitress (Sara Bareilles)
Soloists: Aaron Ventresca ’24, Grace Zhao ’22, Halle Mitchell ’23, Carrington Johnson ’24, Kate Stewart ’25, Juliana Wojtenko ’23, Matt Gancayco ’22
Choreography: Kate Stewart ’25
“Beautiful City” from Godspell (Stephen Schwartz, arr. Scott Etan Feiner)
Staging: Carrington Johnson ’24
“Soon As I Get Home” from The Wiz (Charlie Smalls, arr. Kenyon Duncan)
Soloists: Carrington Johnson ’24, Jamie Feder ’23, Alan Lin ’22, Neyci Gutierrez Valencia ’23
“They Say it’s Wonderful” from Annie Get Your Gun (Irving Berlin, arr. Halle Mitchell ’23)
Conductor: Halle Mitchell ’23
Singers: Jenni Lawson ’23, Juliana Wojtenko ’23, River Reynolds ’24, Carrington Johnson ’24, Jamie Feder ’23, Grace Zhao ’22, Halle Mitchell ’23, Rosemary Paulson ’23, Aaron Ventresca ’24, Alan Lin ’22
“Fine and Dandy” from Fine and Dandy (Kay Swift and Paul James, arr. Solon Snider)
Conductor: Halle Mitchell ’23
Choreography: Aaron Ventresca ’24
“Love Will Find a Way” from Shuffle Along (Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, arr. Kenyon Duncan)
“Sunday” from Sunday in the Park with George (Stephen Sondheim)
ft. Playhouse Seniors
Soloists: Ally Wonski ’22 and Alan Lin ’22
Piano: Halle Mitchell ’23
Director’s Note
The past few years have been a whirlwind for universities and students around the world, but have also created opportunities for bold new ideas. One such idea was to create a brand-new ensemble specializing in music theater and interdisciplinary collaboration here at Princeton. Tonight, you are seeing the inaugural Princeton Playhouse Choir: the realization of this dream formed by the Department of Music and the Programs in Theater and Music Theater at the Lewis Center for the Arts. This evening’s concert focuses on the theme of new beginnings. As you celebrate this new group with us tonight, with freshly commissioned arrangements and collaborations, we hope you will be inspired to dream of bright new futures, see time-honored songs and stories anew, and ignite your own creativity.
— Solon Snider, Director & Conductor
Special Thanks
Jane Cox, Gabriel Crouch, Stacy Wolf, Inkyung Yi, Danielle Dennis, Kim Wassall, Marion Young, Joe Fonseca, Rick Pilaro, Mary O’Connor, Justin Stanley, Vince di Mura, Matt Pilsner, Jacqueline Appleby, Steven Rife, Steve Runk, Jaclyn Sweet, Ryan Dalton, Deborah Koenigsberg, Kay Richardson, Milan Eldridge, Carmelita Becnel, Katie DiPatri, Jack Green
About the Choir
The Princeton Playhouse Choir is a new ensemble housed jointly with the Lewis Center’s Programs in Theater and Music Theater and the Music Department, focusing on repertoire beginning in a broad range of theatrical traditions and expanding into a realm of experimental and innovative music-making. The core of the group’s repertoire is music connected to theater and reimagined for creative ensemble configurations through new arrangements and interdisciplinary collaborations. Playhouse incorporates large and small ensemble singing, a cappella and accompanied singing, vocal solos, dance, spoken word, new music commissions, and collaborative projects with artists across departments to facilitate a vibrant and inclusive rehearsal environment. The Playhouse Choir is directed by Solon Snider.
Land Acknowledgement
An estimated 10 million Native Americans lived in North America before the arrival of European colonizers. Many thousands lived in Lenapehoking, the vast homeland of the Lenni-Lenape, who were the first inhabitants of what is now called eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.
Princeton stands on part of the ancient homeland and traditional territory of the Lenape people. In 1756, the College of New Jersey erected Nassau Hall with no recorded consultation with the Lenni-Lenape peoples.
Treaties and forced relocation dispersed Lenape-Delaware to Ohio, Kansas, and Oklahoma. We acknowledge the violence of settler colonialism and pay respect to Lenape peoples past, present, and future and their continuing presence in the homeland and throughout the Lenape diaspora.
Current Princeton student activists and alumni are advocating for Indigenous students and studies at the University. For more information, see the websites of Natives at Princeton and Princeton Indigenous Advocacy Coalition.
Lewis Center for the Arts
Interim Chair: Michael Cadden
Executive Director: Marion Friedman Young
Director of Program in Music Theater: Stacy Wolf
Director of Program in Theater: Jane Cox
Producing Artistic Director, Theater And Music Theater Season: Elena Araoz
View a full list of the Program in Theater Faculty & Guest Artists
For a look at all the people working behind the scenes to bring you this event, view a full list of LCA staff members »
The programs of the Peter B. Lewis Center for the Arts are made possible through the generous support of many alumni and other donors. View a full list of LCA Supporters »
Music Department
Scheide Professor of Music History and Chair, Department of Music: Wendy Heller
Director of Administration and Operations: Jacqueline Appleby
Director, Princeton University Concerts/Department of Music Concert Office: Marna Seltzer
Associate Professor of Music and Director of Undergraduate Studies: Gavin Steingo
Professor of Music; Director of Graduate Studies (Musicology): Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis
William Shubael Conant Professor of Music and Director of Graduate Studies (Composition): Steven Mackey
Conductor, Princeton University Orchestra and Director, Program in Music: Michael Pratt
Anthony H.P. Lee ’79 Director of Jazz: Rudresh Mahanthappa
Director of Choral Activities: Gabriel Crouch
View the full directory of the Department of Music staff and faculty »
