The Charley Hill Is Alive With The Sound of Music!

If you haven’t booked seats yet for any of the upcoming performances for this season’s Seagle Music Colony shows  -- you are stark, raving mad!

I do not mean to insult our dear readers for a split second, but we got a peek at the talent for this year’s season at the Colony’s Annual Patrice Munsel Gala last night, and the young men and women gathered under the big top was extraordinary.

General Director Tony Kostecki and Artist Director Darren Woods have assembled a class that could long rememberd as one of their best. 

The theme of last night’s event was “Music Makes The World Go ‘Round”. In reality, it was a reminder about the world class talent that gathers here every summer. What these stars of tomorrow do, year in, year out, is give some of finest performances you are likely to see north of Broadway. But that’s not entirely true because many of the Colony’s alums end up appearing on the Big White Way – and stages around the world.

And remember folks, it’s right here in Schroon Lake. And if you have attended a Seagle performance, you will realize how special it is for our fine hamlet to have this world class organization as our neighbors, just up the hill on Charley Hill Road. (Read more about what it takes to put on the season in our earlier story, here).

Throughout the gala, one of the Colony’s big fundraisers, the current class of 2012 previewed some of their up coming works as well as delivering some crowd favorites.

We caught up with Stephanie Gray, a mezzo soprano from Boston University, before she delivered one of the evening’s many highlights:  A Little Priest, from Sweeney Todd, alongside baritone Kasey Yeargain.

“This is an amazing program. What we learn here in nine weeks is the equivalent of two years at school,” Stephanie told us.

It was one stellar performance after another, until the final two treats of the evening. One was the performance by Honored Alum Ryan Bowie, who performed the very funny Caveman Song, from The Taxi Cabaret. He followed up with another crowd favorite, I Believe In You, from How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, a song he had performed whle a student at Seagle.

The evening’s finale, brings me goose bumps just thinking about it. One More Day, from Les Miserables, begins with a small group of the Class of 2012 at the front of the stage. About a third of the way into the song, the rest of the class rise from the tables where they were sitting, and in full voices, make their way to the front for an amazing finale.

If we’ve tempted you -- and you need to see for yourself what we are gushing about --  you are in luck. This week’s performance is the opera, Little Women, which premieres on Wednesday. The link to the full season is here. Do yourself a favor and get your tickets as soon as you can. Call the box office at 518-532-7875, Monday to Friday, from 9am-5pm or get ticket info here. Got a favorite Seagle Memory? Tell  us in comments.