Just over three decades ago, Dr. Everett McCorvey, the head of UK’s Opera Department began a musical review that became an annual hit.
“This is the 31st year and I’m just shocked that it has gone on for 31 years and that people are still coming out.” McCorvey grinned, “I’m very pleased, very blessed.”
And the artists say they feel just as blessed, despite a rigorous schedule many come back to perform year after year.
“We look for what’s out there on Broadway and we fashion some arrangements of some of the popular tunes. We hire a New York choreographer and we come together, and we do this all in five weeks. Just a high energy show. We start the week after graduation, and we live together for five weeks.” McCorvey’s laugh is infectious.
While each season hosts new numbers and up and coming talent, there are moments that have become a tradition and audiences look forward to each year…a number by Dr. McCorvey alongside his wife Alicia Helm McCorvey, a composition by pianist Dr. Tedrin Blair Lindsay, and a sing along of It’s a Grand Night for Singing to close out each show.
Dr. McCorvey says Grand Night offers an opportunity for local artists. It also serves as a training ground for students at UK who dream of a professional career in opera or musical theatre.
“I tell students all the time, you can make it from here!” McCorvey says as we break into the opening number for this year’s production, ‘New York, New York.’
The remaining performances are Friday and Saturday night (16th & 17th) at 7:30. There will also be matinees at 2:30 on Saturday and Sunday (17th and 18th). And The College of Fine Arts invites you to the Grand Night Tent and OperaLex Hospitality Zone an hour and a half before curtain for free snacks and a cash bar. You do not need tickets or reservations for the hospitality tent. To purchase tickets to the show click here www.https.//finearts.uky.edu/music/events
