September 4 , 2006
Craig Schulman, Star of Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables, Headlines in September 23rd MSO Pops! Concert

HAGERSTOWN, MD - - The Maryland Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Elizabeth Schulze inaugurate the 25th Anniversary Season, “A Season to Celebrate!” on September 23 at 8:00 pm at the Maryland Theatre, when Broadway star Craig Schulman brings his leading roles in The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, and Jekyll & Hyde to life on the Maryland Theater stage in Heroes, Monsters and Madmen™. The only actor in the U.S. to have portrayed both The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of The Opera and Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, as well as appearing in Jekyll & Hyde on Broadway, Schulman and the MSO present a musical tour de force of Broadway showstoppers, including signature songs from Man of La Mancha, The Secret Garden, Wizard of Oz, Beauty & the Beast, and more.

In honor of this first performance of the concert season, the Washington County Arts Council will host a wine-tasting from 5:30 to 6:30 pm on the evening of the concert, at the WCAC gallery at 14 West Washington Street in Hagerstown. Hors d’oeuvres will be served and a variety of still and sparkling wines will be available for sampling and purchase, courtesy of The Liquor Locker. This special event is free for Pops! ticket holders. Reservations are being accepted at the MSO office - 301-797-4000.

American tenor Craig Schulman is known for musical and dramatic performances of great depth and emotion, including his portrayal of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, during both National Tours and six times on Broadway. He made his Canadian debut in Les Mis on the Canadian National Tour, and was chosen to represent the United States at the 10th Anniversary Celebration of Les Misérables, filmed at the Royal Albert Hall in London and aired regularly on PBS. Other roles include Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, Archibald Craven in The Secret Garden and Father in Children of Eden at the North Carolina Theatre.

Mr. Schulman has sung Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen with Opera Memphis, Opera Carolina, and in Cincinnati, Ohio and Greeley, Colorado. He performed Cavaradossi in Tosca in both Orlando (opposite Sherrill Milnes) and Philadelphia. He starred in the critically acclaimed production of Copland's The Tender Land, directed by Arvin Brown at the Long Wharf Theatre. Schulman appeared as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the Orlando Opera, and in Peoria as the title character in The Tales of Hoffmann, roles he also performed with the Virginia Opera. He has sung the title role in Beethoven's Christ on the Mount of Olives at Lincoln Center and appeared with Tulsa Opera as Judge Danforth in The Crucible. Mr. Schulman performed his first Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus with Opera Memphis, and has sung the title role in Honegger's King David in New York. He appeared with the Cape Cod Symphony in A Night of Italian Opera.

Craig has appeared in Pops concerts with symphonies across the country and around the world, including a 2005 appearance in Bravo Broadway with the Maryland Symphony Orchestra. He guest starred in An Evening of Rodgers and Hart with the Pittsburgh Symphony and has performed with Skitch Henderson and The Philadelphia Orchestra. He has sung with the National Symphony at Wolf Trap, the Memphis Symphony, and headlined in Broadway Rhythm 2002 in Macau. Schulman portrayed Marco Polo in the world premiere of the symphonic fantasy epic Marco Polo and Princess Blue in Singapore (sung in Mandarin Chinese!). His CD, entitled CRAIG SCHULMAN ON BROADWAY is available at BroadwayGemsRecords.com.

In addition to Heroes, Monsters and Madmen™, Schulman produces and performs in the Broadway Nights Concert Series, which includes his two other solo shows, Craig Schulman On Broadway, Be My Love… A Broadway Valentine and the very popular Three Phantoms in Concert.

Television credits include Guiding Light, All My Children, and One Life to Live, The Rosie O'Donnell Show and most recently MTV’s Celebrity Death Match.

Celebration Sponsor for the MSO Pops! September 23 concert is Fidelity Bank and Gold Sponsorship is provided by Antietam Health Services, Inc. Additional sponsors include Hub Labels, Inc., WPS Office Equipment - Vince & Ann Dellaposta, JoAnn & Charles King and Anonymous. The Maryland Symphony Orchestra is supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of Maryland and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Subscriptions for the entire “Season to Celebrate” are available at the MSO office at 13 South Potomac Street in Hagerstown, or by calling 301-797-4000. Season subscribers enjoy benefits such as preferred seating and flexible ticket exchanges, while receiving significant savings off of regular single ticket prices. Single tickets are also on sale, and patrons are encouraged to purchase their tickets as soon as possible since the 25th Anniversary Season promises to be enormously popular.

The Maryland Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Elizabeth Schulze, is now in its 25th season as the area’s premiere professional orchestra, dedicated to providing musical performances and programs that educate and entertain while enhancing the cultural environment of Western Maryland and the Quad-state region.