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EVENT | ALBUQUERQUE

New Mexico Performing Arts Society combines classic Broadway songs with classic cars

Broadway and Route 66 collide at Garcia Salón de Automobilia with “Broadway Classics of the 1950s-70s."
Published

‘Broadway Classics of the 1950s-70s’

WHEN: 4 p.m. Saturday, May 2

WHERE: Garcia Salón de Automobilia, 1701 Broadway Blvd. NE

HOW MUCH: $23.60 to $39.75 at 

Broadway and Route 66 will collide at “Broadway Classics of the 1950s-70s,” a night of neon, classic cars and songs from hit musicals such as “Cabaret,” “My Fair Lady,” “Hello, Dolly!” and more.

“It really is a trip down memory lane,” Linda Marianiello, New Mexico Performing Arts Society administrative advisor, said.

The event is being held in a new Albuquerque venue, Garcia Salón de Automobilia, which has a collection of neon signs and classic cars.

Mezzo-soprano Darci Balkcom, one of the featured artists, said “Broadway Classics of the 1950s-70s” creates a nostalgic experience for listeners. Often in the Broadway classics era, Balkcom said, the songs made it onto the radio, covered by famous artists, making them known.

Balkcom has performed some of the pieces before, while others are new. She said the performance will give her a chance to perfect the pieces she knows and keep her repertoire fresh.

She said she is now at an age when she relates to some of the songs more closely and in a different way than when she was younger.

“Anytime a performer sings, they’re coming at it from their own current perspective of love and their background around experiencing love and being in a relationship,” Balkcom said. “I think that always brings a unique flavor, depending on the part of life that the person is in.”

One song she is performing is “Maybe This Time” from “Cabaret.” In the song, Balkcom said that Sally Bowles is considering having a baby and faces the changes that would create in her life, which Balkcom relates to as a mother and wife.

The event features a mix of solo and group performances by Balkcom, Melody Gallagher, Camille Tierney, Gregory Gallagher, Marshal Hollingsworth and Bob Fox.

When it came to selecting the programming, Franz Vote, NMPAS music director, said they threw in everything but the kitchen sink.

He said the goal is to showcase classical Broadway and show how it was completely different from other musical forms of the era. Many of the singers of the time had to be trained to project further into a room, similar to opera training.

“A lot of the young people, it will be new to them, but hopefully they’ll get into the spirit of the thing,” Vote said.

Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow from the New Mexico Local ϼ Fellowship program. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.