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Performance Date: Saturday, January 15, 2022 at 8:00 PM 

The Argyle Theatre is pleased to announce the next edition in its Broadway Concert Series with BROADWAY DIVAFEST which will showcase the talents of five of Broadway’s finest female performers Created exclusively for our venue by New York Casting Director and Producer Stephen DeAngelis, the cast will recreate their most memorable musical moments and career highlights as well as demonstrate their versatility, share backstage behind-the-scenes anecdotes and participate in an enlightening and entertaining question-and-answer session with our audience. 

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The event will take place on Saturday evening, January 15th at 8 PM.

Scheduled artists are Kennedy Caughell (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812; Wicked), Ali  Ewoldt (The Phantom of the Opera; The King and I; Les Miserables), Tari Kelly (Anything Goes; Groundhog Day; Something Rotten!; The Boy From Oz; How the Grinch Stole Christmas; Show Boat), Judy McLane (Mamma Mia!; Kiss of the Spiderwoman; Aspects of Love; Chess) and Kissy Simmons (The Lion King). Director/Accompanist will be Eugene Gwozdz. Musical selections will include the best of classic and contemporary musical theatre. Shows represented will include Mamma Mia!; The Phantom of the Opera; The Lion King; Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; Anything Goes; The King and I; Little Shop of Horrors; The Prom;  Evita; Funny Girl: Into the Woods; Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella; Sister Act; Crazy for You: Tarzan; Smokey Joe’s Café and much more!!!!! Join us for what is certain to be a memorable evening full of Broadway showstoppers for audience members of all ages.

Join us for what is certain to be memorable and historic night full of Broadway showstoppers for audience members of all ages!

Scheduled Artists
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Kennedy Caughell
(Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812; Wicked)

s a Broadway performer and Voice over Artist, who was raised on a small Oklahoma ranch and is now based out of New York City. She got her BFA in Music Theatre from Elon University. Shortly after graduating, she performed across the nation and abroad as Heather in American Idiot. Kennedy then traveled the country by broomstick in the National tour of Wicked, covering the role of Elphaba. She performed on Broadway in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 with Josh Groban, and was most recently seen playing Carole King in the Broadway and National Touring production of Beautiful: the Carole King Musical before the shut-down. Some of her favorite regional roles include Mary Poppins (Mary), White Christmas (Betty), Beauty and the Beast (Belle), Peter Pan (Peter), and Into the Woods (Little Red). Kennedy re enly returned to New York City following the Chicago engagement of the Broadway bound musical Paradise Square. You can also catch her in the starring role of Katherine in the original cast of the new Broadway-bound musical SuperYou.TV: “Law & Order: SVU”, “Parked For Love”, and “The Outlier”. Twitter/Insta @KennedyCaughell

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Tari Kelly
(Anything Goes; Groundhog Day; Something Rotten!; The Boy From Oz; How the Grinch Stole Christmas; Show Boat)

was most recently seen as Velma Kelly in Chicago in Concert with the San Diego Symphony, a role she had previously performed with the Dallas and Kansas City Symphonies.  Pre-pandemic she could be found performing across the country as Countess Lily in the First National Tour of Anastasia.  She is honored to have been featured in 6 Broadway shows: Groundhog Day (OBC); Something Rotten!; Anything Goes (OBC Roundabout Revival - Reno Sweeney u.s./replacement); The Boy from Oz (OBC); How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Mama Who); Show Boat (OBC Revival).  National Tours include: Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey); Cabaret (Sally Bowles); Show Boat (Ellie); and Beauty and the Beast (Silly Girl).  Selected Regional Credits: End of the Rainbow (Judy Garland - Henry Award); Thoroughly Modern Millie (Millie - Jeff Nomination); Anything Goes (Reno Sweeney - Carbonell Award). In addition she can be heard on the original cast recordings of Groundhog Day, Anything Goes, The Boy From Oz and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  

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Kissy Simmons
(The Lion King)

a native Floridian, attended the University of South Florida on a Track and Field scholarship. She grew up playing the keyboard and singing in church. Before moving to NYC, she had a successful modeling career and played numerous roles in theatrical performance sin the Tamp Bay area. She was last seen on Broadway in The Lion King playing the role of Nala for nine years (which makes her the longest running Nala ever!). Ms. Simmons has appeared in several national commercials, print ads and voiceovers. TV/Film credits include “Smash”. “30 Rock”, “Hope & Faith” and “Six Degrees of Separation” to name a few. She currently appears around the world as a special guest vocalist in concerts produced by Disney on land and sea.

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Ali  Ewoldt
(The Phantom of the Opera; The King and I; Les Miserables)

completed more than two years as Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Her other credits include: Cosette in Les Miserables (Broadway, National Tour), The King and I (Broadway, Tour, Lyric Opera of Chicago), Maria in West Side Story (National Tour, International Tour, PCLO, The MUNY), Luisa in The Fantasticks (Off-Broadway) and Philia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum . Concert/symphony work includes Feinstein's/54 Below, Alice Tully Hall, The Town Hall, Canyon Ranch, NY Pops at Carnegie Hall, American Pops Orchestra, Houston Symphony and Boston Pops with Maestro Keith Lockhart. Ali's TV/Film credits include “The Michael J. Fox Show”, “Yield”, and the short film “Mia”. She has a BA in psychology from Yale University.

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Judy McLane
(Mamma Mia!; Kiss of the Spiderwoman; Aspects of Love; Chess)

starred in over in over 4000 performances as Donna Sheridan and Tanya in the Broadway company of Mamma Mia! making her the longest running lead in the show’s history. Judy received critical acclaim creating the role of Vienna in the Off-Broadway production of Johnny Guitar garnering a Drama Desk Nomination and a Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance in the Theater.  Other Broadway credits include Broadway in Kiss of the Spider Woman performing duets with the legendary Chita Rivera, Aspects of Love with John Cullum, and Chess. She created the role of Lillian in the two person musical and World Premiere of Los Otros by Michale John LaChuisa at the Everyman Theatre. Her National and International Tours include the Baker's Wife in Into the Woods, the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond, Mrs. Baskin in Big, and Side By Side By Sondheim directed by Rob Marshall. Favorite roles include: Maria Callas in Master Class (Theatre Raleigh), Diana in Next to Normal (Syracuse Stage SALT Award, Riverside Theatre,  Pioneer Theatre), Margaret in Light in the Piazza (Raleigh Theatre, Broadway World Award) Phyllis in Follies (Signature Theatre, Helen Hayes nomination), Eva Peron in Evita, the title character in Victor/Victoria, Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, Luisa in Nine, Nancy in Oliver!, Florence in Chess, Lily in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Paper Mill Playhouse), Fiona in Brigadoon, Milly in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (St. Louis MUNY), Mrs. Walker in The Who’s Tommy, Rebecca in Rags (American Musical Theater of San Jose), Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar (Sacramento Music Circus), and Ann in 1940's Radio Hour (Repertory Theater of St. Louis), Isabella in Wuthering Heights (Olney Playhouse), and Lucy in Wildhorn's Jekyll & Hyde (Casa Manana). As a worldwide concert and cabaret artist, she has  performed as a soloist with countless symphony orchestras including the Bolshoi Orchestra in Moscow, the National Orchestra of Lyon, France, National Symphony of Canada, National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Ft. Worth, Indianapolis, Memphis, Milwaukee, Naples, Oklahoma City, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Seattle, St. Louis, Southwest Florida,Toronto, and Chuatauqua Symphony Orchestras and Chess in Concert at Carnegie Hall, among many others. Film: Donna in the cult classic film, “Were the World Mine” and Val in “Hiding in Daylight” which was selected for this year’s Cannes Film Festival. TV: “Madame Secretary”, “Elementary,” “The Blacklist”, “Guiding Light” and “Another World.”  Judy can be heard on the recordings of Johnny Guitar and Sundance the Musical. Judy most recently garnered rave reviews and an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for her performance as Camille Penza in the hit Off-Broadway musical Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn.

EUGENE GWOZDZ
(Musical Director/Accompanist)

is originally from Fort Worth, Texas and now resides in NYC.     Eugene is the Music Director/Arranger for the American Dance Machine 21, and the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts. Eugene was the MD/Arranger for Our Guy, Cy, a musical concert tribute to Cy Coleman, starring Tony Award Winners, Randy Graff, Cady Huffman, and Lillias White which received rave reviews from the NYC critics; MD/Arranger for the Jerome Robbins Awards honoring Chita Rivera, Harold Prince, and Stephen Sondheim.  Music Director and Pianist/Arranger for Tony Award-winning "Princess and the Frog" star Anika Noni Rose at the Lincoln Center American Songbook Series and The Drama League Tribute to Patti Broadway: The Full Monty   and   Oklahoma!.Broadway and  National Tour credits include Sunset  Boulevard  (with Petula Clark), Flower Drum Song, Swing!, The Color Purple, The Phantom of the Opera, The Will Rogers' Follies and West Side Story (Conducted  and played keyboards). He has worked with many Broadway stars including Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes  Mitchell, Norbert Leo Butz, James Monroe Iglehart, Shuler Hensley, Stephanie J. Block, Patti Lupone, Cady Huffman, Chita Rivera, Leslie Uggams, Donna McKechnie, Andre DeShields, Lee Roy Reams, Ken Page, Patrick Wilson, Billy Porter, Harvey Fierstein, Shirley Jones, Will Chase, Betty Buckley, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Will Chase, LaChanze, Nikki James, Victoria Clark, Kelli O'Hara, Andrea McArdle, Chris Seiber, Rachel York, Norm Lewis, Megan Hilty, Kristin Chenowith, Brent Barrett, Valisia Lekae, John Tartaglia, Laura Benanti, Melissa Errico, Karen Ziemba, N'Kenge, Mark Kudisch, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Laura Bell Bundy.

STEPHEN DeANGELIS 
(Producer/Host)

(Producer/Host) is thrilled to return to the Argyle Theatre. He has produced over 300 different Broadway concerts at venues in New York and across the United States featuring a multitude of Broadway stars including many Tony Award and Drama Desk Award winners and nominees, stars from hit television series and films whose roots are on stage and Broadway's fastest rising young performers. Throughout his career, he has worked with over 100,000 performers across all entertainment mediums. He is also the Producing Artistic Director and Host of At This Performance... ,  the critically acclaimed concert series that has showcased the talents of  almost 1100 Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates since October 2003. He has cast over 3600 network television and radio commercials for Manhattan's leading advertising agencies for such clients as DirecTV, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, E*TRADE, Febreze, Cover Girl, Pantene, Advil, Robitussin, Downy and Hewlett-Packard and has contributed to many historic and award-winning spots and campaigns including many which have been recognized with Platinum, Gold and Silver Lions at Cannes. Stephen also cast the six-time Emmy Award nominated Playhouse Disney series “Johnny and the Sprites” starring Tony Award nominee John Tartaglia which was seen on the Disney Channel. His work has been seen in New York and regionally in over 300 theatrical productions for companies including Musicals Tonight!, York Theatre Company, The John W. Engeman Theater at Northport, The Drama League, Casa Mañana, North Shore Music Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Stage One, Studio Arena Theatre, American Stage Company, GeVa Theatre, Starlight Theatre of Kansas City, the St. Louis Municipal Opera (The MUNY) and Dallas Summer Musicals among others as well as numerous festival showcases, workshops and readings. Other credits include The World AIDS Day All-Star Concert Revivals of Pippin and The Secret Garden, the All-Star production of Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens and the 25th Anniversary National Tour of Hair. He is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and has staged musicals in major theatres across the country in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Dallas and St. Louis and throughout New York and New England. Recent productions include the All-Star concert version of Into the Woods, the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Tommy album (both at Patchogue Theatre) as well as a variety of productions for the Drama League. Stephen is the Producing Artistic Director of the new Pocono Center for the Arts which is now scheduled to open in late 2022. He has worked with Actors, Singers, Dancers, Directors, Choreographers, Composers, Lyricists and Playwrights who have been recognized with the following achievements: 251 Tony Award wins, 826 Tony Award nominations, 248 Drama Desk Award wins, 947 Drama Desk Award, nominations, 31 Drama League Award wins, 195 Drama League Award nominations, 193 Primetime Emmy Award wins, 835 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, 128 Daytime Emmy Award wins, 485 Daytime Emmy Award nominations, 17 Sports Emmy Award wins, 24 Sports Emmy Award nominations, 51 Academy Award wins, 156 Academy Award nominations, 22 Olivier Award wins, 75 Olivier Award nominations, 144 Grammy Award wins, 451 Grammy Award nominations, 108 Golden Globe Award wins, 357 Golden Globe Award nominations, 5 Pulitzer Prize wins, 8 Pulitzer Prize Award nominations and 8 Kennedy Center Honors recipients.

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