Photo Coverage: Jodi Benson and Hugh Panaro in Concert with the TSO

Photo-Coverage-Jodi-Benson-and-Hugh-Panaro-in-Concert-with-the-TSO-20000101

The Toronto Symphony kicked off their 2011 Pops Series last week with ‘Hollywood Hits', an incredible evening of song featuring Jodi Benson (Disney's The Little Mermaid, Crazy for You) and Hugh Panaro (The Phantom of the Opera) and conducted by New York Pops Conductor Steven Reineke. The show was fantastic, showcasing brilliant new arrangements of old Hollywood classics and introducing Toronto to the stunning vocal stylings of these two wonderful performers.

Steven Reineke is a charismatic and enthusiastic conductor and a true lover of musical theatre, something which I recognized in him the very first time I spoke with him (to discuss celebrating Stephen Sondheim's 80th Birthday). Whenever I hear he is coming back to Toronto to conduct our wonderful symphony, I always make sure to attend because his shows are magic. This was no exception. He brought world class talent with Ms. Benson and Mr. Panaro, and the three of them (combined with the wonderful Amabile Men's Choir from London) took full advantage of the stunning orchestra to delight audiences with movie classics both old and new.

Highlights included Jodi Benson reprising the classic song from The Little Mermaid, Part of Your World and Hugh Panaro doing a stunning rendition of The Music of the Night from Phantom of the Opera. They ended the evening by getting audiences up in the aisles to dance to Hairspray's You Can't Stop the Beat and Mamma Mia's Dancing Queen. BWW was thrilled to be on hand to bring you exclusive photographs of the event, including the touching and hilarious moment when Mr. Reineke lost his conducting baton and quipped "hey, it happens!"

When and Where?

For more details on upcoming Toronto Symphony Orchestra Pops Concerts please visit their website

The next Pops show has Steven Reineke conducting 'Christmas with the Canadian Brass'

Performance Schedule for the Christmas Show:

Tues December 20th at 8PM
Wed December 21st at 2PM and 8PM

Tickets range from $29-109 and can be purchased by phone at 416-593-4828 or online

All photos by Racheal McCaig Photography

Hugh Panaro

Jodi Benson and Hugh Panaro

Hugh Panaro

Jodi Benson and Hugh Panaro

Jodi Benson and Hugh Panaro sing Moon River

Jodi Benson and Hugh Panaro

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Steven Reineke with The Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Steven Reineke with The Toronto Symphony Orchestr

Steven Reineke and Jodi Benson

Jodi Benson begins Part of Your World

Jodi Benson

Steven Reineke and Jodi Benson

BWW Hi-Res Gallery - Original Version

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Kelly Cameron's love affair with the theatre began when she was just five years old, on an outing to see the Original Canadian Cast of Les Miserables at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. She instantly fell in love, and since then has been lucky enough to be involved in various theatre activities and productions, including a regional production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and a local production of Where the Sidewalk Ends. She has also received training from various teachers throughout Southwestern Ontario in both piano and voice, and competed in vocal competitions for which she received a few awards. Her writing career started almost by accident, when she had the opportunity to become a ghostwriter for up and coming businesses. She continues to do this, writing the content for all sorts of companies who are starting websites and looking to find their voice.

Her passion and love for theatre led to her becoming involved with BroadwayWorld where she is thrilled to be writing for the Toronto contingent of the rapidly growing website. When she isn't at the theatre, you can generally find her firmly planted in front of her trusty Blackberry - tweeting, Facebooking or partaking in other such social media activities to ensure that those who want to know are kept apprised of everything that Toronto theatre has to offer. Other interests include movies, art, music, shopping, fashion and martial arts with the occasional foray into the world of finance.

Follow Kelly on Twitter at @broadwaybabyto

Creep her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Kelly-Cameron/500187141

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