The show will feature a 15-piece orchestra and several solo performers, said Andy Seibert, vice president of the board of the Sorg Opera Revitalization Group (S.O.R.G.).
He said Joseph Rubin, executive director of American Musical Productions, has “thoroughly researched” the Sorg and the “living history” concert will recreate songs and scenes from the Broadway musical hits that graced the stage in the early days of the theater.
Some of the selections will be from the premiere performance at the Sorg, The Little Tycoon, and favorites from Victor Herbert’s Babes in Toyland, the original 1902 The Wizard of Oz, George M. Cohan’s Little Johnny Jones, and Jerome Kern’s Oh Boy!
The company specializes in historic creations, Seibert said.
“A fun and exciting night” is how Seibert described the show.
To coincide with the performance and “add an extra element,” the Sorg hopes local residents will lend original items from the Sorg Opera House that will be displayed in the lobby, according to Seibert.
“We’re taking a stab in the dark that someone will have stuff saved in a box somewhere,” he said.
The group hopes to locate old programs, advertisements, ticket stubs, or anything from the era of the theater’s opening up to around the 1920s.
He’s also working with Sam Ashworth from the Middletown Historical Society and searching the archives at the MidPointe Library System.
Anyone with items they want to lend, can send an email to: info@sorgopera.org or contact the group on its Facebook page.
How to go
WHAT: “Give My Regards to Middletown: Musical Memories of the Sorg 1891-1918″
WHERE: Sorg Opera House, 63 S. Main St., Middletown
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 9
HOW MUCH: $35-$45
MORE INFORMATION: sorgoperahouse.org/tickets/givemyregards
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