Little did they know it, but a chance encounter among two musically inclined neighbors would lead to a concert at Kimball Theatre.
It helped that Rob BonGiovanni and his band, The Sound Investment, have already presented four “Music to Remember” concerts at the Kimball, whisking audiences away to eras past.
But when he met a new Colonial Heritage neighbor, Pam Wineapple, a few months ago at a get together, the two began chatting about Wineapple’s performing career, including her time spent on Broadway.
A few weeks later, Wineapple was attending a gathering at BonGiovanni’s home when someone solicited a song. So he sat down at the piano in his living room, and she began to sing.
“We started at 7 o’clock, and she ended singing at 9:30 at night,” BonGiovanni said.
It only made sense, then, to feature Wineapple in the fifth “Music to Remember” concert on Oct. 15: “The Best of Broadway.”
“What I’m excited about is that a lot of people have memories of Broadway,” Wineapple said. “And if they hear a song, it brings back that memory.”
Backed by BonGiovanni and The Sound Investment, she’ll perform selections from stage classics, including “Funny Girl,” “The Sound of Music,” “Cabaret,” Gypsy” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”
But even for those who have never been to Broadway show, Wineapple said, “this’ll bring a little bit of a taste of Broadway.”
Wineapple said she dreamed of performing in a Broadway show from the moment she first saw one. She studied theater in college, moved to New York and finally fulfilled that dream in the show “Promises, Promises.”
During several years spent performing in New York, Wineapple also appeared in TV commercials and specials and starred in “The Sandy Duncan Show.” She performed in theaters around the country, too, in shows such as “Funny Girl” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”
For Wineapple, the Kimball Theatre performance is a Broadway “homecoming,” in a way.
“It’s really such a joy to be able to do something that you love—and at this stage in life, when you thought you left all of that behind — and have an opportunity to keep at it. It’s wonderful,” she said.
BonGiovanni has a musical background of his own, with 50 years spent performing everywhere from jazz clubs to the Radio City Music Hall orchestra.
The keyboardist will once again be joined by accomplished young jazz drummer Billy Williams and saxophonist David Kreiselman, who recently performed with The Temptations.
BonGiovanni and The Sound Investment always hope to present music audiences fondly remember, and the upcoming “Best of Broadway” concert is no exception. This concert, though, has something else in store.
“In previous concerts, they were just that: concerts,” BonGiovanni said. “We’d perform a song, and then there was a little bit of a pause.”
“This ones really different, because Pam Wineapple is not only a singer, she’s a real Broadway performer,” he said. “When she walks out on stage at (7:30), the music and the singing never ever stops, until the end of the first act,” he said. “It’s continuous music.”
From costume changes to conversation with the audience, the performance will likely combine Broadway showmanship with the intimacy of that first impromptu living room concert.
“We want to transport these people to a Broadway show,” BonGiovanni said.
Bridges can be reached by phone at 757-345-2342.
Want to go?
When: 7:30 p.m., Oct. 15
Where: Kimball Theatre, 428 W. Duke of Gloucester St.
Tickets: $20, call 1-800-HISTORY.
