Inaugural Season Broadway Rocks

The Guys

Broadway Rocks for the Arts July 3, 2002

The inaugural festival event, Broadway Rocks for the Arts, was the largest ticketed concert held at the Amphitheatre at Regency Park. Over 4,000 people attended, along with hundreds of young people who benefited from the generosity of sponsoring patrons and corporations. Performers included Broadway and film stars singing their original songs along with Broadway hits. Broadway performers were:

• Terrence Mann (Cats, Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast, Rocky Horror Show, Scarlet Pimpernel)
• Lauren Kennedy (South Pacific, Sunset Boulevard, Les Miserables)
• Anthony Rapp (Rent, A Beautiful Mind)
• Alice Ripley (Rocky Horror Show, Sunset Boulevard, Tommy),
• Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent, Rocky Horror Show)
• Deborah Gibson (Beauty and the Beast, Les Miserables, Cabaret)

One of North Carolina’s best known rock bands, The Connells, and New York’s October Project were the opening acts for the show. Popular WRAL-TV news anchor, Pam Saulsby, served as host.

The Capital Ambassadors, a talented group of 25 high school students under the direction of Lisa Blair, began the Festival by singing the National Anthem and were featured throughout the concert. The students participated in two days of rehearsals and performances, and were afforded the opportunity to interact with and to perform with the professional entertainers.

The Broadway stars, the October Project and the Capital Ambassadors joined together in the finale in a moving tribute to the courage of all Americans with the original song commemorating 9/11, “The Dreams in You”.