SAYING IT WITH MUSIC
Lyric Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Concert. Myriad Botanical Gardens.
Lyric Theatre was founded in 1963 and is Oklahoma’s leading professional theater company.
Lyric Theatre delivered a free concert from the band shell on the Botanical Gardens grounds that had everyone smiling and clapping to the beat, which was a welcome relief from the devastating tornado and floods the evening before. A VIP tent and chairs was set up for Lyric sponsors and board members, where box suppers prepared by Aunt Pittypat’s Catering were served and a bar was housed. Sponsors were Chickasaw Nation and Inasmuch Foundation. Cash donations were collected for tornado relief efforts.
Artistic Director Michael Baron welcomed the crowd, which included concert lovers spread out on the grounds, and introduced the band and performers.
Brian Hamilton was the music director. Lyric performers were: Jamard Richardson, Alex John Eneterline, Heather Geery-Mayfield, Kate Moore, Kelly Weaver, Tom Orr and Isaiah Baily. When vocalist Julie Johnson, who brought her own band, took the stage and started belting out her “Patsy Cline voice-alike’’ numbers, the crowd came alive and forgot about the wet grass they had been sitting on! Mary Streich and Paula Love were co-chairmen.
Linda and Steve Garrett, Sharlene Branham, Earl and Pat Austin, Dee Hessell, Paula and Carl Stover, Lil and Bill Ross, Barbara and Mason Jett, David Thompson, Phil and Bev Watts, Karen Mayfield and Carolyn and Don Zachritz.