A Night With Tony

Tony show spotlights the best of Broadway

By Marilyn Jozwik
Posted: Dec. 14, 2010
Fans of musical theater need not go all the way to Broadway to hear some of the best show tunes ever. Waukesha Civic Theatre's year-end show, "A Night with Tony," spotlights some 45 songs from Tony Award winning musicals throughout the Award's more than 60-year history. The show runs Dec. 30 through Jan. 2.

Pairing for the fourth time on the WCT stage, Joe Nolan and Lynetta Ivey will croon their way through Tony history with music from shows such as "Cats," "Man of La Mancha," "My Fair Lady," "The King and I" and "The Sound of Music."

Accompanying Nolan and Ivey on the keyboard will be Tom Reifenberg.

The cabaret-style show also includes melodies from more recent shows such as "Rent," "The Lion King" and "Sweeney Todd."

Nolan, who was in the Orlando area training for an Iron Man competition, talked about the show by telephone.

"If you like musical theater, you'll love this show," said Nolan, who just turned 50.

Nolan first appeared with Ivey when the two performed in WCT's "Secret Garden" six years ago. They also performed in WCT's 50th anniversary show in 2007. Ivey was living in Elkhorn at the time. She now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.

Nolan said that the distance between the two stars of the Tony show shouldn't be a problem.

"We're both rehearsing on our own. We'll have several rehearsals (together) before the show."

And the plan is to keep those fabulous tunes rolling along.

"There won't be a whole lot of patter," said Nolan. "We'll add some interesting tidbits about the songs."

One interesting fact is that during a run-through of "Titanic," which won the Tony in 1998, crew members couldn't get the boat to sink!

The show will also include a sing-along. "People like to sing along," said Nolan. "We like to include that in the shows. It gives people a chance to sing a lot of those great songs."

Some of the highlights from the show are Lynette's versions of "Memory" from "Cats" and "Don't Cry for Me" from "Evita." Nolan will sing the stirring "Music of the Night" from "Phantom of the Opera."

Nolan, who retired from his job at R.W. Baird, is the marketing director for Good Harvest Market in Waukesha. He got started in musical theater at Catholic Memorial High School and continued at Carroll University. He took some 15 years off before returning to the stage to be in shows, including a stint at the Skylight Opera around 2000, and has performed "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Godspell."

He decided to spend some time in Florida so that he would be able to get in some intensive outdoor training for an Iron Man competition, which will take place in New Zealand on Jan. 15. The event includes a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a marathon run (26 miles).

"When I was 40, I was out of shape. I started to train for an Iron Man." He did the event in 2004. "I said I'd never do another one," said Nolan.

But as another landmark birthday came, he again decided to throw his hat in the ring for the grueling competition. These early days of training might include five hours of biking, an hour of swimming and an hour run.


Nolan should be in great shape when he returns home to prepare for "A Night with Tony" and its nearly nonstop program of Broadway hits. He said the show should run about an hour and 45 minutes, with an intermission, or "closer to two hours if we get a lot of applause."

He's counting on the latter. "People will truly like this. We've done well with these shows in the past." run