Southern Wisconsin Jerry Ensemble Cabaret

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courtesy Overture Center

Southern Wisconsin Jerry Ensemble members.

2022-2023 Southern Wisconsin Jerry Ensemble members.

media release: The Jerry Ensemble Cabaret is back! On Monday, April 3, at 7 p.m., members of the Southern Wisconsin Jerry Ensemble will dazzle audience members in a 75-minute cabaret-style performance in Overture Center’s Promenade Hall. Tickets ($25) are available at overture.org.

Overture Center’s Jerry Ensembles are premier performance groups representing the Jerry Awards, featuring select vocal performers. The accomplished singers of the Jerry Ensemble participate in the group 2-4 years each, delighting audiences with songs from musical theater, movies, legendary artists and more. They present solos, duets, trios and group performances in front of a variety of audiences in a variety of settings each year, including the Jerry Awards Ceremony, Cocktails with Tim & Karra, UW basketball games and Kids in the Rotunda.

According to Karra Beach, Overture’s director of Broadway engagement programs, many of these performances are unlike those students experience at school or with other theater groups: “In most of these settings, they are performing in a smaller space where they can easily see the audience. The Cabaret requires a different set of performer tools, and it’s the time we get to hear the students tell their stories that connect the songs together. They may sing in character, but they are sharing themselves with the audience, too.”

The cabaret event will feature group numbers, duets, trios and also special showcase numbers for the Jerry Ensemble seniors.

JERRY AWARDS - The Jerry Awards is a high school musical awards program that encourages, recognizes and honors excellence in high school musical theater. The program began in the 2009/10 school year with 23 productions within 45 miles of Madison and has since expanded across the state through partnerships with Marcus Performing Arts Center, The Grand Theater and Viterbo University Fine Arts Center. Educators and industry professionals review productions at Wisconsin high schools and/or community theater organizations and provide valuable feedback to students. In its first decade, the Jerry Awards engaged more than 700,000 students, teachers, theater professionals and community members and has grown into a nationally recognized showcase of the brightest stars in Wisconsin high school musical theater.

JERRY ENSEMBLE - Students in participating high schools can participate in the Central or Southern Jerry Ensemble. Students are selected through auditions each year. The Central Wisconsin Jerry Ensemble is directed by Marshall DeLonay and the Southern Wisconsin Jerry Ensemble is directed by Gail Becker.

2022/23 Southern Wisconsin Jerry Ensemble

• Erica Briski, Oregon High School
• Lilly Cherney, Monroe High School
• Lucas Finley, Abundant Life Christian School
• Matias Finley, Abundant Life Christian School
• Catherine Gernetzke, St Ambrose Academy
• Gracie Halverson, Madison West High School
• Nathan Heil, New Glarus High School
• Beau Bastian Jacobs, Oregon High School
• Teagan Kluetzman, Madison East High School
• Dalaney Lange, DeForest High School
• Molly McArdle, Sun Prairie West High School
• Lucy Natale, Parker Arts Academy
• Laura Perry, Stoughton High School
• Leela Peterson, Monona Grove High School
• Leena Rathgeber, Monona Grove High School
• Sam Ross, Stoughton High School
• Owen Sehgal, Middleton High School
• Alternate for 2022/23 is Connor Wilkinson, Sun Prairie East High School

Overture Center is pleased to partner with Marcus Performing Arts Center, The Grand Theater, Viterbo University and PBS Wisconsin, expanding the reach of the Jerry Awards to Milwaukee, Wausau and LaCrosse area schools. Additional funding for the Jerry Awards is provided by the American Girl Fund for Children, Katie Dowling-Marcus & Ben Marcus and contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.

OVERTURE CENTER FOR THE ARTS in Madison, Wis., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization that features seven state-of-the-art performance spaces and four galleries where national and international touring artists, nine resident companies and hundreds of local artists engage people in nearly 700,000 educational and artistic experiences each year. With the vision to provide “Extraordinary Experiences for All,” Overture’s mission is to support and elevate our community’s creative culture, economy and quality of life through the arts. overture.org