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Princeton Symphony Orchestra and McCarter Theatre Center partner to create “Princeton Pops” series

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra and McCarter Theatre Center will co-produce a three-show series called Princeton Pops that will combine elements of the theater with live music. The new series will replace the orchestra’s annual Saturday Evening POPS! concert.

Sutton Foster

The first concert on Nov. 8 will feature Sutton Foster. The two-time Tony Award winner and star of TV Land’s popular series “Younger,” will perform Broadway tunes and personal song favorites in her show “An Evening with Sutton Foster.”  She will be joined on stage by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra.

On  Jan. 31, Broadway stars and musicians from the orchestra will perform a concert and staged reading of “The Big Time,” a new musical comedy from composer Douglas Cohen and writer Douglas Carter Beane, author of Broadway’s “Sister Act,” “Cinderella,” and “Xanadu.” In “The Big Time,” it’s the height of the Cold War when Russian spies take over an ocean liner holding all of NATO. Lounge singers on board try to save the day by teaching the communists to put down their AK-47’s and pick up singing, dancing, and comedy.

The third performance in the series is on May 9. Rossen Milanov will conduct the orchestra for “The Art of the Movie Score,” featuring violinist Daniel Rowland. This night of film music will showcase the artistry of a film scores, and will include music from “Star Wars,” “Harry Potter,” “Vertigo,” “La La Land,” and more.

“It is exciting to combine our artistic resources in order to present programming that either of us would struggle to do alone. Working together, everyone benefits, especially our audiences,” said Princeton Symphony Orchestra Executive Director Marc Uys.

McCarter Managing Director Michael Rosenberg said that co-producing the series with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra will be an opportunity for McCarter to step back into the world of musical theater. “By collaborating, we can bring to life bigger projects and welcome more audiences and artists to our theater,” he said. “We hope people get excited about this collaboration, which will let us do even more in the future.”

All performances will take place at McCarter’s Matthews Theatre. Tickets start at $25 and area available for Princeton Symphony Orchestra supporters, McCarter members and subscribers now. Tickets will be available for the general public beginning on Friday, Aug. 23 via www.mccarter.orgwww.princetonsymphony.org, by phone at 609 258-2787, or in person at the McCarter Ticket Office, which is located at 91 University Place in Princeton.