Fox Valley Rep show celebrates musicals

Although singer Danielle Floyd has always loved the songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she finds that singing their tunes when the songs are not part of a traditional musical is a bit demanding.

“It is challenging to tell the story that the song gives you,” said Floyd, who appears in the Fox Valley Repertory’s presentation of “Some Enchanted Evening: The Songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein.” “The hardest thing is to take the classic songs out of context. Like the song ‘Kansas City’ from ‘Oklahoma.’ In this show it’s now almost a fast-paced, jazz song. Sometimes it is hard to get out of your head the way that the song was and how we might now be performing it.”

“Some Enchanted Evening: The Songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein” will be presented from May 31 to July 22 at Pheasant Run Resort & Spa in St. Charles. The Fox Valley Repertory presentation of the show features the Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre of Chicago production. The show is directed by Theo Ubique’s Artistic Director Fred Anzevino and the music is directed by Jeremy Ramey.

The show’s cast features three women and two men with a piano accompanist. The ensemble performs as soloists, in duets and in company numbers.

“It’s a revue — kind of a show of a show — but there is no dialogue,” Floyd said. “The first act is us back stage before we put on the show. In the second act we are doing the show.”

The show presents 34 songs with such classics as “People Will Say We’re In Love,” “I Cain’t Say No,” and “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair,” and other songs from shows like “Carousel,” “Oklahoma!,” “The King and I,” “South Pacific” and “The Sound of Music.” Other performers in the show include Chad Ballantyne, Amanda Batcher, Amanda Hartley, Matt McNabb and piano accompanist Elizabeth Doran.

Floyd believes that the popularity of Rodgers and Hammerstein is due to the duo’s superb writing talents.

“The songs are so well written,” she said. “You can listen to the music of a song without the lyrics and you can almost feel the story. Then, when you add the fantastic lyrics on top of it, it is so classic and so beautiful.”

For Floyd, who is in the process of getting a musical theater degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago, performing at Pheasant Run in St. Charles is a bit of a homecoming. The singer was raised in St. Charles and attended St. Charles North High School.

“I will have many friends and family in attendance at the performances,” said Floyd. “I am more relaxed with them in the audience. It is a huge support system.”

But whether the audience is filled with people she knows or overflowing with strangers, Floyd is dedicated to making each performance special.

“As long as one person is moved in some way,” she said, “as long as someone is made to feel something, my job is done.”

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