‘A Broadway Bouquet’ to fragrance St. Mark’s

Young Chang

If you’re looking to give your Valentine a belated bouquet, try this

recipe for a colorful mix:

Take about 18 show tunes, both old-fashioned and modern, arranged by

director Valerie Mayhew and music director John-Kevin Hilbert. Surround

the stage with church pews and the grandeur of a sanctuary. End the

evening with a wine, cheese and ice cream reception.

Organizers call this “A Broadway Bouquet” -- a professional musical

revue guaranteed to render audiences humming their favorite tunes as they

walk out the sanctuary doors.

St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach will host the show this

weekend as a fund-raiser for the St. Mark Health Alliance. Their goal is

to raise about $6,000 to benefit the nondenominational counseling service

provided by the church for victims of domestic abuse, anger management,

divorce recovery and other family situations.

St. Mark Pastor Gary Collins said the group’s purpose is to emphasize

love and caring instead of abuse -- “healthy romance and healthy love,”

he said.

This vision ties in with the message of “A Broadway Bouquet.” The

tunes are arranged to reflect the stages in a romantic relationship --

the longing, the meeting, the courtship, the trouble, the parting and the

happy ending.

“So that we can still sort of enjoy the journey of the relationship,

the good times and the bad times, so that we have an emotional

involvement,” said Mayhew, a writer/producer for the CBS television

series “The Fugitive” and the daughter of St. Mark congregation member

Henry Mayhew.

“A Broadway Bouquet” debuted at Westwood Presbyterian Church in Los

Angeles last weekend. People laughed, people cried and the audience was

more than half-filled with people who are not church members, Mayhew

said.

Organizers expect a similar reception for the show in Newport Beach.

Hilbert, director of music at the Westwood church and a former

director of the San Francisco Philharmonic Orchestra, leads a cast of 10.

The music was selected from 90 years of Broadway shows. Mayhew and

Hilbert worked hard to arrange the selections around a theme because they

didn’t want to fall into the danger of having just “a bunch of nice music

paraded past you,” Mayhew said.

Included in the repertoire are some new musical arrangements, some

unusual pairings, dancing, singing and acting.

“We focus quite a lot on the acting,” Mayhew said. “It’s crucial to

the success of musical theater.”

St. Mark’s was fitted with professional lighting and an appropriate

sound system late this week. It’s an elaborate measure to raise funds,

but also a promising one.

“It’s going to be much more than a bake sale could ever be,” Collins

said.

FYI

WHAT: A Broadway Bouquet

WHEN: 7 p.m. today, 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: St. Mark Presbyterian Church, 2100 Mar Vista Drive in Newport

Beach, at the corner of Jamboree and Eastbluff/Ford roads two blocks from

Fashion Island.

COST: Suggested donations are $20 per adult, $10 per child and a

maximum of $50 a family.

CALL: (949) 644-1341