Center Stage Begins New Season With Evening Of Broadway Ballads

Darren Ottati, a classically trained singer who recently captivated audiences with his performance as Emile in Center Stage’s concert version of the musical “South Pacific,” will headline a benefit concert on Sunday, September 11, and Monday, September 12, to open the 2016-2017 Center Stage season at Southampton Cultural Center.

Titled “The Best of Broadway: An Evening of Ballads,” the concert will feature Mr. Ottati accompanied by friends and fellow singers as well as a full orchestra led by Amanda Jones.

Michael Disher, who is directing the event along with two other Center Stage shows this season, said this is the first time the theater company has attempted a concert of this nature. After the success of “South Pacific,” he said, it became clear that a fundraiser bringing together and promoting local artists such as Mr. Ottati would be the perfect way to “kick off the season.”

Mr. Disher sees the concert as more than a standard cabaret. Rather, it is a way for artists to come together and support each other with a night of wine, music and good company, he said.

As for Mr. Ottati, the Hampton Bays native is thrilled to be headlining a show for the first time. He began his performance career in middle school musicals and eventually followed his passion all the way to SUNY Purchase to study music in a conservatory setting.

Although his primary vocation is owner and operator of two hair salons in Hampton Bays—Gale’s Beauty Salon and Gale’s West—he has remained active as a performer through his band, the Darren Ottati Quartet. Mr. Ottati also helps operate a group called Broadway Voices based at St. Rosalie’s Church in Hampton Bays. The troupe takes musicals and cuts them down to about an hour and a half. From there, the shows go on tour for events ranging from “big benefits” to performances in the park.

The last time Mr. Ottati performed in a full-blown musical, he was in high school. But he confessed he prefers singing to acting, so this pure concert format of show tunes is an all the more exciting prospect.

The show consists of 16 songs, complete with an opening group number and a variety of solos and duets. Among them are Broadway favorites such as “Seasons of Love” from “Rent,” “Lullaby of Broadway” from “42nd Street,” and “For Good” from “Wicked” as well as selections from “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Les Miserables,” “Carousel” and many more. There is a great balance of classic Broadway—like Gershwin and Cole Porter—and contemporary, popular tunes, Mr. Ottati said. “There’s a little something for everybody.”

He said he couldn’t be more excited to raise awareness of all the great productions Center Stage has coming up this season. “It’s all about the theater,” he said. “The more money we raise the more money goes into these shows. It’s all not-for-profit here, based on donations.”

Mr. Disher said if all goes well, which he expects it will, he would like to make the benefit concert an annual event. He noted that although Center Stage performers do not necessarily have celebrity, they have the talent to assert themselves as stars in their own right.

“The key to our theater is the people from the community,” Mr. Disher said, noting that the events Center Stage puts on are well beyond the typical expectations people have of community theater.

“What I’ve found is that many people don’t realize how talented people are out here,” Mr. Disher said. “People say, ‘Wow, I never knew we had this out there.’ And then you have enlightened people and showcased some of the talent that may have remained dormant otherwise.”

The 2016-2017 Center Stage season also includes productions of “God of Carnage” in October, “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Carol” (Live Radio Versions) in November and December, “The Money Shot” in January and the musical “Promises, Promises” in March.

General admission to “The Best of Broadway: An Evening of Ballads” at the Southampton Cultural Center, 25 Pond Lane, Southampton Village, on Sunday, September 11, and Monday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m. is $35. Tickets can be purchased online at scc-arts.org or by calling 631-287-4377.