McNeese hosts guest vocal recital

Staff Reports
The Contraband




The McNeese State University Performing Arts Department will host an evening of musical theater titled “The Beauty Is…,” which will feature soprano Hailey Ford Coburn, at 7 p.m. Friday, April 8, in Tritico Theatre as part of its Spring Faculty/Guest Artist Series.

Coburn will be accompanied on piano by Dr. Eleanor Elkins and assisted by Bo Coburn, Kristen Harrell and Damien Thibodeaux.

This free program will feature songs from Broadway shows including “Oklahoma!” and “Carousel” by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, “Song & Dance” by Andrew Lloyd Webber, “Company” by Stephen Sondheim, “Mary Poppins” by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, “The Little Mermaid” by Alan Menkin, “Finding Neverland” by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy and “The Last 5 Years” and “Songs for a New World” by Jason Robert Brown.

Coburn holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Ouachita Baptist University and a Master of Music degree in musical theatre from Oklahoma City University. As a singer, she has performed in various productions and venues across the country including Carnegie Hall and the Tampa Performing Arts Center, as well as internationally in nine countries.

Coburn, who lives in Lake Charles, has performed in and directed several musicals at the ACTS theatre. She is currently choral director at Sulphur High School and her choirs have won awards at both district and state festivals.

Persons needing accommodations as provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act should contact the ADA Coordinator at 337-475-5428, voice; 337-475-5960, fax; 337-562-4227, TDD/TTY, hearing impaired; or by email at cdo@mcneese.edu.