Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University’s Division of Music will host Michael Peré and Will Stotts in their sophomore recitals on Friday, March 18, at 11 a.m. The performances will be held in McBeth Recital Hall.

Peré, a sophomore musical theatre major from Roland, Ark., has been a regional National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) audition semi-finalist and has had roles in several Ouachita productions. Peré’s Ouachita theatre credits include Earthworm in James and the Giant Peach, Pig #3 and Knight in Shrek the Musical, Curly in Second Star to the Right and Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Stotts, a sophomore musical theatre major from Jonesboro, Ark., recently earned first place in the 2016 Mary Shambarger Competition for Singers, and he was a 2015 Tiger Tunes host. Stotts also had the role of Shrek in Ouachita’s 2015 spring production of Shrek the Musical. He has been cast as Chuck Cranston in this year’s production of Footloose.

Peré will begin his solo performance with Adam Gwon’s “One by One by One” from Ordinary Days. He will be assisted by Hannah Hines, a junior mass communications and musical theatre double major from Russellville, Ark., for a scene from David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole. Peré also will present Stephen Sondheim’s “Sorry-Grateful” from Company before concluding with Eric Idle’s “The Song that Goes Like This” from Spamalot, with assistance from Hines.

Stotts will then perform Frank Loesser’s "Once in Love with Amy" From Where's Charley?, choreographed by Stacy Hawking, a senior musical theatre major from Sherwood, Ark., and assisted by Alexis Morgan, a senior music education major from Frisco, Texas. Next he will present Jason Robert Brown’s "Nobody Needs to Know" from The Last Five Years. With assistance from Morgan, Stotts will then perform a scene from Joseph Zeccola’s Heart of Hearing and conclude with Jason Robert Brown’s "Falling into You" from The Bridges of Madison County.

The recital is free and open to the public. Susan Monroe and Phyllis Walker will serve as accompanists for the performances. For more information, contact OBU’s School of Fine Arts at (870) 245-5129.

 

By Rachel Gaddis