WVC football sets schedule; playoff setup still unclear

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WVC football: A team-by-team breakdown of the new schedule

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212;When you have a chorus 70 singers strong, as director Chris LaFrance does for Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s presentation of &#8220;A Broadway Valentine&#8221; this weekend, there are so many ways to mix and match their voices.</p><p>You can put a woman at either end of the stage &#8212; &#8220;They&#8217;re unaware of each other,&#8221; LaFrance said of the two characters they represent &#8212; to sing about how they&#8217;re both in love with the same man as they perform &#8220;I Know Him So Well&#8221; from the musical &#8220;Chess.&#8221;</p><p>You can have all the men stand up and sing, from &#8220;Miss Saigon,&#8221; a poignant reminder about the half-American children soldiers left behind in Vietnam: &#8220;They&#8217;re called Bui-Doi, the dust of life, conceived in hell and born in strife. They are the living reminders of all the good we failed to do &#8230;&#8221;</p><p>You can have a trio take the lead in the bouncy title song from &#8220;Mamma Mia,&#8221; give six women a chance to harmonize about wide-eyed wanderers, kings and vagabonds in Elton John&#8217;s &#8220;Can You Feel the Love Tonight,&#8221; and in another song from &#8220;The Lion King&#8221; put Karen Steltz of Ashley at a downstage microphone to rouse the audience with a powerful African call while her son, Ben Steltz, walks up the aisle giving the response.</p><p>&#8220;Is it Swahili?&#8221; a reporter whispered to Ben Steltz during a recent rehearsal.</p><p>&#8220;No, Zulu,&#8221; he said, adding it was not difficult to learn.</p><p>With songs from 14 different musicals in &#8220;A Broadway Valentine,&#8221; LaFrance said &#8220;We&#8217;re doing some songs about love but not so much &#8216;I love him, he loves me.&#8217;</p><p>In one song, he said, &#8220;The good witch and the bad witch from &#8216;Wicked&#8217; realize how much they mean to each other.&#8221;</p><p>LaFrance said he&#8217;s pleased so many people, ages 8 to 71, came out for auditions &#8212; and they all could sing well, so they all were welcomed into the cast.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of new faces,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a great experience.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It feels so good when the whole ensemble is singing together,&#8221; Karen Steltz agreed.</p><p>The music &#8220;really will take you right to the shows,&#8221; singer Jill Sherinsky of Dallas added.</p><p>There are several things to like about this production, Little Theatre veteran Walter Mitchell of Bear Creek Village said, including the fact that the chorus includes many newcomers to Little Theatre. They might be &#8220;people who love to sing but are afraid to act,&#8221; he suggested.</p><p>&#8220;This is the first time we&#8217;ve ever had 70 excellent voices on this stage,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and the selections Chris has chosen are probably the best of the best of modern Broadway. We&#8217;re not going all the way back to &#8216;Oklahoma&#8217; and &#8216;South Pacific&#8217; here. These are the new and recent musicals.&#8221;</p><p>In a press release, Little Theatre spokeswoman Jen Smeraldo said tickets will be sold at the door and she urged audience members to &#8220;dress for a big evening out.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Joanna Bryn Smith of Pittston and Dan Nudo of Edwardsville rehearse a song from &#8216;Mamma Mia&#8217; as a large chorus prepares to present &#8216;A Broadway Valentine&#8217; at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021216Broadway1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Joanna Bryn Smith of Pittston and Dan Nudo of Edwardsville rehearse a song from &#8216;Mamma Mia&#8217; as a large chorus prepares to present &#8216;A Broadway Valentine&#8217; at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021216Broadway2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ten-year-old Cecelia Pugh of Wilkes-Barre is one of the younger members of the chorus that will perform &#8216;A Broadway Valentine.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021216Broadway2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Ten-year-old Cecelia Pugh of Wilkes-Barre is one of the younger members of the chorus that will perform &#8216;A Broadway Valentine.&#8217; </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021216Broadway3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Director Chris LaFrance leads the chorus through a rendition of `Circle of Life&#8217; from &#8216;The Lion King.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021216Broadway3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Director Chris LaFrance leads the chorus through a rendition of `Circle of Life&#8217; from &#8216;The Lion King.&#8217; </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021216Broadway4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Singers follow direction from Chris LaFrance as they rehearse &#8216;A Broadway Valentine.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021216Broadway4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Singers follow direction from Chris LaFrance as they rehearse &#8216;A Broadway Valentine.&#8217; </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021216Broadway5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Karen Steltz of Ashley, left, and her son, Ben Steltz, have solos during &#8216;The Circle of Life&#8217; number from &#8216;The Lion King,&#8217; which is one of 14 shows to be represented in &#8216;A Broadway Valentine.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021216Broadway5.jpg</photo4><caption4>Karen Steltz of Ashley, left, and her son, Ben Steltz, have solos during &#8216;The Circle of Life&#8217; number from &#8216;The Lion King,&#8217; which is one of 14 shows to be represented in &#8216;A Broadway Valentine.&#8217; </caption4><photoCredit4>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;A Broadway Valentine&#8217;</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, 537 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 8 p.m. Feb. 12, 8 p.m. Feb. 13 and 3 p.m. Feb. 14</p><p><strong>Admission:</strong> $10 at the door</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

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Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre to present songs from 14 musicals in ‘A Broaday Valentine’