FACS: “Stage Mothers” Molly Johnson, soprano Jerry Steichen, piano Featuring Guest Artists: Emily Johnson, mezzo-soprano Mark Johnson, tenor This concert is sponsored by Larry and Leah Westmoreland Margaret Brisch An Anonymous Donor All proceeds from the Faculty Artist Concert Series go towards scholarships for UCO music students. Program Sing Out, Louise! Shh…Baby is Sleeping Father Time from Kimberly Akimbo Jeanine Tesori The Moon’s Lullaby from Three Decembers Jake Heggie Lullaby from The Consul Gian Carlo Menotti Money. Hungry. Money-hungry. And What Kind of Mother from Hänsel und Gretel Engelbert Humperdinck All that Gold from Amahl and the Night Visitors Gian Carlo Menotti The Best Thing of All – Regina Marc Blitzstein Baby Weight Blues from Motherhood the Musical Sue Fabisch Boy Moms They Give Me Love from Minnie’s Boys Larry Grossman What a Mother Does from A Christmas Story: The Musical Benj Pasek Justin Paul So Big/So Small from Dear Evan Hansen Pasek and Paul Stop Time from Big David Shire A Mother Doesn’t Matter Anymore Charles Strouse from Bye Bye Birdie —INTERMISSION— Perfectly Imperfect Tina’s Mother from Ruthless! Joel Paley Mother Knows Best from Tangled Alan Menken Children Will Listen from Into the Woods Stephen Sondheim The I Love You Song William Finn from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Emily Johnson, mezzo-soprano Mark Johnson, tenor Mothers of the Bride Slipping Through My Fingers from Mamma Mia! Benny Andersson Björn Ulvæus Fable from The Light in the Piazza Adam Guettel Unbreakable Bonds Losing Roberto from Death Takes a Holiday Maury Yeston Days of Plenty from Little Women Jason Howland The Story Goes On from Baby David Shire Program Notes From Molly Johnson: I am a mother and have been on stage playing motherly characters since I was young. And, because we have two daughters – both UCO grads – who are performers, that also makes me a stage mother. This theme felt right at home to me! Unlike Mama Rose, however, I delight in their talents and successes. It is a special joy that Emily was able to join me and her dad on stage tonight (Sarah lives too far away). Jerry Steichen has been a dear friend and music colleague since our undergraduate days and is part Broncho. His mother was a student here and Jerry was music director for our UCO Children’s Opera production of Johnny Squeaky. I am thrilled his schedule allowed for our collaboration tonight. Jerry, Mark, and I are grateful for our mothers and their loving support of our musical endeavors. Special thanks Rob Glaubitz for use of his Hänsel und Gretel libretto. Biographies MOLLY JOHNSON, soprano, is an active and versatile performer, stage director, and educator. Over the years she has performed roles in operas, musicals, and plays in over 35 states and Canada. Outlandish, over-the-top, and/or maternal characters hold a special place in her heart and repertoire. Among her recent roster of ‘fave femmes’ are the roles of Florence Foster Jenkins, the ‘world’s worst opera singer’ in Souvenir with Painted Sky Opera and Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn in The Music Man in Concert with Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre. In September she joined PSO again in the more serious role of Mrs. Grose (cover) for The Turn of the Screw. In addition to stage works, she enjoys prepration and presentation of classical, operatic, musical theatre, and sacred repertoire for recital and concert. Stage directing credits include operas, musicals, and plays at the regional and university level. She is Assistant Professor of Voice at UCO, where she has directed multiple children’s opera productions, which feature UCO students in performances for young audiences. She was winner of two 2021 BroadwayWorld Oklahoma Awards for her direction of Amahl and the Night Visitors for Painted Sky Opera. Proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association. More information at www.markandmollyjohnson.com. MARK JOHNSON has recent film and TV credits from LA (SUPERCUTS, American Skyjacker, A Voice In The Crowd/Fox Network, The Judge Mablean Show) and Oklahoma City (Mike Rowe’s The Way I Heard It) as well as numerous OKC TV commercial credits. A life-long actor and vocal musician his career includes sacred solo and choral music performances in New York (St. Mary’s) and DC (National Cathedral; The White House) as well as lead and featured roles with local and regional theater and opera companies throughout the US. He has toured as a member of the company of FLIPSIDE: The Patti Page Story since 2014. JERRY STEICHEN, piano, was raised in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, a little town of about 3,000 just this side of the Kansas border. His parents loved theater and music, and the family often attended performances of Lyric Theater at the Kirkpatrick Auditorium on the campus of Oklahoma City University. Jerry remembers distinctly the performances of one member of the ensemble, Miss Molly Cason – who always had either a featured moment or solo (Sister “Sopapilla”), and whose performances captured the energy of the show, and confirmed his own passion and desire to pursue theater and music for a living. When he matriculated at OCU to work on his music degree, he had many starstruck moments, but still remembers his first Birdwell Master Class in the Oriole Room where Miss Cason sang an operatic aria. It was more than overwhelming – but Jerry was so grateful for Molly’s kindness, warmth, openness, lack of pretension, and ability to communicate emotion through art. Jerry ultimately accompanied Molly’s undergraduate recitals; toured together in Chamber Choir; reconnected years later in Longview, Texas, where Molly stepped forward and, shaking my hand firmly, said, “We’re Mark and Molly (Cason) Johnson. We went to OCU …” He cut her off, leapt into her arms for a warm hug, and their friendship and long musical relationship picked up right where it left off without skipping a line of music. Emily and Sarah are absolutely nieces to “Uncle Jerry”. They define family and love. It’s a thrill to perform this evening with an incredible collaborator, a gifted and moving communicator, and best of all, a friend. geraldsteichen.com EMILY JOHNSON has a prior performance history with roles including both vulture and napkin. She spent a brief time in the music program at the University of Central Oklahoma before discovering what makes her heart truly sing. She recently graduated with her Masters in Social Work from the University of Oklahoma and works at OU Children’s in their Heart Center. She is currently working toward her clinical license and plans to go into public policy as time progresses. She studies voice with Dr. Kevin Eckard and typically performs only in the presence of her dog (a willing audience). She is grateful to be here to sing today!