[Capdist-announce] Singing Anchors at Fort Salem Theater

[JAY KERR]

Zahn, Gretzinger and Layton -- (1) Xmas at Fort Salem and (2) in performance at MacHaydn. 


FORT SALEM THEATER PRESENTS
JERRY GRETZINGER, JESSICA LAYTON, AND BENITA ZAHN in
THE SINGING ANCHORS ANNUAL HOLIDAY SHOW

 

 

On Thanksgiving Weekend 2011, Fort Salem Theater’s touring musical group, The Singing Anchors, created its first holiday show in the Fort’s cabaret room. With performances at events and private gatherings that year and a reprise of the show last year at the Fort and two full houses at Vapor at the Saratoga Casino and Raceway, the group continues this year what has instantly become a Capital Region tradition: Fort Salem Theater presents The Singing Anchors Annual Holiday Show. Like all anchor shows, Holiday features solos, duets, and several trio numbers. This year’s extravaganza performs a matinee in the Salem cabaret on Sunday, December 8, at 2 PM.

 

Benita Zahn, anchor and health reporter for NewsChannel 13, performed in the first season of Fort Salem’s cabaret in the summer of 2007, and has graced one or both of the Fort’s stages every season since. In the fall of 2009, she brought along Channel 13 colleague, Jessica Layton, and their Channel 6 friend, Jerry Gretzinger. Their Fort Salem Theater presents The Singing Anchors has not only consistently filled the cabaret and Mainstage in Salem, but been enjoyed at venues throughout the Capital Region, including the Linda Norris Auditorium in Albany, broadcast on WAMC, a stint headlining at Saratoga’s First Night, and their Singing Anchors On Broadway as a fundraiser for Chatham’s MacHaydn Theatre this past September and as a part of Schuylerville Community Theater’s Concert Series in October.

 

Although it’s difficult to read about each of these area news anchors without finding references to their extra-curricular performances where Gretzinger and Zahn are staples in the local community theater circuit, they actually do spend most of their time reporting local and national news for their respective television stations. Zahn has garnered Emmy Award nominations, received numerous honors for her charitable work in the community, and holds and MS in Bioethics from Albany Medical College, where she is about to earn her doctorate. Jerry Gretzinger has won several journalism awards for his reports, and is most proud of the story he did documenting his own battle with cancer. In her six years at NewsChannel 13, where she currently holds the coveted spot co-anchoring the evening’s eleven o’clock broadcast, Jessica Layton, a cum laude broadcast journalism and political science graduate of Syracuse University, has covered Governor Cuomo’s inauguration, President Obama’s visits to the region, and traveled extensively in Haiti in April, 2010, covering the devastation and recovery after the earthquake.

 

The Fort’s Artistic Director, Jay Kerr, who writes and arranges the Anchors’ shows, recently praised the performers: “The only thing that’s difficult with working with these three media personalities is finding time they’re all available to rehearse. They thoroughly enjoy being with one another, appreciate one another’s talents, and always deliver top-notch performances. They have a good time, and so do their audiences.”

 

The Singing Anchors Annual Holiday Show plays one show only with limited seating available at 2 PM, reservations required. The $25 ticket includes $6 credit toward coffee and dessert catered by Norene and Fred’s of Salem. More information is available on the theater’s website (fortsalemtheater.com) or by calling (518) 854-9200.

Jay Kerr
Artistic Director
Fort Salem Theater
jay at fortsalemtheater.com
(518) 854-9200




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