March 14, 2026 3:00pm
The Emerson Center - 1590 27th Ave, Vero Beach, FL 32960
What's Playing?
LOESSER Guys and Dolls in Concert
Program Information
"Luck, love, and big Broadway swagger collide in Guys and Dolls, featuring an All-Star Cast and the sound of a full orchestra!"
Bright lights, big personalities, and one of the greatest scores ever written — Guys and Dolls in Concert brings Broadway’s most charming characters to life with full orchestra and outstanding vocal soloists. Set in a stylized New York filled with gamblers, dreamers, and unlikely love stories, the show moves quickly from laugh-out-loud moments to genuine heart. Nathan Detroit, Adelaide, Sky Masterson, and Sarah Brown pull you into a world that feels larger than life, but instantly familiar. And then there’s the music — Luck Be a Lady, Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat, A Bushel and a Peck — one unforgettable number after another. Presented in concert, the score takes center stage, revealing just how rich, clever, and timeless it really is. This is Broadway at its most fun — smart, stylish, and impossible not to love.
Inside the Music
Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls is one of those rare Broadway scores that feels effortless while being extraordinarily precise. The songs are catchy, the humor lands instantly, and the characters seem to spring to life on their own. But beneath that ease is a score built with remarkable attention to speech, rhythm, personality, and dramatic timing. Loesser does not simply write songs for his characters. He writes music that sounds like them.
The gamblers inhabit a world of clipped phrases, quick exchanges, repeated patterns, and restless momentum. Their music often feels as if ordinary street conversation has been pushed just far enough to become song. In Fugue for Tinhorns, three men argue over horse-racing picks at the same time, each with his own rhythmic line. The joke is immediate, but the construction is sophisticated: Loesser takes a technique associated with classical counterpoint and turns it into the sound of competing gamblers talking over one another.
That blend of craftsmanship and character runs through the entire score.
Nathan Detroit’s world is full of delay, evasion, and negotiation. He is always trying to stay one step ahead of trouble, and the music reflects that nervous energy. Sky Masterson, by contrast, often occupies a more controlled musical space. His lines can be smoother and more self-assured, reflecting a man accustomed to winning. Yet as the story develops, that confidence begins to change. The music allows us to hear emotional vulnerability before the character fully admits it.
Sarah Brown undergoes one of the score’s most striking transformations. Early in the story, her music reflects discipline and certainty. But in If I Were a Bell, that control dissolves. Loesser does not merely give her a comic song about being tipsy; he gives her music that seems unable to contain itself. Images tumble forward, phrases lift and bounce, and the song becomes a portrait of someone discovering a freer version of herself.
Miss Adelaide is treated with equal care. Her comedy is broad, but the music never reduces her to a joke. In Adelaide’s Lament, Loesser turns frustration into mock diagnosis, using repetition and carefully shaped phrasing to reveal years of disappointment beneath the humor. The song is funny because it is so specific, but it is moving because the emotional truth underneath is completely real.
Then there is Luck Be a Lady, one of the score’s defining numbers. At first glance, it is a gambler’s plea for fortune. But the song is really about control. Sky addresses Luck almost as though she were a person at the table, bargaining with her, flattering her, commanding her. The repeated rhythmic drive gives the number the feeling of a wager that keeps tightening. What sounds like confidence gradually reveals desperation.
Loesser was also a master of contrast. Some of the score’s most powerful moments come when the fast-moving world suddenly opens into lyricism. I’ve Never Been in Love Before is remarkable for its directness. After so much wit, bluffing, and verbal maneuvering, the music becomes almost startlingly honest. The melody does not need elaborate decoration because the emotional revelation is the point.
That is one reason Guys and Dolls remains so durable. The score never treats comedy and sincerity as opposites. The same characters who boast, scheme, complain, and gamble are also capable of tenderness, fear, loyalty, and change.
Even the title points toward the deeper design of the musical. These are “guys” and “dolls,” characters who initially describe one another through types and categories. But the music gradually complicates those labels. Beneath the swagger and surface comedy are people trying to understand what they want, what they owe one another, and whether they are capable of becoming something different.
The gamblers may believe life is ruled by chance.
Loesser’s score suggests otherwise.
Every rhythm, every rhyme, every overlapping line, and every sudden moment of tenderness has been carefully placed. In Guys and Dolls, nothing is accidental — except, perhaps, falling in love.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are $35 in advance for adults and are available through our website or by calling (855) 252-7276. Tickets can also be purchased in person at any Marine Bank & Trust location. To find a ticket outlet near you, click here. Tickets at the door are $40. All seating is general admission — seats are not assigned.
All SCSO concerts are free for those 18 and under or any college student with a valid student ID. Discounted tickets are available through the Symphony for Everyone program.
Season 18 All Access Pass and Flex Ticket holders: Your pass or flex tickets are valid for this concert and all Season 18 subscription concerts. All Access Pass holders will find their reserved seats waiting. Flex ticket holders do not need to call ahead — simply present your tickets at the door upon arrival.
Artist Information
Andrew LeJeune returns to the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra stage after previous appearances in Best of Broadway (2019), The Best of Country Music (2024), Broadway’s Leading Men (2025), and Carousel (2026).
A native of North Carolina, LeJeune studied voice with Dr. Joseph Amaya at Appalachian State University before building a wide-ranging performance career in musical theater, live entertainment, and vocal music. His favorite stage roles include Curly in Oklahoma!, Radames in Aida, Frederick Barrett in Titanic, Skip Henderson in Life Could Be a Dream, and Edward Rutledge in 1776. He also appeared as a singer, actor, guitarist, and percussionist in Mountain Home Christmas at Greenbrier Valley Theatre in West Virginia.
LeJeune has performed extensively in major theme park productions, including The Untrainable Dragon at Universal Epic Universe, The Blues Brothers at Universal Studios, Carolina Roots at Carowinds, and as the singing, guitar-playing Dinoland Intern at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. His a cappella credits include The Ragtime Gals and Sing-It at Universal Studios, along with The Conductors and The Bayside Carolers at SeaWorld.
He lives in Orlando with his wife, Elizabeth, and their daughter, Sophie, with whom he hopes to share the stage one day.
Kate Stenzel-Whitworth is a singer, actor, and teaching artist whose work moves effortlessly between musical theatre, straight theatre, opera, and new music—anchored by vivid storytelling and an expressive voice. This past year, Kate helped originate a role for Le Cirque Arcanus, a brand new show set in the Wizarding World at Universal’s highly-anticipated theme park Epic Universe. Prior, Kate received glowing reviews with the national tour of A Christmas Carol (Belle/Mrs. Cratchit) and in Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap (Mollie Ralston) at the Broadway Palm Theatre in Ft Myers, Florida. Her favorite roles reveal both vocal finesse and dramatic range: Sarah Brown (Guys and Dolls), Sally Talley (Lanford Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Talley’s Folly), Pamina (The Magic Flute), Laurey (Oklahoma!), and Glinda the Good (The Wizard of Oz). Equally passionate about developing the next generation of performers, Kate teaches through her private voice studio, having previously served on faculty at the University of Illinois Springfield. Kate holds a Master of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, along with bachelor’s degrees in Voice Performance and Music Education from Florida State University. She now resides in Orlando with her fellow performer wife and their orange cat Marmalade.
Brandon Martin is a performer, composer-lyricist, and musical director based in Orlando. As a director, Martin has staged 42nd Street, Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida; Memphis; Sweet Charity; and Sweeney Todd. As a performer, Martin has starred in various musicals including Route 66, Five Guys Named Moe, Ragtime, Carmen, and West Side Story. Brandon has served as Artistic Director for Florida Theatrical Association’s The FREEDOM Project, which shed a light on Florida’s lesser-known Black History. His show Lenox Ave won “Best Show of the Festival” at 2025 Orlando Fringe. Brandon currently performs at the Walt Disney World Resort with the Voices of Liberty and the Dapper Dans, and at Festival of the Lion King.
Melissa Whitworth (she/her) is an AEA actor, singer, and emerging director based in Orlando. Most recently, Melissa originated a role in The Wizarding World of Paris at Universal’s groundbreaking new theme park, Epic Universe, appearing in promotional filming alongside Warwick Davis, Atlas Horas, the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and The Today Show with Al Roker.
This year, she also helped originate a role in Villains: Unfairly Ever After, a new stage show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Onstage, Melissa is known for her versatility and range, with favorite credits including repeat performances as Mary Poppins (most recently with Slow Burn Theatre Company), Louise in Gypsy (The Wick), and a wide spectrum of iconic roles—from The Baker’s Wife and Miss Adelaide to Thomas Jefferson and The Wicked Witch of the West. As an emerging director, she is passionate about imaginative storytelling and creating work that connects deeply with audiences.
You can find out more information on Melissa at melissalouisewhitworth.com.
Kristoffer “Kit” Cleto is a Chicago-born vocalist, teacher, music director, and vocal coach whose career spans opera, musical theater, contemporary performance, and higher education. A longtime favorite of Space Coast Symphony audiences, Cleto has appeared with your Space Coast Symphony Orchestra eight times.
Cleto earned his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Central Florida, studying with Dr. Jeremy Hunt. While at UCF, he appeared as a soloist with the University Chorus, Chamber Singers, and UCF Symphony Orchestra and performed with UCF Opera, Orlando Opera Company, Orlando Philharmonic, and Valencia Opera Theatre Workshop. He later earned a Master of Music in Voice Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied with internationally acclaimed tenor Jerold Siena. His graduate work included performances with Illinois Opera Theatre, the U of I Opera Studio, Sinfonia da Camera, and the Allerton Music Barn Festival, while also serving as a graduate teaching assistant in voice.
Cleto’s training has taken him beyond the United States as well. He spent the summers of 2010 and 2013 in Italy performing operatic scenes and studying Italian language and culture with La Scuola Italia per Cantanti Lirici in Urbania and Sant’Angelo in Vado.
Since returning to Orlando, Cleto has expanded his work into crossover and contemporary styles, performing with Opera Orlando, Central Florida Vocal Arts, Opera del Sol, Mad Cow Theatre, Athens Theatre, Garden Theatre, Titusville Playhouse, Central Florida Community Arts, and Theatre at St. Luke’s, among others. Since 2016, he has also served as an Adjunct Instructor of Voice at Valencia College, where his students have gone on to earn scholarships and placements at institutions including Rollins College and Stetson University.
As a performer, educator, music director, and vocal coach, Cleto brings together a foundation in bel canto technique with a deep understanding of contemporary musical theater. That combination has become central to his work onstage and in the studio, shaping performances that are vocally grounded, stylistically versatile, and emotionally direct.
Laura Hodos is a three-time Carbonell Award nominee for her work in Ruthless! at the Hollywood Playhouse, She Loves Me with the Caldwell Theatre Company and Bombshells at Actors’ Playhouse. Recently, Laura was seen in the new Frank Wildhorn musical, Bonnie and Clyde at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, FL and in the premiere production of Jolson at the Winter Garden at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre in Jupiter, FL and the remount in Los Angeles at the historic El Portal Theatre. She has performed all 27 songs as the title character in Always, Patsy Cline at the Penobscot Theatre in Bangor Maine and the Titusville Playhouse in FL. Laura has also been seen haunting American Stage Theatre in their production of Noël Coward’s brilliant comedy, Blithe Spirit, as Elvira, and returned to St. Pete as Sheila in Hair (winner of a “Best of the Bay” award) and Rona Lisa Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with American Stage in the Park.
Laura is a frequent performer with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, first as Marian (the Librarian) in The Music Man (a role she reprised with the Jacksonville Symphony), then with talented Michael Andrew in Fly Me To The Moon. She was also the Beggar Woman in OPO’s production of Sweeney Todd, co-starring Faith Prince and Davis Gaines. Regionally, Laura has performed with Seaside Music Theater’s productions of Nine as the wronged wife Luisa, and as the noisy upstairs neighbor Eunice in A Streetcar Named Desire. She went to the Maltz Jupiter Theatre to collaborate with Martin Charnin, Andrea McArdle and Shelly Burch on Charnin’s new show, Love Is Love.
Laura has created seven solo cabaret shows: Noël & Cole, Mad For Menken, Life Upon the Wicked Stage: The Music of Jerome Kern, Hero Worship and Hero Worship II: Songs I’ve Only Attempted in My Shower, and most recently, Never Gonna Get It: Songs From the Roles I’ll Never Play, the Parts I Didn’t Get, and the Shows That Passed Me By! These (along with other duo and group cabaret shows) have been performed at the Winter Park Playhouse, the Orlando Cabaret Festival, freeFall Theatre Company, Orlando Theatre Project, Jester Theatre Company, don’t tell mama (NYC), the Citrus Club of Orlando, as well as benefits and private parties from Maine to Miami! Laura was also thrilled to be first performer to create a solo cabaret show for Walt Disney World as a part of the Disney Event Group and Disney Institute.
A New Jersey native, Laura spent just over a year singing in Tokyo, Japan, has performed at Lincoln Center with Donna Murphy, and at Radio City with Maureen McGovern. A graduate of Dickinson College, where she was the recipient of the Gould Memorial Drama Prize (PA) and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, where she received the Florence Bower Vocal Prize (NYC).
Laura makes her home in Orlando, FL with her husband George Hamrah and cats, Oscar and Percy. Laura is proud member of Actors' Equity Association.
Andrew Heidorn is a professional singer, performer, composer, and lyricist based in Central Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the University of Arizona, where he performed with the university’s top vocal ensemble, Symphonic Choir.
Heidorn maintains an active performance career across Central Florida, appearing in a variety of parades and live productions throughout Walt Disney World Resort. He also performs in The Untrainable Dragon at Universal Epic Universe.
In addition to his work as a performer, Heidorn is a composer and lyricist whose Theatre for Young Audiences musicals have been presented at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. His work reflects a wide-ranging career that brings together live performance, vocal music, composition, and musical theater.
Dan Kane is an acclaimed vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and educator whose vibrant career spans decades of exceptional community music-making and high-profile resort entertainment. A former public school music teacher and dedicated vocal coach, Kane first rose to prominence in Western Massachusetts as the founder and director of the legendary "Dan Kane Singers." Under his energetic leadership, this massive vocal collective grew to feature hundreds of local performers, captivating audiences in packed theaters and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for regional charities and hospitals. Now based in Central Florida, Kane has successfully pivoted his creative talents to the region’s premier hospitality and resort industries. He is widely recognized for his popular, long-standing residencies at the Margaritaville Resort Orlando complex, where he routinely performs live sets at the Euphoria Fish House and the Promenade at Sunset Walk. Renowned for his warm stage presence, powerful vocals, and a vast repertoire of timeless standards, classic pop hits, and easy-listening favorites, Kane seamlessly blends his deep background in theater and choral directing into every intimate live performance.
Anthony Pyatt is an Orlando-born actor, singer, and performer whose career spans television, film, and the professional stage. His screen credits include Teen Hades in Disney’s Descendants: The Rise of Red, along with appearances on CBS’s Elsbeth, Amazon MGM’s The Summer I Turned Pretty, Peacock’s M.I.A., ABC’s Will Trent, and Disney+’s The Right Stuff. His film work also includes supporting and leading roles in When I’m With You, Dear Stranger, and Swaying.
A seasoned stage performer, Pyatt has appeared in a wide range of classical, contemporary, and musical theater productions. Selected credits include Jack Kelly in Disney’s Newsies, Jason and Tyrone in Hand to God, Sherlock Holmes and others in The Hound of the Baskervilles, Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie, Melchior Gabor in Spring Awakening, Hamlet in Hamlet, Brad in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Brian Lackey in Mysterious Skin.
His stage work has earned significant recognition, including an Orlando Sentinel Critic’s Pick for Best Leading Actor in a Comedy for Hand to God, a BroadwayWorld Orlando Award for Best Leading Actor in a Professional Musical for Disney’s Newsies, and additional critical recognition and nominations for performances throughout Central Florida.
Pyatt trained in musical theater at Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York and has continued his studies in Meisner technique, voice and vocal performance, improvisation, stage combat, movement, motion capture, puppetry, and on-camera tactical work. That unusually broad training reflects the versatility of a performer equally at home in front of the camera, on the theatrical stage, and in live musical performance.
Lohgan Talbert, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, is a singer and actor whose work spans musical theater, live entertainment, and classical vocal study. A recent graduate of Seminole State College, where she studied voice, Talbert will continue her training in London at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where she will study acting beginning in 2026.
She currently performs as a vocalist in The Untrainable Dragon at Universal Epic Universe. Having spent much of her life onstage, Talbert has built a wide-ranging theatrical résumé that includes Anya in Anastasia, Rizzo in Grease, Anna in Frozen, Paulette in Legally Blonde, Esmeralda and Florika in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Lily St. Regis in Annie, Madame de la Grande Bouche in Beauty and the Beast, and featured ensemble work in Chicago, among many others.
In 2019, Talbert was honored with a BroadwayWorld “Best Actress” Award. She is grateful for the opportunity to share the stage with this company and sends her love and thanks to both her fellow artists and the audience.
Bryan Hayes is a vocalist, songwriter, arranger, and composer whose work spans classical music, jazz, blues, soul, R&B, rock, pop, and beyond. A familiar presence with your Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, Hayes has appeared with the ensemble on more than ten occasions.
He earned bachelor’s degrees from the University of North Florida in Classical Voice and Jazz Studies, with voice as his primary instrument. Since then, Hayes has built a wide-ranging career encompassing concert performance, opera, oratorio, musical theater, touring, recording, and original composition.
His international performance experience includes appearances in the Czech Republic with opera ensembles from the University of North Florida and the University of British Columbia, a 2010 tour of Italy with the UNF Chorale, and a 2014 tour with the St. John’s Cathedral Choir of Jacksonville that included performances at Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral. He has also performed aboard Carnival Cruise Lines and in numerous productions with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera Orlando.
Hayes has shared the stage with a remarkable range of artists and ensembles, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Reggie Wooten, Coolio, Ben Folds, and Andrea Bocelli. In 2015, he released his first album of original music, This Is Me.
Equally at home interpreting established repertoire and creating music of his own, Hayes continues to pursue a career that brings together performance, arranging, songwriting, and composition.
Renata Marie Hammond is a singer, actor, dancer, and vocal coach whose career spans major theme park entertainment, theatrical performance, and education. She currently performs as a vocalist in The Untrainable Dragon at Universal Epic Universe, where she was a member of the opening cast and also serves as a vocal trainer for the production.
Prior to joining Universal, Hammond spent five years as a Main Stage Performer with Disney Cruise Line, appearing as a singer, dancer, and actor in Disney theatrical productions for audiences around the world.
In addition to her performance career, Hammond has worked extensively in education and youth development. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Maryland Global Campus and has served as a lead teacher, developing curriculum and supporting the social, emotional, cognitive, and developmental needs of young children. Her commitment to community service also includes work with AmeriCorps in Baltimore, where she served as a team lead coordinator with a nonprofit supporting students in underserved inner-city schools.
