Cranford High School is about to get a taste of Broadway when Rupert Holmes, the Tony Award-winning composer behind The Pina Colada Song, takes the stage alongside students for a one-night-only concert on November 20. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show begins at 7 p.m. at the school, located at 201 West End Place in Cranford, New Jersey.
The event, first reported by TAPinto Cranford, will showcase Cranford High School vocal ensembles alongside local performers, with music spanning Broadway, Disney, and beyond. Holmes himself said the concert will feature hits from Broadway to Billboard and beyond, and he's hoping the night draws in Broadway lovers, pop music fans, and anyone who simply enjoys a good show, according to the same report. He also said he plans to perform his classic Billboard No. 1 record, the Pina Colada Song.
Holmes isn't walking into unfamiliar territory. He has a personal connection to Cranford High School through his goddaughter, Melody Jennings, who is one of the student performers slated to appear that night alongside fellow student Lola Clifton, per the outlet's reporting. Holmes said he has been impressed by the school's performing arts ensembles and productions, and noted he collaborated with the original creators behind Cranford High's three most recent musicals — Urinetown, Chicago, and Les Miserables.
A Broadway Resume Decades in the Making
Holmes has written nine Broadway shows over his career, including the Tony Award-winning The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Curtains, and Pirates! The Penzance Musical, according to TAPinto's reporting. A Manhattan School of Music alumni profile notes that Holmes won two Tony Awards for The Mystery of Edwin Drood in 1985 — Best Book and Best Original Score — and that he also adapted Pirates of Penzance for Broadway alongside Joseph Joubert. He has also won five Drama Desk Awards and is a New York Times bestselling author, per TAPinto.
Before his Broadway career took off, Holmes studied at Manhattan School of Music, first majoring in clarinet before switching to music theory, the school's alumni spotlight states. He went on to write songs for Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Dolly Parton, and Dionne Warwick, and by the end of the 1970s he had produced several Billboard top-10 hits, including 1979's Escape (The Pina Colada Song), according to the Manhattan School of Music profile. TAPinto describes Holmes as being best known for his Broadway musicals and that chart-topping single.
Students, Alumni, and Broadway Pros Share the Stage
The concert will include a performance by the Cranford High School chorus and will bring in a mix of current students and school alumni. Matthew Zatorsky, a member of Cranford High's Class of 2022, will serve as emcee, while fellow performers include alumni Michael Nigro (Class of 2017), Emma Schwartz (Class of 2015), and Asher Shectman (Class of 2022), per TAPinto's reporting.
Joining them are professional performers including Ellyn Marsh, Samantha Williams — whose credits include Dear Evan Hansen, Caroline, or Change, and Pirates! The Penzance Musical — and Nicholas Barasch, who has appeared in West Side Story, She Loves Me, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Pirates! The Penzance Musical. Anthony J. Rafaniello, the school's director of choral activities, said the concert is an opportunity for students and the community alike, adding that students can meet, work, and perform with an accomplished artist.
Tickets and Where the Money Goes
Tickets are available through chs.booktix.com, with balcony seating priced at $45, main floor seating at $60, and prime center seating for the first five rows going for $100. Proceeds from the concert will help fund the Cranford High School performing arts department's educational trip to Disney World, scheduled for April 2027, according to TAPinto's reporting.
For a town whose high school has already tackled Urinetown, Chicago, and Les Miserables in recent seasons, hosting a multiple Tony Award winner who wrote several of Broadway's modern staples marks a rare chance for students to share a stage with someone whose songs have outlived decades of radio playlists. Whether audience members come for the nostalgia of the Pina Colada Song or the chance to see homegrown talent perform alongside Broadway veterans, the November 20 show promises a little bit of both.
