Idalski performs on the way to Carnegie Hall

Michael Idalski (middle) performed a selection of broadway songs in a benefit concert at the Rogers City Theater Friday night. His fundraising efforts will help send him to Carnegie Hall in May. Also showcasing their talents were from left, Tyler Kivel, Sarah Clark and Heather Nordenbrock.

by Riconda Lamb

Michael Idalski lit up the stage with Broadway songs in front of a large, enthusiastic crowd Friday night. The Rogers City Theater provided the perfect venue for the benefit concert for Idalski’s May trip to Carnegie Hall in New York City.

As a senior at Central Michigan University (CMU,) Idalski is a three-year member of the CMU Chamber Singers. Fellow member, Sarah Clark, also sang to the delight of the audience. Tyler Kivel provided piano accompaniment for the evening as well as performing his own amazing keyboard solo.

Michael performed a duet with Heather Nordenbrock whom he has worked with since eighth-grade, as a cast member in Lucky Stiff at the Rogers City Theater. You might also remember him from Annie, Hello, Dolly! and other productions at the local theater. In Mount Pleasant, Idalski also has been active on stage, including being cast as the lead role

in Rent at the Broadway Theater.

Selections for the night included “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and the World Premiere of “June 21, 2005.” Anne Petrides wrote this song for Idalski, in memory of his cousin, Nick, who was fatally wounded in Iraq. The text of the song is a letter that Nick sent to Michael’s Busia that she received on June 21, 2005.

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, two blocks south of Central Park.  It opened May 5, 1891 with Italian and Florentine Renaissance architectural styles by Andrew Carnegie and William Tuthill.

After graduation, Idalski’s plans include performing and touring. He is a 2009 graduate of Rogers City High School.