Musical and artistic director, Bob Bachelor, founded Lyric Theatre Singers in 1990 as an off shoot of The Lyric Theatre, which has been around since the 1960s.

"We used to get together for an intense three months and then, once the show was over, we all went our separate ways," explains Bachelor. "But some of us love Broadway tunes all year round and Lyric Theatre Singers gives us the opportunity to indulge in this kind of repertoire."

Their upcoming show at Concordia's Oscar Peterson Hall, entitled Broadway Sings!, is a high-energy compilation of Broadway hits, featuring a tribute to Cole Porter and showstoppers from Fiddler on the Roof, A Chorus Line, The Fantasticks, Beauty and the Beast, The King and I and many more.

"It’s certainly a mixed bag and we're definitely a choral group with a theatrical bend to it," says Bachelor. "Every song has some theatre context."

The Singers rehearse at Montreal-West United Church and a good number of the 46 current members are West End residents. Bob Bachelor has lived in NDG since the 1980s and claims that he wouldn't live anywhere else.

"We're a dynamic bunch of people, that's for sure," says Bachelor. "Everyone works very hard, juggles a lot to perform in the shows and I certainly work them very hard as well."

Teachers, nurses, lawyers, computer analysts, chefs, students… members are from all walks of life, from all cultural communities and are as young as 20 and as old as 70. The one thing they have in common? Their love for performing and putting on shows that meet the most stringent of standards.

One of the group's original members, Gloria Aronoff, Alto 2, has been with the Singers since day one in 1990. The NDG resident works as a therapist at the in- patient unit for psychiatry at the Jewish General by day, but in her spare time indulges her love for musical theatre performance.

"This group basically legitimizes the 'ham' in me, which is important for a nice Jewish girl like me," she says laughing. "It's also the perfect antidote to life's daily stress. People need something like this in their lives and that's the therapist in me giving the best advice possible."

The Lyric Theatre Singers will be performing "Broadway Sings!" at Oscar Peterson Hall (7141 Sherbrooke Street West) on June 5, 6 and 7. For tickets and/or information on the show, you can call 514-363-3382, admissions at 514-790-1245 or log on to: www.lyrictheatrecompany.com