Broadway/Musical Trivia Night

Meet the Host

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  Chris Youstra

  As the past resident music director, Mr. Youstra has music directed and conducted over 45 musicals at Olney Theatre Center, including The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, A.D. 16, Cabaret, Matilda, Once, On the Town, In the Heights, My Fair Lady, Sweeney Todd, Evita, Carmen: An Afro-Cuban Jazz Musical, Carousel, Godspell, How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and has also music directed at many of the other local theaters including Ford’s Theatre: Ragtime, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; Studio Theatre 2nd Stage: Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, Jerry Springer: The Opera, Passing Strange; Studio Theatre: Adding Machine: A Musical; Round House Theatre: Once on This Island, A Murder A Mystery A Marriage, The Summer of ‘42, and The World Goes ‘Round; Toby’s Dinner Theatre: Les Misérables, The Color Purple, Titanic, Beauty and the Beast; Imagination Stage; The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences; Arena Stage; Burn Brae Dinner Theatre; Montgomery College; American University; Musical Theatre Center; Signature Theatre; and Columbia Center for the Theatrical Arts. Mr. Youstra has been nominated for twelve Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Music Direction and received the award for Titanic. He was director of music at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Columbia for 29 years, has worked with both Phoenix Productions and Troika Entertainment national touring companies and toured both Europe and Korea with Smokey Joe’s Café. As a composer, Mr. Youstra’s music has been heard throughout the area, including The Dancing Princesses at Imagination Stage, Big Nate: The Musical (with Jason Loewith), the Helen Hayes Awards, the 2014 Summer Hummer, and the opening gala of the ATLAS center.