Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 6:00 pm
The Annex @ Arizona Musicfest
Tickets
$40
(+$4/ticket service fee)
Includes wine, cheese & snacks
Kelli James has a career that spans over 47 years and includes leading roles on Broadway, National Tours and on international stages.
On Broadway, Kelli was in the Tony Award winning original company of Les Misérables, later taking over the role of Eponine as the first North American actor to play the role.
Kelli has been seen around the country in several award winning productions including the LA revival of Hair and the San Francisco production of The Rocky Horror Show as Columbia.
Playing the role of Peron’s Mistress, Kelli was featured in the LA production and First National tour of Evita, directed by Hal Prince. She was also in the Toronto companies of Aspects of Love as Giulietta Trapani and Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as The Narrator starring opposite Donny Osmond.
Other notable productions include Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hand-picked cast for his premiere concert tour The Music Of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Chess In Concert in Toronto, The Tribute To Hal Prince in Munich, Germany and The Night of 1000 Voices at Royal Albert Hall in London.
Arizona audiences have seen her in Gypsy as Mama Rose, Beauty And The Beast as Mrs. Potts, Cinderella as The Fairy Godmother and Follies as Carlotta Champion. She won an Arizoni Award for her direction and been nominated for 3 Arizoni Awards as a performer.
She has been coaching and teaching musical theater performance for over 20 years at her studio called The Broadway Advantage Performing Arts Studio in Scottsdale, Arizona
Getting Here
The Annex
7950 E. Thompson Peak Parkway
Scottsdale, AZ 85255
7950 East Thompson Peak Parkway
7950 East Thompson Peak Parkway, Scottsdale, AZ 85255, USA
Kelli James
Kelli James is celebrating 50 years in the theatre this year and has been seen in many award winning productions including the original Tony Award winning Broadway production of Les Miserables where she was the first American actress to play Eponine. Other notable productions include The Rocky Horror Show in San Francisco, The LA Production of Evita directed by Hal Prince, The Music Of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Music Of The Night, Chess, Aspects Of Love (Robby Award nomination) and Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat starring as The Narrator opposite Donny Osmond. She has performed for 3 American Presidents and the Queen Mum.
She has International concert credits that have taken her around the world including Alfie Boe Live, A Gala Concert For Hal Prince, Jason Robert Brown In Concert, Home For The Holidays with Anthony Crivello, The Henley Festival and The Night Of 1000 Voices (Royal Albert Hall/London) where she worked with Glenn Close, Len Cariou, Sarah Brightman, David Essex and Sir Tim Rice just to name a few.
Local Phoenix, Arizona audiences have seen her as Mrs. Potts in Beauty And The Beast, Follies as Carlotta, Cinderella as The Fairy Godmother, Truvy in Steel Magnolas, Desiree in A Little Night Music and in Gypsy as Mama Rose. All roles received an Arizoni Nomination for Best Actress, a Broadway World nomination for Follies and Gypsy and an Inspirational Award for Cinderella.
Kelli has been teaching and directing from her studio, The Broadway Advantage in Scottsdale, Arizona for 23 years and has won several awards, including an Arizoni for her direction of Les Miserables for TheaterWorks, YouthWorks in 2016. Many of her students have gone on to great success as Broadway and National Tour actors in productions of Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress, Spring Awakening, Beauty And The Beast and How The Grinch Stole Christmas as well as National recording artists and TV/film actors.
This year will mark the 9th year directing The Broadway Advantage Intensive.
Josh Condon
As a pianist equally adept in the genres of jazz, pop, and classical, Josh Condon has served as music director/supervisor for over 40 musical theatre productions, in addition to leading concerts with symphony orchestras, choirs, jazz ensembles, and pop/rock bands. He has traveled the world as a music director and pianist for the Norwegian, Celebrity, and Princess Cruise Lines where he worked with numerous Broadway and West End performers.
Currently, Josh serves as Resident Artist and Director of Community Music Programs for Arizona Musicfest in Scottsdale, an organization which features concert performances of the music industry’s top talent. In addition to serving as Assistant Conductor for the Musicfest Festival Orchestra, he lectures on topics surveying a huge breadth of music history and analysis, including popular song, symphonic repertoire, jazz performance practice, musical theatre, and everything in between.
He also serves as Assistant Conductor for the North Valley Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared as Guest Conductor with the Scottsdale Symphony Orchestra, the Scottsdale Philharmonic, and the Arizona Musical Theatre Orchestra. Josh is passionate about using flexibility, positivity, and encouragement to create spaces where all can learn and perform to their best ability. He holds a BM in Jazz Studies from Ithaca College and an MM in Musical Theatre/Opera Music Direction from Arizona State University, and resides in Phoenix, AZ with his wife Lexy, their son Arlo, and their cat Sadie.