Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr., winner of season six of America’s Got Talent, will showcase his famed Rat Pack style at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on Friday.
Murphy, who competed in last year’s season of the NBC reality show, will perform songs from his 2011 debut record, That’s Life, to kick off Parents Weekend and continue the jam-packed opening weekend for the Performing Arts Series.
The weekend started Thursday night with a concert featuring country star Chris Young, a 2012 ACM Male Vocalist of the Year nominee. Saturday night continues the kickoff with Chicago’s Second City’s Laughing Matters Tour.
“Mr. Murphy’s show should be a great show for students to see with their parents,” said Andrew Holzaepfel, associate director of the Campus Involvement Center, which puts on the series in collaboration with the Division of Student Affairs. “We thought it’d be a show both parents and students could enjoy.”
America’s Got Talent thrust Murphy, a W.Va. native, into the national spotlight at the age of 37. Before he won the show, he had been working at a car wash to support himself and his four children.
Murphy rose to the top of the competition on the show by performing Rat Pack favorites like Dean Martin’s “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head?” and Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” and his Friday show is sure to feature a similar style.
Martin’s upcoming performance is exciting for OU’s Performing Arts staff because of his fame and his throwback genre of music, but that’s not the only cause for excitement, said Holzaepfel.
“There are actually a few graduates from OU’s School of Music who will be performing in Mr. Murphy’s backing band,” he said. “Numerous OU graduates will be playing with him up on stage, which should be exciting for everyone there on Friday.”
Tickets will be $18 for students, $23 for senior tickets and $25 for general admission.
de155710@ohiou.edu
