Bradley Dean, a Pottsville native and Broadway actor, brought in a capacity crowd on Monday for Songs from Broadway and Beyond: A Benefit Concert by Bradley Dean. The event benefited the theater at 209 N. Centre St. that is managed by the Pottsville Area Development Corp. Famous show tunes like Make Our Garden Grow, Music of the Night and Marry Me a Little sounded as powerful as ever inside the packed theater.

Between songs, Dean told a bit of his life story, from growing up and playing baseball in Pottsville to hitting it big on Broadway and the birth of his children, Emma, 5, and Oliver, 3 months. I ve put these songs together to show all of you how my journey has been going, Dean said. Pottsville is a really authentic place. I m proud to be from here. Dean has performed in Evita, Spamalot and Company.

He also performed in The Rocky Horror Picture Show for two years in Europe, where he met his wife, Eileen. She couldn t resist a man in fishnets, Dean said from the stage, referring to the character Dr. Frank-N-Furter, whom he portrayed. He and his family currently live in South Orange, N.J.

For most of the almost two-hour performance, Dean was joined on piano by Cora Gamelin-Osenbach, Orwigsburg, one of his voice teachers while he attended Pottsville Area High School, where he graduated from in 1988. I was excited to know he was coming back. It s great to see a former student do something with this level of excellence, Gamelin-Osenbach said. He showed a lot of promise back in high school, that s for sure. It s great to have him back here in Pottsville.