SELINSGROVE -- Ted Keegan, guest soloist during the Susquehanna Valley Chorale's pops concerts Friday and Saturday, said he enjoys performing with community groups.

"I love working with people who love doing this," he said, during a break in rehearsal earlier this week. "I love singing for a living, and they do it for the sheer love of it."

Keegan, who has appeared in several Broadway productions and a national tour of "Phantom of the Opera," joins the chorale to sing some of his favorites, including a medley of songs from "Phantom."

Even though he's performed as the Phantom hundreds of times, he said he especially enjoys singing on stage as Ted Keegan rather than as the Phantom.

"I always have a good time being myself rather than creating a character," he said.

During the rehearsal, as Keegan performed solo, backed by the Jack Fries Stage band and Valley String Quartet, he hammed it up a bit on a song titled "Sara Lee." This bit of fluff about baked goods brought him a round of applause from chorale members who were taking a break.

"I think we feed off each other," he said a few minutes later. "Working together like this, we create a more exciting and special evening."

Keegan will also sing "On the Street Where You Live," "Taking A Chance on Love" and "Skylark" during the concert.

Billed as "an evening of love songs," the Susquehanna Valley Chorale's annual pops concert, "Listen to the Music of the Night," features love songs from a wide variety of sources. "Hey, Good Lookin," "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," "At Last" and "More Today Than Tomorrow" are just a few of the familiar songs the audience will hear.

Several members of the chorale will also perform solos.