Joan Curto Kicks Off Jerry Herman Tribute Show

New Tribute Show Features The Music & Lyrics of 2010 Kennedy Center Honoree Jerry Herman. Songs from Broadway's Greatest Musicals: Hello Dolly!, Mame & La Cage Aux Folles

Called "a cabaret icon" by NBC Chicago, for her new show acclaimed vocalist Joan Curto will formally kick off what will be a number of musical tributes across the nation celebrating the Tony and Grammy Award winning composer Jerry Herman's 80th birthday. Herman will also receive the Kennedy Center 2010 Honor on December 5th.

No Tune Like A Show Tune: The Words & Music of Jerry Herman
, provides the perfect showcase for Curto's classic, sultry styling and emotional versatility. Curto will be performing Herman favorites such as Before The Parade Passes By from Hello Dolly!, I Am What I Am from the 1983 and 2010 Tony Award winning show La Cage Aux Folles, Time Heals Everything from Mack & Mabel and lesser known gems from Grand Tour and A Night In The Ukraine. Another Chicago favorite, Beckie Menzie provides musical direction. This must-see event takes place for five performances only at Davenport's. Located at 1383 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, show times are November 17-20 at 8:00pm and Sunday, November 21 at 7pm. There is a $20 cover charge and two-drink minimum. Due to the high demand for these special performances, reservations are highly recommended by calling 773-278-1830.

With the landmark musicals Hello Dolly!, Mame and La Cage Aux Folles, Herman is the only composer-lyricist to have three musicals that ran more than 1,500 consecutive on Broadway. The timelessness and longevity of Herman's music and words is illustrated with the 2010 Tony Award for La Cage as Best Musical Revival. His best known song, the catchy Hello Dolly!, became a world-wide hit in 1964 when recorded by Louis Armstrong, even knocking The Beatles off the #1 spot on the Billboard chart. The Broadway musical, starring Carol Channing opened the same year, ran for 2,844 performances, going onto became Broadway's longest-running musical and winning an unprecedented 10 Tony Awards. Mame followed in 1966, starring Angela Lansbury repeating Dolly's success with a hit catchy title tune, as well as the holiday standard We Need a Little Christmas. Another song from the show, If He Walked Into My Life became a Grammy Award winning hit for Eydie Gorme. What has followed amounts to a life-affirming body of work rivaled by few: Dear World, the underappreciatEd Mack & Mabel, The Grand Tour, Mrs. Santa Claus, Jerry's Girls, and of course La Cage aux Folles.

Joan Curto who has won the After Dark Award for Outstanding Cabaret Vocalist, has performed at many of the country's most prestigious music venues including New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center, Danny's Skylight Room and Helen's. One of Chicago's top female interpreters of the great American songbook, she has performed sold out concerts at the Auditorium Theatre, Harris Theater, Park West, Maxim', the ASCAP and Chicago Humanities Festival concert series and the Mabel Mercer Foundation's Chicago Cabaret Convention.

Joan's 2004 CD release, May I Suggest?, garnered national radio airplay and critical acclaim and is available
at www.cdbaby.com, digital downloads at iTunes and by visiting her web site at www.joancurto.com.