Arnold Weinstein News

The hilarious, postmodern-inspired klezmer musical 'Shlemiel the First,' which received its world premiere at the A.R.T. in Cambridge, MA in 1994, will be freshly minted during Peak Performances@Montclair‘s 2010 winter/spring season.

Soprano Lisa Delan, pianist Kristin Pankonin and cellist Matt Haimovitz, present a rich and varied collection of art songs by living American composers entitled AND IF THE SONG BE WORTH A SMILE: AN EVENING OF AMERICAN SONG, Friday, May 21, 2010 at 8 p.m. at Rose Theater in Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60th Street.

The hilarious, postmodern-inspired klezmer musical 'Shlemiel the First,' which received its world premiere at the A.R.T. in Cambridge, MA in 1994, will be freshly minted during Peak Performances@Montclair‘s 2010 winter/spring season.

The hilarious, postmodern-inspired klezmer musical 'Shlemiel The First,' which received its world premiere at the A.R.T. in Cambridge, MA in 1994, will be freshly minted during Peak Performances@Montclair‘s 2010 winter/spring season.

Kaufman Center and New York Festival Of Song (NYFOS, www.nyfos.org), will premiere Great American Songwriting Teams, an evening of famous and rarely-heard songs honoring the genius of America's classic collaborators, on Tuesday and Thursday November 17 and 19 at 8 PM at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center. Merkin Concert Hall is at 129 West 67th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues), New York, NY 10023.

Kaufman Center and New York Festival Of Song (NYFOS, www.nyfos.org), will premiere Great American Songwriting Teams, an evening of famous and rarely-heard songs honoring the genius of America's classic collaborators, on Tuesday and Thursday November 17 and 19 at 8 PM at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center. Merkin Concert Hall is at 129 West 67th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues), New York, NY 10023.

Though Ervin Drake's 'The Friendliest Thing (Two People Can Do),' from his 1964 hit What Makes Sammy Run?, has been called the first song from a Broadway musical to be directly about having sex, Suzanne Carrico employs no vampy winks or purring vocals as she observes with heightened intellectual interest the unnecessity of foreplaying drinks and dances when a couple in lust could simply get right to it.  (Yes, I just made up two words in that sentence.  Deal with it.)  Her new show at The Metropolitan Room, opening less than three weeks afters winning the MAC Award for Outstanding Debut, is named for this suggestive showtune but the self-described geek cleverly treats the song as a subtext to Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields' 'Welcome To Holiday Inn,' sandwiching the cerebral sexuality between slices of broader, comical pass-making.  This is either the smartest show about sex or the sexiest show about smarts in town.In outstanding company both offstage (Mary Cleere Haran is her director) and on (she's got music director/arranger Tedd Firth on piano and Steve Doyle on bass), Carrico has the kind of sunny, uncomplicated voice that can fill Harold Arlen and Leo Brown's 'Hooray For Love' with perky glee, matched with the kind of acting skill that can explore the dark dramatic longings of Arlen and Johnny Mercer's 'I Had Myself a True Love,' climaxing in an anguished belt that is far more about the woman she portrays than her ability to vocally shine.She calls this her hanky-panky show and most every number has something to do with sex.  There's the sweet simplicity with which she approaches Jimmy Roberts and Joe DiPietro's 'I Will Be Loved Tonight,' where a woman who has gone too long without a lover's touch anticipates how the evening's date will end, and the wry exasperation of 'Toothbrush Time,' William Bolcom and Arnold Weinstein's tense contemplation on why last night's lover is taking so long to get out of the apartment.  She savors the snazzy jazz jauntiness of Michael John La Chiusa's 'The Thief' and turns George Gershwin and B.G. DeSylva's 'Do It Again!' into a lopsided debate between the mind and the libido (guess who wins).The very funny sexpot character song, 'Femininity' (Jay Livingston/Ray Evans), is given an interesting personal twist as she introduces it with some of her own feelings as an adolescent girl surprised by the different way boys would look at her once she started developing.  Her admiration for the romantic passion expressed by Alan and Marilyn Bergman fuels her detailed story-telling in 'Like a Lover' and 'The Island.And for those who believe that hanky-panky is never complete without a bit of cuddling after, she finishes the evening with a very satisfied and satisfying 'Embraceable You' by the Gershwins.

Kaufman Center and New York Festival Of Song (NYFOS, www.nyfos.org), will premiere Great American Songwriting Teams, an evening of famous and rarely-heard songs honoring the genius of America's classic collaborators, on Tuesday and Thursday November 17 and 19 at 8 PM at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center. Merkin Concert Hall is at 129 West 67th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues), New York, NY 10023.

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE: - William Bolcom's tragic opera about Red Hook longshoremen finds its Brooklyn voice with Vertical Player Repertory. World premiere of a two piano arrangement developed in collaboration with the composer.

Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook ends its 11th season with a special concert by Stew and Heidi Rodewald in the newly revitalized Alice Tully Hall on March 6th at 8:00pm.

Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook ends its 11th season with a special concert by Stew and Heidi Rodewald in the newly revitalized Alice Tully Hall on March 6th at 8:00pm.

Week three of Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook brings to The Allen Room a soulful tribute to black music, a bluegrass legend, a genre-busting singer and the concert debut of a gifted actor, all celebrating the diversity of American popular song. On February 4th Soul Deep, an ensemble of some of the top black singers from Broadway and beyond will perform music - black music - that is the basis for most of the popular music heard today. The next night, bluegrass reigns with The Del McCoury Band (top right), who started out in the 1960s and remain so on top of their game that their latest CD is nominated for a 2009 Grammy. A new voice on the scene, and one that is electrifying all within range, is Lizz Wright (bottom left), who performs two shows on February 6th. She will perform songs from The Orchard, her third CD, as well as other pieces that shine with her expressive treatment. Next up on February 7th is the concert debut of the always surprising actor Alan Cumming (bottom right). Equally at ease in film and on the stage, this classically-trained star has never sung a concert before, and he has selected Dolly Parton and Cindi Lauper tunes, among others, to celebrate this new dimension in his career. American Songbook is presented in the spectacular Allen Room of Frederick P. Rose Hall. The Allen Room possesses one of New York's greatest settings - a stunning vista of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline provides an evocative backdrop for the performers.

Week four of Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook brings to The Allen Room a hot new composer, Broadway's most popular ing?nue, a Disney film and Broadway composer in a rare concert appearance, and a celebration of the music of Richard Rodgers by an acclaimed guitarist/vocalist. On February 18th, young composer Nico Muhly, who wrote the haunting score to the Oscar-nominated film 'The Reader', will collaborate with Thomas Bartlett, alternative folk/country artist Sam Amidon, and designer/illustrator Maira Kalman.

Week three of Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook brings to The Allen Room a soulful tribute to black music, a bluegrass legend, a genre-busting singer and the concert debut of a gifted actor, all celebrating the diversity of American popular song. On February 4th Soul Deep, an ensemble of some of the top black singers from Broadway and beyond will perform music - black music - that is the basis for most of the popular music heard today. The next night, bluegrass reigns with The Del McCoury Band (top right), who started out in the 1960s and remain so on top of their game that their latest CD is nominated for a 2009 Grammy. A new voice on the scene, and one that is electrifying all within range, is Lizz Wright (bottom left), who performs two shows on February 6th. She will perform songs from The Orchard, her third CD, as well as other pieces that shine with her expressive treatment. Next up on February 7th is the concert debut of the always surprising actor Alan Cumming (bottom right). Equally at ease in film and on the stage, this classically-trained star has never sung a concert before, and he has selected Dolly Parton and Cindi Lauper tunes, among others, to celebrate this new dimension in his career. American Songbook is presented in the spectacular Allen Room of Frederick P. Rose Hall. The Allen Room possesses one of New York's greatest settings - a stunning vista of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline provides an evocative backdrop for the performers.

Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook returns in January for its eleventh season celebrating the diversity of American popular song. For 17 nights of pop, folk, cabaret, R&B, country, rock, show tunes, bluegrass and multimedia, the series will explore the best of the golden age of musical standards through to today's most dynamic contemporary songwriting. The 2009 season - January 14 through March 6 - will bring to the stage some of today's most gifted interpreters of song, including top vocalist Kurt Elling and country's winning Patty Loveless. It will feature the rare opportunity to hear Paulo Szot, star of Broadway's South Pacific, and film and stage star Alan Cumming, in intimate concert settings.

The second week of Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook brings to the Allen Room stage a jazz great, a new singer/songwriter, a country music classic and Broadway's newest heartthrob, all celebrating the diversity of American popular song. Singer Kurt Elling will re-create the standout recording that singer Johnny Hartman made in 1963 of the music of John Coltrane. Saxophonist Ernie Watts, The Laurence Hobgood Trio and the string quartet ETHEL will join Elling for this show, entitled Dedicated to You.

Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook returns in January for its eleventh season celebrating the diversity of American popular song. For 17 nights of pop, folk, cabaret, R&B, country, rock, show tunes, bluegrass and multimedia, the series will explore the best of the golden age of musical standards through to today's most dynamic contemporary songwriting. The 2009 season - January 14 through March 6 - will bring to the stage some of today's most gifted interpreters of song, including top vocalist Kurt Elling and country's winning Patty Loveless. It will feature the rare opportunity to hear Paulo Szot, star of Broadway's South Pacific, and film and stage star Alan Cumming, in intimate concert settings.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference (NPC) recently presented a performance of one of its final projects this year - the new musical Red Eye of Love, with Cheyenne Jackson and Elizabeth Stanley

Cheyenne Jackson, who will soon be seen on Broadway as Sonny in Xanadu, will headline a staged reading of a new musical in Waterford, CT as part of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's Music Theater Conference

American Songbook, the critically acclaimed Lincoln Center series devoted to the rich history and variety that is American popular song, returns for its eighth season.