Henry Mancini News

GABRIELLE STRAVELLI - the celebrated pop/jazz vocalist and songwriter called an "outstanding singer" by The Wall Street Journal and "hotter than the equator" by The Village Voice - has released the new single that is currently available on iTunes here, a passionate reworking of the Cole Porter classic "Dream Dancing." The track, a selection from her upcoming album If Only Love, has an arrangement by Pat O'Leary and features Art Hirahara on piano, Pat O'Leary on bass and Eric Halvorson on drums. "Dream Dancing" is produced by David Cook (Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, Marianne Faithfull) with cover photography by Shervin Lainez (St. Vincent, Cat Power, Ellie Goulding).

Gary Naylor sees a show that looks back at over sixty years of remarkable songs written by Leslie Bricusse, the Londoner who conquered Hollywood and Broadway.

New official photo released as rehearsals end. To mark the final day of rehearsals for PURE IMAGINATION - The Songs of Leslie Bricusse, we are releasing a new photo of legendary British songwriter Leslie Bricusse with the ridiculously talented cast of Dave Willetts, Julie Atherton, Niall Sheehy, Siobhan McCarthy and Giles Terera.

The New York Philharmonic will present the third season of THE ART OF THE SCORE: Film Week at the Philharmonic September 18-21, 2015, featuring two complete Academy Award-winning films screened with live performances of their acclaimed scores: On the Waterfront and The Godfather.

?The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and Conductor John Morris Russell are delighted to announce the Pops' 2015-2016 season at Cincinnati Music Hall, the fifth under the direction of Mr. Russell. The season, presented by PNC along with the Pops Artist Series Sponsor, The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation, features exciting guest artist debuts, alongside the return of the best genres and artists that have built the Pops into an American icon.

PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra kicks off the 2015-2016 PNC Pops season with "Sinatra and Beyond with Tony DeSare, a tribute to Ol' Blue Eyes in celebration of the iconic singer's 100th birthday, on October 2-4 at Heinz Hall.

On Friday, October 9, noted orchestrator and conductor Fred Barton will bring the music of Broadway and the American Songbook to the Schimmel Center at Pace University, in American Showstoppers: An Evening of Johnny Mercer. In his seventh concert at Pace, Fred Barton now brings the power of Mercer's music and lyrics front and center, with a 14-piece orchestra and a cast of 16 Broadway singers and dancers, with direction and choreography by Scott Thompson. The cast is headlined by Damon Kirsch, Tony nominee Lee Roy Reams, two time Tony nominee Vivian Reed, Nick Spangler, Tony Nominee Lauren Worsham, and Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba. The cast also features Jesse Luttrell, Sean McGibbon and Molly Pope.

Jonelle Meyer, Owen Robertson and Jordan Foote save the day with their performances in this trio of one act plays by half of the famed Coen Brothers.

The University of Miami Frost School of Music, with presenting sponsor UHealth--University of Miami Health System, announces the lineup for its annual multi-genre music festival, FESTIVAL MIAMI, Florida's premier live music festival. From October 16 to November 7, 2015, the Festival will offer vibrant performances by the biggest names on the music scene, who will showcase their talents alongside the outstanding students and faculty artists from the Frost School of Music. More than 20 performances will be held in the intimate setting of the 600-seat UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall, 1314 Miller Drive.

Final casting is today announced for the World Premiere of Pure Imagination, which celebrates the songs of Leslie Bricusse, one of the most prolific and well loved film and musical theatre songwriters of our time.

The New York Philharmonic will present the third season of THE ART OF THE SCORE: Film Week at the Philharmonic September 18-21, 2015, featuring two complete Academy Award-winning films screened with live performances of their acclaimed scores: On the Waterfront and The Godfather.

With new Sunday evening Jazz Party host Carole J. Bufford performing elsewhere last night, the Birdland Jazz Club recruited drummer Ray Marchica and his vocalist wife Nina Hennessy (right), who rounded up some of their talented friends for an evening of vocal and instrumental jazz, new compositions, and golden standards. Marchica's band featured Sean Harkness on guitar, Tom Hubbard on bass, and Bob Quaranta on piano. Special guests included vocalist Marissa Mulder and composer/pianist Ian Herman.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Pippin' performs at the Cadillac Palace and Sidetrack, dueling showtune concerts on August 17, and a summer 'Altar Boyz.' Plus local premieres of 'The Boy From Oz,' 'American Idiot' and 'Dogfight,' 'Gypsy' in Lake County, and 'The Producers' in true rep with 'Victor/Victoria!'

David-Troy Somerville, co-founder and original lead singer of the 1950's rock 'n' roll vocal group The Diamonds and known to music fans around the world as 'Diamond Dave' Somerville, passed away early Tuesday morning in Santa Barbara from cancer. He was 81.

Further casting for the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company's Plays at the Garrick season has been announced. John Dagleish and Zoe Wanamaker are to appear in Harlequinade, with John also joining the company of The Winter's Tale. The two productions will play in repertory at the Garrick theatre from 17 October 2015 until 16 January 2016.

VICTOR/VICTORIA's gender-bending exploration of sexual identity and orientation may have seemed fresh, even daring, in 1982, but by the time it hit Broadway in 1995 it was already a bit tame. Today in a 20th anniversary production at Maine's Ogunquit Playhouse, it feels downright quaint when compared to the courage of Caitlyn Jenner and the recent Supreme Court ruling finally making Marriage Equality the law of the land.

It's the 20th anniversary of Broadway's tender and funny, smart and sexy Victor/ Victoria and the Ogunquit Playhouse is celebrating by mounting a full-scale glamorous production of the musical comedy, June 24 to July 18, complete with the original Broadway and touring sets designed by Robin Wagner and costumes by Willa Kim.  Check out a first look at highlights below!

It's the 20th anniversary of Broadway's tender and funny, smart and sexy Victor/ Victoria and the Ogunquit Playhouse is celebrating by mounting a full-scale glamorous production of the musical comedy June 24 to July 18, complete with the original Broadway and touring sets designed by Robin Wagnerand costumes by Willa Kim.

In Mr. Lucky, Jeff Macauley's urbane cabaret show featuring the songs of Henry Mancini, (which recently finished a three-show run at the Metropolitan Room) you learn that the famed composer came by his luck and success the old-fashioned way: single-minded purpose fueled by hard work and determination. Yet, Macauley, a former Bistro Award winner, makes telling Mancini's story look so easy. Debonair in his impeccable suit and fashionable specs, the singer uses a light touch to deliver songs he was determined to bring out of the background and into the spotlight.

Monday night at the upstairs library at The Player's Club, young actor/vocalist Evan Stern collaborated with one of cabaret's treasures, the veteran pianist/arranger/vocalist Steve Ross on a show illuminating the influence of a southern upbringing on the work of iconic songwriter and Savannah, Georgia native Johnny Mercer. The piece was beautifully put together with Stern's intermittent repartee (never dropping a musical stitch), reflecting his skills as an actor as well as a writer.