Herbert Greene News

There are certain performances from Broadway history that can never be replicated, one of which is Robert Preston's star turn as the flimflamming boys band sales man Harold Hill in the 1958 Tony Award winning musical The Music Man. It was a bit of a shock when it won best musical that year because it beat out the revolutionary West Side Story. Ah well, commercialism nearly always wins.

Three new productions will open this week at three Off-Off-Broadway locations in New York City: Ripple Effects Artists' Deathbed, John Chatterton's Short Play Lab Series, and New York Conservatory's The Greene Touch. Check out all the details below!

Monday night, April 28, New York Conservatory presents a rare treat. We're used to concerts and benefits on the household names of musical theatre - especially the Golden Age - but here's one dedicated to one of the Great White Way's unsung heroes - Herbert Greene. A shrewd producer, natural conductor and orchestrator, and gifted composer, Greene was behind some of Broadway's classic productions. He worked side-by-side with Meredith Willson on the legendary The Music Man and with Frank Loesser onMost Happy Fella; built the enthralling orchestrations behind Sondheim's Anyone Can Whistle, a musical ahead of its time, even influencing the addition of a song which was a veiled 'Love Note" to Lee Remick; and even trained Broadway luminaries likeamong them were Rex Harrison, Rosalind Russell, Angela Lansbury, Barbara Cook, Robert Preston, Don Ameche, and Judy Holliday.

The Broadway universe has a multitude of stars deserving of praise, New York Conservatory picks a bright and prolific one - singer, actor, conductor, arranger, producer, and even voice doctor - Herbert Greene. A true unsung hero of the American Musical Theatre.