Ira Gershwin News

Celebrate with Arion Press on Saturday, December 7. The Press will be open from 11 to 5 for a holiday sale and free tours at noon and 3 p.m.

Ann Hampton Callaway's latest show in late November at 54 Below—her new home away from home—was another one of those slam dunk entertainments she's produced in the past year or so that clearly have put her near the top, if not at the very top, of the female cabaret performer depth chart. Listen, not counting the Broadway stars like Patti LuPone (who are now doing cabaret, mainly at 54 Below), or the top-notch jazz singers like Jane Monheit, you be hard-pressed to think of any major veteran cabaret singer in the country—and that includes Barbara Cook, Marilyn Maye, Andrea Marcovicci, and Amanda McBroom—who are plying the trade better these days than Ann Hampton Callaway.

Happy Birthday, Ira Gershwin! A lyricist, Gershwin collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century. With George he wrote more than a dozen Broadway shows, featuring songs such as 'I Got Rhythm', 'Embraceable You', 'The Man I Love' and 'Someone to Watch Over Me'. He was also responsible, along with DuBose Heyward, for the libretto to George's opera Porgy and Bess. The success the brothers had with their collaborative works has often overshadowed the creative role that Ira played. However, his mastery of songwriting continued after the early death of George. He wrote additional hit songs with composers Jerome Kern ('Long Ago (and Far Away)'), Kurt Weill and Harold Arlen.

Park Square brings a dash of Gershwin to the holiday entertainment season with WORDS BY...Ira Gershwin AND THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK, tonight, November 29 -December 29, 2013.

Tony Award-Winner Len Cariou returns to 54 Below, where he will be performing selections from George and Ira Gershwin. Cariou will be performing Dec 11, 13, and 14. For more information, please visit http://54below.com/artist/len-cariou/.

It's got rhythm; It's got music; Who could ask for anything more? This production is complete with toe-tapping dance routines and memorable hit songs. Gershwin fans rejoice as the Winter Park Playhouse pays tribute to all the great songs written by George and Ira Gershwin in CRAZY FOR GERSHWIN.

San Francisco audiences were delighted to welcome a powerful and wistfully evocative production of The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess to the bay area and to the stage of the Golden Gate Theatre where it plays now through December 8. Opening night was also the launch of the much anticipated national tour of this Tony award-winning revival. Directed by Diane Paulus, with a book adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks from DuBose and Dorothy Heyward's original book, Porgy and Bess's dramatic story of love, death, addiction and hope comes alive once again for a whole new audience of theatregoers.

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and Sony Masterworks team up to celebrate one of Hollywood's most beloved stars: Fred Astaire. The new 2-CD set from Sony Masterworks, Fred Astaire: The Early Years at RKO, is available November 19 and TCM names Astaire their “Star of the Month” for December.

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and Sony Masterworks team up to celebrate one of Hollywood's most beloved stars: Fred Astaire.

The Winter Park Playhouse, Central Florida's only professional musical theatre, will pay tribute to the iconic talent of George and Ira Gershwin this holiday season with the World Premiere of Crazy For Gershwin November 15 - 24 & December 5 - 14, 2013.

A new promotional trailer for the national tour of American musical classic THE GERSHWINS' PORGY & BESS is now available to view, featuring the cast and creative team discussing their participation in the production and the content of the legendary opera itself.

Musicals Tonight! replaces COME SUMMER with LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE Performances March 4-16 at the Lion Theatre on Theatre Row (New York, NY) Musicals Tonight! the Obie-winning company dedicated to the revival of neglected musicals has announced a change in the 2013-14 Season. Will Holt's Come Summer will now be replaced by Rick Besoyan's Little Mary Sunshine with performances, March 4 -16, directed by Thomas Sabella-Mills, with music direction by James Stenborg. With book, music, and lyrics by Rick Besoyan, and billed as 'a musical about an old operetta'- Little Mary Sunshine gently spoofs such old-time favorites like Rose Marie and Naughty Marietta - but has a personality all its own. The plot is a little bit of everything: Colorado Rangers led by stalwart Captain Jim; the lovely Mary Sunshine, her 'naughty' maid Nancy; a chorus of giggling schoolgirls and the ominous but benevolent Indian chief.

NiCori Studios and Productions in association with Oakeside Bloomfield Cultural Center announces a new installment of the monthly concert series, 'Music at the Mansion', on Sunday, November 24, at 3pm. Performers include Carol Erickson, Warren Schein, and Garry Novikoff. The featured performer in the 'Young Musician Moment' will be Dean Schansinger.

The National Tour of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, begins performances today at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre. The tour officially opens on Wednesday, Nov. 13.

Ghostlight Records will release Beautiful Dreamer, the debut solo album from rising Broadway and vocal star DONNA VIVINO, in stores and via online outlets December 10, 2013. Beautiful Dreamer weaves 13 diverse songs into a thematically-cohesive collection from Broadway, Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley. Jerry Vivino - the veteran New York musician and longtime member of the Conan O'Brien house band - leads the disc's all-star jazz quartet and serves as producer. Taking a break from performing on Broadway in the smash hit Wicked, Donna will star Off Broadway inStars of David - a new song cycle celebrating Jewish identity, based on the bestselling book, with original music by the theater's top songwriters - fromNovember 13 to December 15. To pre-order Beautiful Dreamer, please visit www.sh-k-boom.com/donnavivino-beautifuldreamer.html.

The Chicago Humanities Festival (CHF) announced casting today for two theatrical productions in November: White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, the Iranian absurdist play about isolation co-presented with the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), running today, Nov. 3-9, 2013, and Birds Do It, Bees Do It..., the annual cabaret performance Nov. 5, 2013, created by Rob Lindley and Doug Peck.

Arion Press announces its eagerly awaited edition ofPorgy & Bess, the libretto by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin, illustrated by Kara Walker. This artist book is the occasion for Walker's first series of lithographs. The book contains 16 lithographs, with another four available separately in a portfolio. Kara Walker has called her images “an homage to the feeling of the (Gershwin) music. And to that feeling I had as a child of a heavy atmosphere hanging around a timeless act of love.” You can read Kara Walker's complete artist's statement and a description of the publicationonline. The book and suite are now on display at the Press and can be viewed in New York during the IFPDA Print Fair at the Park Avenue Armory, November 6 through 10.

Screendaily.com reports that Matthew Broderick and Alice Eve are set to star in Neil LaBute's comedy drama DIRTY WEEKEND. The film, written by LaBute, is currently in production on location in New Mexico.

For their 2013-2014 season American Classics brings three 'firsts' to their programming. For the first time American Classics will present a guest performer in their own concert, acclaimed entertainer John O'Neil in his popular salute to Danny Kaye, 'So Kaye, a one man 'tongue-twisting tour-de force' showcasing songs, stories and monologues culled from Kaye's illustrious career. 'So Kaye was nominated for the prestigious IRNE award in 2001; since that time O'Neil has performed the show up and down the East Coast from Maine to Florida. 'Adding John O'Neil and 'So Kaye to our season is exciting for us. John has appeared with us in the past, but we are delighted to be able to showcase him in one of his most popular shows,' says Producing Director Benjamin Sears, who notes, 'this is Kaye's centenary year, so it's a perfect time to feature John in an American Classics season.'

On December 9, 2013 92Y celebrates songwriting legend Mike Stoller on the occasion of his 80th year with An 80th Birthday Celebration, a one-night-only Lyrics & Lyricists Special Event hosted by Paul Shaffer and directed and written by Randy Johnson (director/writer of A Night with Janis Joplin). Confirmed artists performing expected and unexpected interpretations from Stoller's genre-spanning career in blues, R&B, rock 'n' roll and jazz include legendary vocal group The Coasters, along with artists Karen Akers, Mary Bridget Davies, Corky Hale, Maria Elena Infantino, Sally Kellerman, Bettye LaVette, Melissa Manchester, Billy Stritch, Tommy Tune and Steve Tyrell. Backed by Tyrell's band, the artists perform some of the greatest songs written by Stoller with his longtime lyricist partner Jerry Leiber and others. Leiber will be the subject of a special tribute during the evening. Stoller is planning to be in attendance for the celebration.