Van Heusen News

Adelaide's Gilbert and Sullivan Society expanded their repertoire some time ago, and they haven't looked back.

Sixty-three years ago, the musical 'Carnival in Flanders' opened on Broadway, at New York's New Century Theatre. With music and lyrics by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke, and with Preston Sturges's book, based on French comedy film 'La Kermesse Heroique'.

Occasionally in cabaret, one encounters a performer with 'star power.' Other times, one sees a legitimate star in a cabaret setting---say, Patti LuPone or Ben Vereen---and knows instantly why the person is a star. But in his Feinstein's/54 Below solo debut show, Tony Danza: Standards & Stories, Tony Danza reminds audiences what it means to be a star, onstage as well as off.

Masterworks Broadway recently announced its Summer 2016 releases including three classic albums from the archives - Sid and Marty Krofft's Les Poupees de Paris - 1964 World Fair Recording (out today, July 8), I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road - Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording (August 8), and Alice Through the Looking Glass - 1966 Television Soundtrack Recording (September 9).

Masterworks Broadway announces its Summer 2016 releases including three classic albums from the archives - Sid and Marty Krofft's Les Poupees de Paris - 1964 World Fair Recording (July 8), I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road - Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording (August 8), and Alice Through the Looking Glass - 1966 Television Soundtrack Recording (September 9). Upon release, each title will be accompanied by new album pages and photos on MasterworksBroadway.com.

Ronny Whyte epitomizes everything gracious, refined, and sophisticated that's become rare in music presented by artists under a certain age and temperament. Even with jazz interpretation, his accessible choices and deceptively casual delivery present songs as their authors intended. When he composes, tacit symbiosis with lyricists creates melody and images that seem to come from a less complicated era. Last Saturday night, Whyte was joined by veteran collaborators--Boots Maleson on bass, David Silliman on drums, and guest guitarist Sean Harkness--for a show that featured mostly eclectic American Songbook standards and originals from his own oeuvre.

The legendary lyrical talent of Sammy Cahn takes center stage in FST's first Summer Cabaret production, "Come Fly With Me!" The Sammy Cahn Songbook. With lyrics by Sammy Cahn, music by Jule Styne & Jimmy Van Heusen, this dynamic cast of four will perform from June 14 through July 17 in the John C. Court Cabaret. Subscriptions are available for $39 and may be purchased online at floridastudiotheatre.org or by phone at 941-366-9000.

I don't know when Ann Hampton Callaway started this chapter of her life, but she's emphatically in a new one. The artist savors every note, propelled headlong into her songs with uncommon exuberance. Signature authority extends not only to stellar scat but to enacting selected material. Accompanied by The Ted Rosenthal Trio (Ted Rosenthal, piano; Martin Wind, bass; Tim Horner, drums), Callaway shines luminous at Birdland (where I saw her latest show Wednesday night and which continues for two more shows Friday and Saturday night at 8:30 and 11 pm).

The Sundays In Summer Cabaret Series begins its 7th season on Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 2 PM with Internationally renowned singer Tish Oney at the Arthur Newman Theatre in Palm Desert. Ms. Oney, an acclaimed pianist, will accompany herself on the baby grand piano for "Going My Way - The Songs Of Jimmy Van Heusen" as the first of 29 different cabaret concerts to be presented by producer Les Michaels.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College concludes its 2015-16 Jazz Series on Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 3pm with three-time Grammy Award-winning pianist Ramsey Lewis and singer/guitarist John Pizzarelli, joining forces in a tribute to the titan of fifties vocal pop, Nat King Cole.

Calvin Klein, Inc. today announced that Calvin Klein is the official, exclusive apparel partner of the North American and European legs of Grammy award-winning, 30-time platinum selling phenom Justin Bieber's Purpose world tour.

Bar Thalia, a narrow, uber-casual bar/café adjacent to the Upper West Side arts hub Symphony Space, has become the musical pied-à-terre of vocalist Marcus Goldhaber. Each first Sunday of the month, the artist presents two loosey-goosey acoustic sets with a guest singer and guitarist. The past Sunday's show featured vocalist Tessa Souter with Tony Romano on guitar.

Multiple Grammy-winning drummer, composer, producer, and bandleader Terri Lyne Carrington and her group play dense, intense jazz with elusive melody. Ornette Coleman's 'Chronology' arrives like a wall of sound. An adamant and up-tempo 'Body and Soul' (Edward Heyman/Robert Sour/Frank Eyton/Johnny Green) is almost tribal, at odds with familiar mood and lyric intention. Towards the end of Saturday night's show--Mosaic Project: Love and Soul--in the American Songbook Series at Lincoln Center's Appel Room, Ms. Carrington executes a lengthy solo spotlighting her extraordinary musicianship, but instrumental arrangements escape me.

The indomitable Liliane Montevecchi revived her 25-year-old cabaret show Thursday night at Feinstein's/54 Below with verve, style, and the expansive flirting of a lifelong femme fatale. This time it's aptly titled Be My Valentine. Few can ad lib with so much beguiling heat. As the Cliff Notes of her extraordinary life are now familiar to most fans, this audience is here to experience the infectious joy of live performance.

Crooner Steve Lippia interprets the music made famous by Frank Sinatra in honor of the hundredth anniversary of Sinatra's birth at Mayo Performing Arts Center, Saturday, January 16, 2016 at 8 pm. Tickets are $39-59.

Birdland was abuzz this past Thursday night in celebration of Barbara Fasano's fresh-off-the-press CD, Busy Being Free. Industry types table-hopped among civilians--they know a good thing when they hear it--as anticipation swelled. Gift wrapped in tapestry blue, Fasano was accompanied by three of the six excellent musicians on her recording: Musical Director/Pianist/Arranger John di Martino, with Boris Koslov on bass, and Vince Cherico on drums.

John Schneider and Tom Wopat - the original stars of 'The Dukes of Hazzard' - will release a special vinyl version of their acclaimed holiday album HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. The LP will be available today, November 20 at TomWopat.com. They will celebrate the vinyl release with concerts on December 5 (John Schneider Studios in Holden, LA), December 16 (The Lyric Theatre in Stuart, FL) and December 20 (a Tom solo show at the Ringling Theater in Baraboo, WI).

The talented young star displays vintage supper club panache with that great Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn number.

John Schneider and Tom Wopat - the original stars of 'The Dukes of Hazzard' - will release a special vinyl version of their acclaimed holiday album HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. The LP will be available on Friday, November 20 at TomWopat.com. They will celebrate the vinyl release with concerts on December 5 (John Schneider Studios in Holden, LA), December 16 (The Lyric Theatre in Stuart, FL) and December 20 (a Tom solo show at the Ringling Theater in Baraboo, WI).

On the second night of this year's 26th Annual Cabaret Convention, Jeff Harnar and Andrea Marcovicci hosted A Sentimental Journey: World War II Songs, inspired by Marcovicci's memorable Oak Room at The Algonquin show, I'll Be Seeing You--Love Songs of World War II. (The CD is highly recommended.) As always with this pair's Convention contribution, the show was a treat in part because of its singular glamour. Much of our audience was exceptionally familiar with and nostalgic about these songs. A few had to be politely quieted for singing along, more than a few took each other's hands. It seems I've heard that song before . . . the co-hosts begin, warming the room.