'Why Lee?' Musical Tribute at Metropolitan Room Nov.1-5

Award-winning performers Lois Walden, Barry Kleinbort, and Paul Greenwood will tell the largely untold story of acclaimed and notoriously enigmatic American singer Lee Wiley while celebrating her enduring musical legacy in Why Lee? A Musical Scrapbook about Lee Wiley during a five-night engagement at The Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd St. between 5th & 6th Aves.) from November 1-5.

This musical tribute features songs from Wiley's repertoire, anecdotes and dramatic scenarios about her life - both onstage and off - and personal reminiscences from Walden, Kleinbort, and Greenwood.  The show is directed by Jay Rogers with Mr. Greenwood serving as musical director/pianist and William Ellison on bass. The performance schedule is: Thursday – Saturday at 7:30PM; Sunday at 7PM and Monday at 7:30PM. There is a $20 cover charge for all shows, as well as a required 2 drink minimum. Tickets can be reserved by calling 212-206-0440 or visit www.metropolitanroom.com

A favorite singer of George Gershwin, Cole Porter and other legendary American composers, Lee Wiley's sophisticated singing style influenced the most iconic recording artists of the 20th century - from Peggy Lee to Barbra Streisand. She performed with the hottest jazz musicians of the '30s, '40s, and '50s, including Bunny Berigan, Eddie Condon, and Fats Waller, and pioneered the concept of the "songbook" album in the late 1930's with albums devoted to the music of the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, and Harold Arlen. With her remarkable talent and astounding beauty, Lee Wiley seemed destined for stardom -- yet she virtually disappeared in the 1950's at the height of her popularity.

Why Lee? showcases many of Wiley's best-known and best-loved hits, including the Gershwins' "I've Got a Crush on You," Harold Arlen's "Down With Love," Johnny Mercer's "Moon River," as well as her signature songs -- Victor Young's "A Woman's Intuition" and "Street of Dreams," and the Victor Young/Bing Crosby/Ned Washington favorite "A Ghost of a Chance." This enchanting musical journey also features a medley of songs from Wiley's songbook albums.

While Rosemary Clooney, Dinah Shore, Peggy Lee, and other "girl singers" of the era enjoyed soaring careers as the entertainment industry transitioned from radio to film and television, Wiley's career experienced a number of roadblocks – many of them self-imposed. Fiercely independent and principled, she frequently turned down opportunities that could further her career, most notably in 1935 when she departed from a featured role in the top-rated Kraft radio show because its producers refused to give billing to composer Victor Young, her musical partner and lover. Her strong-willed behavior, sensual singing style, enigmatic personality, severe alcohol addiction, and legendary beauty and sophistication, coupled with her premature retirement at age 50 and relatively small discography, have all contributed to her mythic status.

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