Bennett Silverstein to Present IRVING BERLIN: AMERICAN IMMIGRANT at Don't Tell Mama
Silverstein's show explores Berlin's journey from Lower East Side singing waiter to celebrated American songwriter.
Bennett Silverstein will present Irving Berlin: American Immigrant for one performance only: April 26th. at 4:00 P.M. at Don't Tell Mama.
Best remembered now for the iconic "God Bess America", songwriter Irving Berlin, as a fellow songwriter once said, "has no place in American music - he is American music". At a time when immigrants are being vilified across the United States, Bennett Silverstein invites us to behold the incalculable contributions to American culture made by immigrant songwriter Irving Berlin.
From early rags into cheeky "Yiddisha" vaudeville numbers, to the jazzy rhythms of the 1930s, to monster hits from Broadway's "Annie Get Your Gun", Bennett gives us a taste of Berlin's sheer breadth.
But, the heart of the show charts Berlin's course - from a homeless boy working as a singing waiter on New York's Lower East Side - to a fully assimilated, deeply patriotic American and friend of Generals and Presidents.
Bennett's connection to Berlin isn't just musical. The Silverstein family came to America as part of the same wave of immigration as the Berlin family. Berlin provided the soundtrack to the Twentieth Century that Bennett's family lived.
Bennett has unearthed some rarely heard material in spectacular arrangements by Musical Director Matthew Martin Ward. Completing the band are bassist Boots Maleson and drummer Don Kelly. Jennie Litt directs.
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