Jeff Harnar to Revisit THE 1959 BROADWAY SONGBOOK With Birdland Concert and Remastered Album

BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB will present the return of Jeff Harnar in his show The 1959 Broadway Songbook on Monday, October 6 at 7:00 PM. This concert will celebrate the remastered version of the show’s 1992 album of the same name, which will be released in its streaming debut from the PS Classics label on Friday, October 3. At Birdland, Harnar will be joined by his longtime music director Alex Rybeck, in addition to Tom Hubbard on bass and Dan Gross on drums. The 1959 Broadway Songbook is directed by Sara Louise Lazarus. There is a $30-50 music charge. 

In addition, Harnar will perform The 1959 Broadway Songbook at Delray Beach Playhouse in Delray Beach, FL for five shows from December 15-17.

The 1959 Broadway Songbook is a musical collage of the 21 musicals that were playing in New York in 1959. Gypsy, The Sound of Music, Fiorello!, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, The Music Man, Flower Drum Song, Bells Are Ringing, and Once Upon a Mattress are among the shows in this tribute to an era some have called the twilight of The Golden Age of Broadway. Songwriters represented include Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Harold Arlen & Yip Harburg, Leonard Bernstein, Comden & Green, and Lerner & Loewe. Over 40 songs are woven together including “Tonight,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “Till There Was You,” “The Party’s Over,” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” in a show that also pays homage to the very structure of a Broadway musical, including an “Overture,” “Entr’Acte” and an “Intermission,” the latter featuring a humorous nod to pop and Hollywood music and current events of 1959.

Harnar first performed The 1959 Broadway Songbook as a one-man show for his 1991 debut at The Algonquin Hotel’s fabled Oak Room. In addition to the live album, the show was televised on PBS, presented Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters, and as part of the 92nd Street Y’s acclaimed “Lyrics & Lyricists” series, in addition to touring nationally with major engagements in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Palm Beach, and London.  

Jeff Harnar

is an award-winning cabaret, concert and recording artist. His Carnegie Hall appearances include both the Cole Porter and Noël Coward Centennial Galas. Jeff’s televised PBS concerts include “The 1959 Broadway Songbook” with music director Alex Rybeck and “American Songbook: Stephen Sondheim” co-starring KT Sullivan. Jeff toured with Broadway’s Shauna Hicks in their Symphony Pops Concert “I Got Rhythm: Mickey & Judy’s Hollywood.” Jeff has won multiple MAC, Bistro and BroadwayWorld Cabaret Awards and The Noël Coward Foundation Cabaret Award.