Kate Baldwin, Heidi Blickenstaff and More to Join SING HAPPY! at 92NY

The 50-year artistic partnership of John Kander and Fred Ebb – who appeared in Lyrics & Lyricists’ third season in 1973 – began in 1962, was one of the most prolific and enduring in Broadway history and helped usher in a new era in musical theater. Sing Happy!: The Collaboration of Kander & Ebb closes L&L’s 2024/25 season, with longtime Kander & Ebb music director David Loud leading a celebration of their remarkable partnership and the music it gave us. The cast features Kate Baldwin (Hello, Dolly!); Heidi Blickenstaff (Jagged Little Pill); James Clow (Assassins); Ivan Hernandez (Chicago); Julia Murney (Wicked); and Matthew Scott (An American in Paris).

Loud’s experiences with Kander and Ebb bring a personal and unique perspective to the pair’s creative output. More than a straight revue, the show will explore themes by juxtaposing numbers from different musicals. “Pulling two songs into one theatrical moment lets them meet and tell a story,” says Loud. He goes on to comment on the show’s title. “‘Sing Happy’ is the title of a song from the first show that Kander & Ebb wrote together, Flora, the Red Menace . It’s an optimistic-sounding thought, but it covers up a deep pain. Kander and Ebb songs have both joy and the cost of that joy.”

Speaking about their collaboration Loud notes, “You know, they were very different people – almost comically mismatched. Contrasting personalities, incompatible likes and dislikes – polar opposites. And they always wrote in the same room. Together. Tossing ideas back and forth, improvising.  Breathing the same air.  I think the chemical reaction of their opposing personalities, forced together and isolated in a confined space, created that electric tension that runs through their work, elevating it out of the ordinary: the all-important ‘&’ in ‘Kander & Ebb.’”

Performances will take place on Saturday, May 31, 7:30 pm, Sunday, June 1, 2 pm, and Monday, June 2, 7:30 pm.