Linda Lavin and Billy Stritch Celebrate 'May Day' in Livestream Concert

Broadway and television icon Linda Lavin and award-winning pianist Billy Stritch come together once again to present "May Day," their sixth online concert this Friday, May 1 at 3pm EDT. This special show celebrates the start of a new month with songs by Hoagy Carmichael and Rodgers & Hart with lots of other surprises and stories thrown in. Join the fun these two friends create by watching it live-streamed on the Birdland Facebook page.

Linda Lavin burst on to the New York musical comedy scene with roles in Oh, Kay!, It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman and On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever. She also won kudos for her straight acting roles in Little Murders and Last of the Red Hot Lovers. TV beckoned and she soon became a household name as the star of the sitcom "Alice." During the nine seasons it was on the air, Linda nabbed two Golden Globe awards and an Emmy nomination. She even sang "There's a New Girl in Town" over the opening credits of the show. Following this success, she focused her attentions once again on the stage. She earned renewed respect, in addition to critic's awards, for her diversified Broadway work in Gypsy, The Sisters Rosensweig, Collected Stories, Broadway Bound (1987 Tony award), Death Defying Acts (Obie award), The Diary of Anne Frank (Tony nomination), The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (Tony nomination), Other Desert Cities and Nicky Silver's The Lyons. She also appeared in Carol Burnett's autobiographical play Hollywood Arms portraying Burnett's grandmother, and in Paul Rudnick's The New Century at Lincoln Center, and Our Mother's Brief Affair for Manhattan Theatre Club. She's recently been seen on television in "The Good Wife," and "Mom," and on the big screen in "The Intern" with Robert DeNiro.

Billy Stritch is one of the premier singer-pianists on the New York and national jazz and cabaret scene. His most recent solo show, a tribute to Cy Coleman garnered rave reviews in New York and London, prompting Jarieth O'Connell of The American Online in London to write "His ease, his craft, his way with an audience and his sheer good taste make this an object lesson in what good Cabaret should be about." Billy hails from Sugar Land, Texas but has made New York City his home for over twenty years. His most recent Broadway credit was as musical supervisor and pianist for Liza's Tony Award winning show "Liza's At The Palace" for which he also reconceived the vocal arrangements of the legendary Kay Thompson and The Williams Brothers. In addition to his twenty-three year association with Liza, Billy also accompanies and arranges for Linda Lavin, Marilyn Maye, Lillias White, Paulo Szot, and most recently, toured as Tony Bennett's musical director. On stage, he originated the role of Oscar the rehearsal pianist in the 2001 Broadway revival of 42nd Street, performing the role for 488 performances. He also performed in and created the arrangements for The Best Is Yet To Come - The Music of Cy Coleman at New York's 59E59 Theater off-Broadway in 2011. His latest solo CD release is "Billy Stritch Sings Mel Tormé," a salute to one of his musical heroes. He served as co-producer on Liza's recordings "Gently" and "Confessions" and is featured on numerous albums including Linda Lavin's "Possibilities," "Sunday In New York" with Christine Ebersole, and "Dreaming of a Song - the Music of Hoagy Carmichael" with Klea Blackhurst. The readers of BroadwayWorld named him NYC's top musical director of 2012 and 2014 for his work on shows with Marilyn Maye and Tony-Award winner Lillias White. Other awards include BMI Song of the Year, Grammy nomination ("Does He Love You" recorded by Reba McEntire), four Backstage Bistro awards and six MAC awards. Billy also is the resident pianist for "Jim Caruso's Cast Party," the long-running open mic night that happens every Monday night at New York's legendary Birdland Jazz Club.