NJPAC and NJ PBSAnnounce A Cast Full Of Broadway Stars For The Return Of American Songbook

NJPAC (New Jersey Performing Arts Center) and NJ PBS have announced a star-studded line-up for the return of the award-winning American Songbook at NJPAC series.

The performances for this, the fifth season of the series, will be taped on the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Stage at NJPAC's Victoria Theater on Thursday, April 21, 2022 and Friday, April 22, 2022, in front of a live audience, for broadcast on NJ PBS later this Spring. Tickets for both concert performances are now on sale.

The latest season of the six-part broadcast series will feature acclaimed Broadway veterans offering their interpretation of classics and newer works from the great American Songbook. A first night of taping will feature both Debbie Gravitte, Tony-honored for her role in Jerome Robbins' Broadway and a star on concert stages around the globe, and Melissa Errico, a Tony-nominee for Amour and a celebrated interpreter of the songs of Stephen Sondheim.

The next evening's taping will include appearances by James Monroe Iglehart, a Tony-winner for his unforgettable turn as the Genie in Aladdin, who also starred in the dual roles of Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson in Broadway's Hamilton, and Jim Dale, star of Broadway's Barnum and a multiple GRAMMY Award-winner for his narration of all seven Harry Potter audiobooks.

Each performance will be followed by an on-stage Q&A session with the stars conducted by Ted Chapin, theformer president of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization.

"I'm thrilled that American Songbook at NJPAC is returning this season, and I'm more than honored to be its host once again. The performers in this series have always been the best of the best, and this year's group is right up there," says Chapin.

"The American Songbook presents a wide spectrum of amazing material, and I know the choice of songs at these concerts will both surprise and delight. The opportunity to hear these songs brilliantly performed, and then dive into each singer's stories, will be a double treat."

Tickets are now on sale for both of the American Songbook at NJPAC concerts, $39. Tickets are available online at NJPAC.org, and at NJPAC's box office at 1 Center Street in downtown Newark.

"NJ PBS is thrilled to partner once again with the Arts Center on the American Songbook at NJPAC broadcast series," says NJ PBS General Manager Joe Lee. "Our two mission-driven organizations are dedicated to the celebration and preservation of great American music and the vibrancy of art and culture in New Jersey. We take pride in making these wonderful performances accessible to all New Jerseyans through the power of public media."

"For more than 100 years, American composers and lyricists have written the songs that provide the soundtrack of our lives," says John Schreiber, President and CEO of NJPAC.

"Whenever I feel deeply moved, I know somewhere in the Great American Songbook is a tune that's like a perfect, miniature three-act musical that will deepen whatever emotion I'm experiencing. There's nothing like this music, and we're thrilled that this wonderful tradition of live performances for television is returning to NJPAC."

The American Songbook at NJPAC broadcast series is a production of The New Jersey Performing Arts Center and NJ PBS.

The series, which launched in 2013, has received countless accolades, including a nomination for a 2015 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award. Its first season was awarded a New York State Broadcasters Association award for Outstanding Locally Produced Television Program.

The American Songbook at NJPAC live performances are presented, in part, through the generous support of the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the David S. Steiner and Sylvia Steiner Charitable Trust, the Joan and Allen Bildner Family Fund, and the Smart Family Foundation/David S. Stone, Esq., Stone & Magnanini.

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