Hoagy Carmichael News

Evoking Rita Hayworth, a spot lit Jennifer Sheehan weaves through 54 Below towards the stage, long dark hair cascading above a body-skimming white gown replete with twinkling sequins. “I'll build a stairway to the stars . . .,” (Mitchell Parish/Matt Malneck/Frank Signorelli) she sings with stunning vocal clarity and investment that might conjure a Ziegfeld Girl. In her new show, Stardust: A Night in the Cosmos, Sheehan welcomes the “dreamers, romantics, stargazers, astrophysicists, and Trekkies” with “songs that flicker like the street lamps of eternity” with lyrics featuring stars, moons, and rose-colored hope. It's an appealing theme and one that suits the artist's fetching performance and transition from ingénue into a more mature cabaret entertainer.

Quality Hill Playhouse in Kansas City, Missouri announced their 2015-2016 season. Century of the Songbook explores 100 years of music. Producing Artistic Director J. Kent Barnhart has programmed four original cabaret revues and one Broadway revue, each highlighting songs of the musical tradition called the Great American Songbook. The Playhouse season focuses on contributions to the Songbook by first Americans, big band leaders, women songwriters, Broadway musicals, and folk singer-songwriters.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents a one time only all star-tribute to saxophonist Charlie 'Bird' Parker with jazz pianist Bill Charlap, alto saxophonists Phil Woods, Charles McPherson, and Jesse Davis tonight, April 11, 2015 at 7:30 PM in the Victoria Theater. Get your tickets now at NJPAC.org or 888.GO.NJPAC ?(888.466.5722)

Stacy Sullivan brought her new show, "Since You've Asked' to The Metropolitan Room last night and broadwayworld was there. Whether you're a fan of The Great American Songbook or VH1, you'll find something to love within this eclectic evening of music and story. With musical director Troy Fannin on guitar, Matthew Watanabe on piano, and Jaime Mohamdein on bass, Sullivan has created her most personal, thought-provoking evening to date. With music by Randy Newman, Nina Simone, Ray LaMontagne, Hoagy Carmichael, Judy Collins, Ed Sheeran, Woodie Guthrie, Stevie Nicks, Cole Porter, George Harrison, Noel Coward, David Hajdu, Fred Hersch, Jonsi, Stephen Schwartz...and others.

Throughout her four-decade career, music superstarAnnie Lennoxhas defied categorization, diving into blues, soul, folk and pop to create songs that captivate and transcend boundaries.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents a one time only all star-tribute to saxophonist Charlie 'Bird' Parker with jazz pianist Bill Charlap, alto saxophonists Phil Woods, Charles McPherson, and Jesse Davis Saturday, April 11, 2015 at 7:30 PM in the Victoria Theater. Get your tickets now at NJPAC.org or 888.GO.NJPAC ?(888.466.5722)

Following the success of the previous two festivals, the 3rd Annual New York Hot Jazz Festival -- produced by the impresario Michael 'Misha' Katsobashvili, performer Bria Skonberg, and composer/producer Patrick Soluri (of Prohibition Productions and The Salon) -- returns to The Players this year and promises some of the biggest stars of the Hot Jazz and swing scenes in a summit of uptown and downtown talent spanning three generations.

A brick school house turned theater continues to thrive thanks to a loyal community effort.

There are eight million stories in the Naked City-and a song to go with each of them.

When Kathryn Allyn, an opera singer now turned Great American Songbook chanteuse, took the stage at The Cutting Room last Tuesday night, she was all va-va-voom in a curve-hugging Valentine red dress. She joined her crackerjack band-musical director Frank Ponzio, bassist Tom Hubbard, and drummer Vito Leszack-to perform homage to her favorite jazz and big band singer Anita O'Day, whose heyday came between the World War II era through the early 1960s.

There are eight million stories in the Naked City-and a song to go with each of them.

“Are You Havin' Any Fun?” the formidable Barbara Cook breezily asks in song with the intimacy of an old friend. Having had her first paid (50 cents) singing job at the age of eight, Cook looks back on a lengthy career feeling lucky. It's been weeks since she's sung due to health issues laying her low, but Cook is not, she assures us, by any means down and out. “I like to feel people are on my side and you sure sound like you are.” Throughout her show last night as part of the American Songbook series at Lincoln Center's The Appel Room, the artist performs with honesty, commitment, and the compelling interpretation for which she's well known. She asks that lights be turned up in order to see those with whom she communicates.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents a one time only all star-tribute to saxophonist Charlie 'Bird' Parker with jazz pianist Bill Charlap, alto saxophonists Phil Woods, Charles McPher, and Jesse Davis Saturday, April 11, 2015 at 7:30 PM in the Victoria Theater. Get your tickets now at NJPAC.org or 888.GO.NJPAC (888.466.5722)

To borrow an analogy from Robyn Spangler, the Los Angeles-based singer (now spending more time in New York) who brought her show “Riddle, Ronstadt and Me” to the Metropolitan Room on Monday, January 12, a dress may be fine off the rack, but when tailored specifically for a particular body, it can uniquely highlight the physical assets of the woman wearing it. Likewise, the artistry of the musical arrangement comes when it wraps a familiar song around an individual's voice and style ands allow the song to be heard in a fresh, and hopefully, wonderful way.

Directors Guild of America President Paris Barclay today announced that legendary directors James Burrows and Robert Butler will be the first recipients of a new DGA Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award

This December, Signature Theatre invites you and the family to ring in the holiday season with two limited-run shows.

Last week, New York based jazz duo Magos & Limon took the stage at Joe's Pub. Jazz vocalist Magos Herrera hails from Mexico City and has garnered great attention for her singing abilities. Javier Limon, who plays minimalist Flamenco on guitar, is originally from Madrid. Together the duo bridges the gap between their home countries and creates a unique and intriguing sound that lures the audience into the performance and croons to the soul.

Every year, despite a litany of warnings they come to the Big Apple with big dreams. Warnings like: “You have to pay your dues.” “It's a tough business, kid.” “How are you going to survive?” There's no such thing as an overnight success, yet still they come to be at “the top of the heap,” as Kander and Ebb so eloquently put it. The four young performers featured here haven't yet vaulted to the top of the cabaret heap, but they've certainly made their marks with excellent shows during 2014, while exhibiting the potential to get there. The spotlight is already shining on Chrysten Peddie, Angela Dirksen, Rembert Block, and Kristoffer Lowe.

The Geffen Playhouse production of The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord, is extending for a third time, now through December 21, 2014. The production, in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse, is written by Scott Carter, executive producer and writer for Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect and Real Time.

The Geffen Playhouse production of The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord, is extending again, now through December 7. The production, in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse, is written by Scott Carter, executive producer and writer for Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect and Real Time.