Jerome Kern News

Broadway soprano and film/tv actress Raissa Katona Bennett brings all the warmth and brightness of her voice and personality to her much-loved Jerome Kern show, making a reappearance at Don't Tell Mama.

San Francisco Opera presents Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, November 15–December 7. Last seen on the War Memorial Opera House stage nearly two decades ago, the popular fairy-tale opera returns in an “enchanting” (The Times, UK) new co-production with London's Royal Opera by director and production designer Antony McDonald. Humperdinck's sweeping score will be conducted by Christopher Franklin and sung in English translation by a cast including mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke as Hansel, Heidi Stober as Gretel and Robert Brubaker as the Witch.

Broadway actress-singer, MAC and Bistro Award winner, Raissa Katona Bennett, returns to the cabaret stage with her celebration of the Great American Songbook in Can't Help Singing-The Music of Jerome Kern. The show plays Friday, November 1st at 7 pm and Saturday, November 2nd at 8pm at Don't Tell Mama. Pianist, Mark Berman ('The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'), joins the singer as Musical Director, with Tom Hubbard on bass.

Jackie Draper and Repeal the Blues returned to the Laurie Beechman Theatre last night. Draper performed in song and dance, in English and French, to banish the blues. Composers and lyricists presented include Charles Aznavour, Irving Berlin, Cy Coleman, Dietz & Schwartz, the Gershwins, Jerome Kern, Michele Legrand, Lieber & Stoller, Johnny Mandel and many more.

Jackie Draper and her musicians, along with her dance partner, will blast the blues with songs in English and French, on Thursday, October 24 at 7 PM at The Laurie Beechman Theatre. Draper's musical team is Music Director Gregory Toroian at the piano, Robbyn Tongue on woodwinds and Frank Wagner on bass, with guest artist/dancer Milo Saidl. Kimberly Vaughn directs.

San Francisco Playhouse announced casting for the Bay Area premiere of Groundhog Day the Musical, the hit Broadway comedy adapted from the timeless Bill Murray film. Danny Rubin, co-writer of the 1993 film, wrote the book, with music and lyrics supplied by Tony-winner Tim Minchin (Matilda). Susi Damilano will direct the Playhouse production, with music direction by Dave Dobrusky and choreography by Nicole Helfer.

Broadway actress-singer, MAC and Bistro Award winner, Raissa Katona Bennett, returns to the cabaret stage in November with her celebration of the Great American Songbook, Can't Help Singing a?" The Music of Jerome Kern. The show plays Nov.1st at 7pm & Nov. 2nd at 8pm at Don't Tell Mama in the heart of the theater district. Kern chestnuts like a?oeSmoke Gets in Your Eyes,a?? a?oeAll the Things You Area?? and a?oeThe Way You Look Tonight,a?? will make an appearance in a varied and entertaining repertoire that is fun and romantic.

Kate Baldwin, a two-time Broadway Tony Award nominee and former Milwaukeean, will headline the Skylight Night Gala, an annual fundraiser benefiting Skylight Music Theatre.

A musical love letter to Paris and NYC, Forbidden Drive, the debut music album from vocal powerhouse Jen Fellman with songs from the worlds of jazz, standards, Broadway, and French chanson, is released today 9/27 by Broadway Records.

The American Songbook Association Gala honoring Sheldon Harnick will be a star studded fundraiser benefiting the ASA and its ambition to preserve and share the great songs of this country.

Seattle-based singer, pianist and musical director David DuVall performs his one-man tribute to the legendary Bobby Short, 'So Naughty, So Nice, Songs Bobby Short Taught Me' on Sunday, August 25, 2019 at 2 pm at the Arthur Newman Theater in Palm Desert.

With his NYC cabaret debut, Sean Patrick Murtagh holds forth on all things Mario Lanza and darlings he's got the voice to back it up.

Forbidden Drive, the debut music album from vocal powerhouse Jen Fellman with songs from the worlds of jazz, standards, Broadway, and French chanson, will be released September 27 by Broadway Records.

Robert ('Bob') Ullman (left), the legendary theatre press agent, whose career included Ethel Merman and Mary Martin: Together on Broadway, A Chorus Line (from workshop to Public Theater to Broadway), Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in The Visit, Lauren Bacall in Cactus Flower, The Dining Room, Driving Miss Daisy, Sunday in the Park with George, and over 150 additional Broadway and off-Broadway plays and musicals, died on July 31, 2019 in Bayshore, Long Island, New York. He was 97. The cause of death was cardiac arrest. Bob's death was announced by Rev. Joshua Ellis, a long-time Ullman friend, a former Broadway press agent, and now, an Interspiritual minister.

The 30th anniversary season of the Bard Music Festival a?" an exploration of a?oeKorngold and His Worlda?? a?" opens this Friday, August 9, with Weekend One: Korngold and Vienna. The first of the weekend's six themed concerts, Program One: a?oeErich Wolfgang Korngold: From Viennese Prodigy to Hollywood Master,a?? offers a broad overview of the composer's multi-faceted career.

Skylight Music Theatre announced that two-time Broadway Tony Award nominee and former Milwaukeean Kate Baldwin will perform in concert Saturday, October 26, 2019 headlining the Skylight Night Gala, an annual fundraiser benefiting Skylight Music Theatre.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is pleased to announce Isaac Mizrahi: Queen Size on Monday, August 26 at 8 pm as part of Bay Street Theater's Music Mondays concert series. Tickets range from $79 - $125 and are on sale now at baystreet.org and through the Box Office at 631-725-9500, open daily from 11am to showtime.

Opening on Friday, July 26, Bard SummerScape presents the long overdue American premiere of The Miracle of Heliane ('Das Wunder der Heliane,' 1927). An original staging by German director Christian Räth of the grand opera that Erich Wolfgang Korngold considered his masterpiece, 'this show promises everything: symbolism, eroticism, political intrigue and gorgeous orchestration, all done up in the composer's signature 'more is more' musical style' (New York Observer). Featuring Ausrine Stundyte, Daniel Brenna, Alfred Walker and the American Symphony Orchestra under the leadership of festival co-founder and co-artistic director Leon Botstein, The Miracle of Heliane will be sung in German with English supertitles and will run for five performances between July 26 and August 4, with an Opera Talk, free and open to the public, before the matinee on July 28. SummerScape 2019 also provides the chance to sample some of the operettas written and arranged by Korngold and his contemporaries in 'Operetta's America' (August 11) and to see a semi-staged production of his best-loved opera, Die tote Stadt ('The Dead City'; August 18), during the 30th anniversary season of the Bard Music Festival.

Join Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' acclaimed Chamber Singers for a breezy night of entertainment as they flip through the pages of the Great American Songbook, crooning some of the finest vocal standards of the 20th century by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Fats Waller, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Richard Rodgers and Joe Garland; along with a few surprises.

Bay Street Theater has announced the cast of Irving Berlin's ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (July 30- August 25) is now in rehearsal in New York City. The company will soon finalize rehearsals in Sag Harbor prior to the first preview on July 30. This show is one of the most beloved musicals of Broadway's Golden Age with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, based on the book by Dorothy and Herbert Fields and directed by Sarna Lapine (Sunday in the Park with George, Bay Street's Frost/Nixon).