Rodgers & Hart News

Next week, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond

"We'll turn Manhattan into an isle of joy," wrote Lorenz Hart in 1919, at the beginning of his partnership with Richard Rodgers. Now 100 years later Lyrics and Lyricists begins its 49th season with We'll Have Manhattan: Rodgers and Hart in New York, celebrating the team who brought us such enduring classics as "My Funny Valentine," "Isn't It Romantic?," "I Could Write A Book," "It Never Entered My Mind" and over 600 others.

John Lloyd Young, the Tony and Grammy winning Frankie Valli from Broadway's Jersey Boys as well as the star of the Clint Eastwood-directed Warner Bros film, brings a new show to Feinstein's/54 Below January 6th and 8th featuring highlights from two popular programs he presents to sold-out audiences across the country.

On November 12 at Kaufman Music Center's Merkin Hall, Broadway Close Up host SEAN HARTLEY interviewed ETHAN MORDDEN, author of When Broadway Went to Hollywood, exploring how songwriters like Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Yip Harburg, Irving Berlin and the Gershwin brothers navigated the often antagonistic culture of Hollywood with different degrees of success - and why they ultimately returned to Broadway.

Next week, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

Following four previous sold-out engagements, Tony Award winner John Lloyd Young returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko with his new show, I Have Dreamed, for three performances only-Thursday, July 19 (8 p.m.), Friday, July 20 (8 p.m.) and Saturday, July 21 (8 p.m.). 

A Lover's Heart, A Lover's World: Songs of W.A. Mozart, Irving Berlin, Rodgers & Hart, Kurt Weill, and Shanan Estreicher is a vocal recital featuring Soprano Stephanie Granade and Pianist Sarah Dutcher.

Deborah Grace Winer brings three new jewel box revues celebrating the Classic American Songbook to Feinstein's/54 Below this spring. The series kicks off on March 27th with 'You Took Advantage of Me: Rodgers and Hart on Love' starring Grammy-winner Debby Boone, OBIE-winner Darius De Haas and Tony-nominee Christiane Noll, backed up by a swinging all-star band headed by Musical Director John Oddo.

The contribution of Jewish composers and lyricists to the Great American Songbook will be explored in a special concert event created, written, directed and hosted by NYC impresario Scott Siegel. Famous songs from the theater, movies, and pop that have become beloved standards -- all written by Jews -- will be highlighted. Expect to hear classics both old and new from the likes of Irving Berlin, Rodgers & Hart, The Gershwins, Leonard, Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Jason Robert Brown, as well as hits made famous by their composers, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, and more.

???????Joan Copeland and Diane J. Findlay headline The Ziegfeld Society of New York City's Thou Swell! Thou Witty!: The Songs of Rodgers & Hart, written and hosted by Aaron Gandy with musical direction and special arrangements by Mark York, at Lang Concert Hall at Hunter College (69th between Park and Lexington) on Saturday afternoon, March 25th, at 2pm. 

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs (MAC) has announced the 2017 MAC Award nominees.

Symphony Space's PROJECT BROADWAY, a celebration of all that's new and exciting on the Great White Way, returns for its second installment, March 27 - April 2. This year's theme is 'The Art of Collaboration,' spotlighting the alchemy that turns music, book, choreography, and staging into theatrical magic.

In celebration of romance, Andrea will reprise her tribute to the illustrious team of Rodgers and Hart with a brand new spin.

In celebration of romance, Andrea will reprise her tribute to the illustrious team of Rodgers and Hart with a brand new spin.

Symphony Space's PROJECT BROADWAY, a celebration of all that's new and exciting on the Great White Way, returns for its second installment, March 27 - April 2. This year's theme is 'The Art of Collaboration,' spotlighting the alchemy that turns music, book, choreography, and staging into theatrical magic.

An intimate evening of Pop Torch with New York City based singer/songwriter Ellen Woloshin. Recently back from debuting this show in LA, Woloshin seamlessly mixes her own original songs with classics (Gershwin, George Harrison, Rodgers & Hart). Accompanied by composer/pianist Shelly Markham recipient of the 2016 Jamie deRoy ASCAP award for songwriting).

While high belters rule Broadway today, during Broadway's Golden Age the baritone was king - which means that the great male numbers written by the likes of Irving Berlin, Rodgers & Hart, Rodgers & Hammerstein, The Gershwins, Sigmund Romberg, Cole Porter, and others of their iconic ilk, were largely written for baritones. But William Michals is the one Broadway star of today who is the singular baritone born for that great music.

Musical Theatre West's (MTW) Reiner Staged Reading Series presents the Rodgers & Hart's classic The Boys from Syracuse Sunday, November 13, 2016 at 7:00pm at its new home, the Beverly O'Neill Theater, located at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center.  Tickets are now on Tickets are now on sale online at www.musical.org, by visiting the MTW West Ticket Office, or by calling (562) 856-1999, ext. 4.  Advance general admission tickets for each performance are $27 (or $32 on the day of the performance).  You can also purchase a subscription for the final two 2016 Reiner Staged Reading performances (She Loves Me will be performed Saturday, December 3, 7pm) for $50.  Seating is general admission, with season subscribers receiving early access to the theatre via a special subscriber door.

For their 2016-2017 season, American Classics takes a novel approach, drawing all three programs on great literature.  They open with Shakespeare in Song, in honor of the 400th anniversary of his death, with songs from The Boys From Syracuse (Rodgers & Hart, based on The Comedy of Errors), Kiss Me Kate (Cole Porter, based on The Taming of the Shrew), West Side Story (Bernstein and Sondheim, based on Romeo and Juliet), The Lion King (Tim Rice and Sir Elton John, based on Hamlet), and some unusual songs from drawn from Shakespeare.  Caroline Musica, Cynthia Mork, Eric Bronner make up the quartet of singers, with Bradford Conner presiding at the keyboard.  

It's a topsy-turvy world where it seems every one is shouting, pointing fingers, skirting scandal or spewing venom. Acclaimed singer Craig Jessup, on the other hand, is taking a chance on love with some of the greatest songwriters from the Great American Songbook - Rodgers and Hart, the Gershwins, Burton Lane, Vernon Duke.