Simon And Garfunkel Heads To PizzaExpress Live In October

PizzaExpress Live presents "Live in Central Park [Revisited]: Simon and Garfunkel," a re-creation of the iconic 1981 reunion concert featuring award-winning recording artists Lee Lessack and Johnny Rodgers. Lessack and Rodgers will perform all the masterpieces heard on the night that half a million people gathered in Central Park to witness musical history. The duo re-visits the exact set list, a repertoire of lyrical masterpieces that includes "Mrs. Robinson," " Scarborough Fair," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "The Sound of Silence," and many more. This is not an impersonation, but an homage by two exciting and perfectly matched performers who've headlined in venues around the world. The shows will be interpreted by Donna Ruane, the West End's most sought after sign language interpreter.

PizzaExpress will feature "Live in Central Park [Revisited]: Simon and Garfunkel," starring Lee Lessack and Johnny Rodgers at three PizzaExpress Live locations this fall: 11 October at Maidstone, 13 October at Birmingham and 14&15 October at Holborn. For additional information and tickets, call 020 7439 4962, or visit: https://tinyurl.com/yb7f3w8v. For more information, email: MusicOffice@PizzaExpress.com

"The show was terrific! Audience LOVED it. The voices of Lee and Johnny were spot-on and the accompanying slide show added to the beauty of the show. It was a great night at the Gallo Center!" - Lynn Dickerson, Chief Executive Officer, Gallo Center for the Arts

The union of New York City natives Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel produced some of the most memorable sounds of the 1960s, owing to the powerful combination of (mainly) Simon's songwriting and their dulcet harmonies, which belied an acrimony which was never resolved. Despite that, and after famously calling it quits by 1970, they rose to the occasion when they were asked by the City of New York to raise funds for the badly needed renovation of Central Park. The resulting 1981 concert is legendary, and was documented by HBO.

Lee Lessack's graceful Lyric baritone vocals and sophisticated and engaging persona have made him a shining star on the international concert scene. Billboard Magazine calls his singing "vocal romanticism of a high order."

He has toured extensively in the United States and Europe and has released eight recordings since 1995, the latest being "Live in Central Park [Revisited]: Simon and Garfunkel" with Johnny Rodgers. His repertoire includes favorites from the classic and new American Songbook, as well as French artists such as Aznavour and Piaf. In 2005, he released In Good Company to great acclaim. Intimate and impeccably produced, the album features outstanding duets with music notables such as Michael Feinstein, Maureen McGovern, Amanda McBroom, Ann Hampton Callaway and Stephen Schwartz. In Good Company earned a MAC and Bistro Award for Best Recording of the Year. For a discography, visit: https://tinyurl.com/y7nmndtm

In 1996, Lessack founded LML Music (www.LMLmusic.com), which now has a catalog of over 100 of the country's top live recording artists and performers. In 2008, he founded LML Music Presents, representing performers for concert bookings internationally. His clients include theater icon Chita Rivera as well as songwriter, Amanda McBroom and jazzbird, Jane Monheit. (http://lmlmusicpresents.com)

Johnny Rodgers is an internationally celebrated singer-songwriter, pianist, Broadway veteran, and recording artist who is described by Stephen Holden, from The New York Times, as an entertainer "who has show business in his bones" with "fused elements of Billy Joel, Peter Allen and Johnny Mercer."

As an Ambassador of American Music, Johnny Rodgers dazzles audiences with his Americana mélange of original songs and classic favorites. He tours for the US State Department to places such as the Middle East, North Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Rodgers has toured Russia and performed with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, with Igor Butman and his Jazz Orchestra as well as for the US Embassy Independence Day Celebration and the Grodno Jazz Festival in Minsk, Belarus.

Rodgers has been Music Director and accompanist for Liza Minnelli performances and tours and starred in and wrote the song "I Would Never Leave You" for Liza's Tony Award- winning Liza's At The Palace, filmed and released by PBS television. Johnny has earned New York's Nightlife, Bistro and MAC awards for his critically lauded performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Jazz At Lincoln Center, Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel, Feinstein's at Loews Regency, and other premiere clubs. His songwriting has been recognized with Billboard and ASCAP Foundation awards.? Visit http://johnnyrodgers.com.

DONNA RUANE is probably the West End's most prolific Sign Language Interpreter as, over a career spanning 20 years she has regularly interpreted hundreds of shows including; Jersey Boys, Billy Elliot, Mamma Mia!, Blood Brothers, Phantom of the Opera, We Will Rock You, The Lion King, Shrek, Singin' in the Rain,Lord of the Rings, Little Shop of Horrors, The Woman in White, Avenue Q, Spamalot, Annie, Evita, Grease, Fame to name but a few.For many years Donna has been seen interpreting the Laurence Olivier Awards for the Society of London Theatre and, in addition to the West End she has worked at the Edinburgh Festival, Unicorn Theatre's Opera, Clockwork at the Royal Opera House where she returned for Faeries and The Wind in the Willows in 2012.

Since 1998, she has been resident Sign Language Interpreter at the Churchill Theatre Bromley for many shows including High School Musical (on tour and at the Hammersmith Apollo). At the Rose Theatre Kingston Bedroom Farce and Dame Judi Dench's Midsummer Night's Dream. Donna is a Director of Theatresign (T.E.A.M Ltd) and a qualified Assessor, Mentor and Trainer and is passionate about the development of new Theatre Interpreters.

She is the official Sign Language Interpreter for the UK tours of The Lion King, War Horse, The Bodyguard, Shrek the Musical, Miss Saigon, Motown, Matilda, Kinky Boots and Wicked.

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