Feinstein’s/54 Below (Photo: Joseph Moran)
Feinstein’s/54 Below launches an all-new series this year: Deborah Grace Winer presents The Classic American Songbook Series. Direct from her tenure as Artistic Director o f92Y’s renowned Lyrics & Lyricists™ series, Winer curates three jewel-box revues created especially for the venue’s unique supper club setting. Each show celebrates American popular song as well as artists who created, interpreted and made themselves an integral part of the music.
You Took Advantage of Me: Rodgers and Hart on Love
March 27
7 p.m. / 9:30 p.m.
Written, hosted and created by Deborah Grace Winer with director Mark Waldrop and musical director John Oddo
Celebrating the work of Rodgers and Hart, Grammy Award winner Debby Boone, Obie Award winner Darius De Haas and Tony Award nominee Christiane Noll gather under the musical direction of John Oddo and a swinging band.
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart get a fresh take in all their ironic, timeless glory because some things—like excruciating romantic conflict—never go out of style. With songs like “I Wish I Were in Love Again,” “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “My Heart Stood Still” and more, this funny, fast-moving show is directed by revue-making master Mark Waldrop (When Pigs Fly). It’ll make you wish you were in love again. Or not.
A Jerome Robbins Centennial Concert
May 8
7 p.m. / 9:30 p.m.
Kathleen Marshall – Guest Creator, Director and Host
West Side Story, Gypsy, Fiddler on the Roof, Peter Pan and Call Me Madam were all written by extraordinary composers and lyricists. And transformed by Jerome Robbins. In Robbins’ centennial year, three-time Tony Award winner, director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall creates and hosts this celebration of how a legendary director/choreographer shaped some of Broadway’s greatest musical scores.
Join Marshall and a cast of Broadway’s best and brightest performers and musicians in this roof-raising tribute to Robbins at 100 as they deliver a jackpot of powerhouse songs from some of Broadway’s most famous shows by Bernstein, Sondheim, Bock and Harnick, Jule Styne, Irving Berlin, Comden and Green and others.
Till There Was You: A Celebration of Barbara Cook
June 17
7 p.m. / 9:30 p.m.
Written and hosted by Deborah Grace Winer; Directed by Mark Waldrop
It’ll be the party of the season. A glittering parade of Broadway divas including Tony Award nominees Christine Andreas, Kate Baldwin, Rebecca Luker, and Christiane Noll; Linda Purl, and Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba and more* raise their voices in celebration of Barbara Cook.
One of the American Songbook’s most celebrated interpreters, Barbara Cook inspired passionate audiences and relationships with some of the greatest composers and lyricists in Broadway history, from Bock and Harnick to Bernstein to Sondheim. This tribute celebrates Cook’s seven-decade musical journey from The Music Man, She Loves Me, Candide and Follies to her most notable concert and cabaret songs.
The new series launches after Winer makes her Feinstein’s/54 Below debut on Wednesday, January 17 with Baby, Dream Your Dream: Great Women Writers of the American Songbook. The evening, a celebration of the often unsung heroines of the Great American Songbook, is set against the backdrop of the current world’s surprisingly ongoing conversation: “What is a woman’s place?”
The cast will feature Kenita Miller (Once On This Island, The Color Purple), Margo Seibert (Rocky, In Transit), Emily Skinner (Side Show, Prince of Broadway), and Karen Ziemba (Contact, Prince of Broadway).
Marilyn Bergman. Dorothy Fields. Mary Rodgers. Jeanine Tesori. Betty Comden. Carolyn Leigh. Lynn Ahrens. Throughout theatre history, there have been a few bold pioneers-in-heels who crashed the boys’ club and wrote hit songs and shows like “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” Sweet Charity, On the Town, “Witchcraft,” Once Upon a Mattress, and so much more. Directed by Mark Waldrop, “Baby, Dream Your Dream” features an all-star band led by Music Director John Oddo and featuring Jay Leonhart on bass and vocals, and James Saporito on drums,
“It’s truly exciting to be bringing a stellar family of artists and longtime collaborators to this brand new classic American Songbook series,” says Deborah Grace Winer. “We’ll celebrate the greatest songwriters and their greatest songs—with ultimate insider stories, the backstage world they were created in, and why these songs are cool today.”
*Artists subject to change.
For ticket information, visit www.54below.com/series/the-classic-american-songbook-series.
