Lyrics & Lyricists will present Songs of America: From Stephen Foster to Bob Dylan and Beyond.
About the show: "Guest artistic director Ted Sperling surveys the full spectrum of songs about America - from buoyant to bellicose - and giving new meaning to the term “traditional American song.” Songs that are likely to land in the show include “Hard Times Come Again No More,” “Brother Can You Spare a Dime,” “California Here I Come,” “Rhode Island is Famous for You,” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” Joining Sperling are vocalists Lawrence Clayton, Jamie Leonhart, Kecia Lewis-Evans, David Lutken and Clarke Thorell."
For Sperling the show is “an exploration of the breadth and variety of music in our history and how we have expressed our fears and hopes, our struggles and triumphs, our diversity and unity.” He also cites the American Songbook’s many influences, from European operetta and ragtime to blues, jazz, country and gospel. “In turn, the American Songbook inspired future generations of composers – the singers and songwriters who listened to Rodgers and Hammerstein on their parents’ phonographs and went on to create new genres of their own.”
L&L shows are Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 2 and 7 pm, and Monday at 2 and 8 pm. Individual tickets begin at $52. There is also a special under-35 ticket price of $25 for the Saturday and Sunday evening shows.
About the Creative Team, Musicians and Cast
Conductor/orchestrator/arranger/singer/pianist and the show’s artistic director, Ted Sperling is a Tony and Drama Desk Award-winner for The Light in the Piazza orchestrations. His Broadway credits also include South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Full Montyand he has worked with Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara, Nathan Gunn and Victoria Clark, among others. Sperling has hosted numerous L&L shows over the last few years, most recently 2010’s In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening: The Stardust of Hoagy Carmichael.
L&L veteran musical director Jeffrey Klitz has been the musical director for the Broadway productions of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Hot Feet and Lennon and was the conductor for the 2009 revival of Guys and Dolls.
Director/choreographer/performer Andrew Palermo has appeared on Broadway in Wicked, Annie Get Your Gun and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He is a co-founder (with childhood friend Taye Diggs) of the contemporary dance company dre.dance.
Lawrence Clayton has appeared on Broadway in Bells Are Ringing, Once Upon a Mattress and Dreamgirls and starred as ‘Valjean” in the 25th Anniversary production of Les Misérables. Jazz/pop chanteuse Jamie Leonhart has performed at such prestigious NYC venues as Avery Fisher Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and Joe’s Pub. She also works extensively as a voice actor and vocalist for television and radio. Kecia Lewis-Evans was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her role in Dessa Rose and has gone on to perform on Broadway in The Drowsy Chaperone, Chicago, and Once on This Island. Musician/actor David Lutken’s Broadway credits include Inherit the Wind, Ring of Fire, The Civil War and The Will Rogers Follies. He has also developed folk music/American history lessons for children and created the show Woody Sez, celebrating the life and music of Woody Guthrie. Clarke Thorell originated the role of Corny Collins in Hairspray and Jim Farrell in Titanic, and made his Broadway debut in The Who’s Tommy. He is also a returning L&L favorite, having appeared most recently in 2010’s Hoagy Carmichael tribute, In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening”
Coming up in 2012
March 24, 25, 26
IN PERFECT HARMONY: CELEBRATING THE VOCAL GROUP
ROB FISHER, Artistic Director, Host
ANDY EZRIN, Piano / Leader
SCOTT FARIS, Stage Director
DIGIALLONARDO SISTERS, vocals
NEW YORK VOICES, vocals
From the Boswell Sisters to the Modernaires to the Beach Boys, vocal groups have been an influential force on the American Songbook. Rob Fisher and his acclaimed guests – including the DiGiallonardo Sisters and New York Voices - conjure the hip sounds and tight harmonies that took pop standards to new horizons.
May 5, 6, 7, 2012
MAD DOGS & EDUCATED FLEAS: NOËL & COLE, A BATTLE OF WITS
MARK WALDROP, Artistic Director, Host
BRENT BARRETT, vocals
LA TANYA HALL, vocals
COLLEEN MCHUGH, vocals
T. OLIVER REID, vocals
Additional artists TBA
Noël Coward and Cole Porter were the 20th century’s masters of wordplay. Each peppered his lyrics with topical zingers, wicked double entendres and scintillating rhymes. Their wit was sharp enough to provoke guffaws—or draw blood. Director/lyricist Mark Waldrop referees the verbal fencing.
