STAGE TUBE: Michael Feinstein on the Importance of THE MUSIC MAN

Michael Feinstein, the multi-platinum-selling, five-time Grammy-nominated entertainer dubbed "The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook," is considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards. His 200-plus shows a year have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House and the Hollywood Bowl as well as the White House and Buckingham Palace. He serves on the Library of Congress' National Recording Preservation Board, which ensures the survival, conservation and increased public availability of America's sound recording heritage.

Feinstein's earned his fifth Grammy Award nomination in 2009 for The Sinatra Project, his Concord Records CD celebrating the music of "Ol' Blue Eyes." A new PBS concert special, The Sinatra Legacy, is currently airing across the country; The Sinatra Project, Volume II: The Good Life, its companion CD, was released in October. Last year's PBS series Michael Feinstein's American Songbook - in which he uncovers treasures of classic American music - is now available on DVD, with an additional disc of bonus features. The series, the recipient of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Television Broadcast Award, will return with six primetime episodes starting in February 2012. Recently, he released the CDs The Power Of Two - collaborating with "Glee" and "30 Rock" star Cheyenne Jackson - and Cheek To Cheek, recorded with Broadway legend Barbara Cook. On his recent recording We Dreamed These Days; Feinstein co-wrote the title song with Dr. Maya Angelou.

Feinstein serves as Artistic Director of the Palladium Center for the Performing Arts, a $170 million, three-theatre venue in Carmel, Indiana that is home to an annual international Great American Arts Festival, diverse live programming and a museum for Feinstein's rare memorabilia and manuscripts. In 2007, he created the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative dedicated to celebrating the art form and preserving its legacy for the next generation through Master Classes, educational programs, and exhibitions. In 2010, he became the director of Jazz and Popular Song at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center. Feinstein is working with MGM to turn The Thomas Crown Affair into a Broadway musical. He also has designed a new piano for Steinway called "The First Ladies," inspired by the White House piano and signed by several former First Ladies.

Feinstein recently sat down with 'Reel 13' and talked about THE MUSIC MAN - from how it almost never made it to Broadway to its importance in forming the musicals of today. Check it out below!