Seth MacFarlane Makes Highline Ballroom Debut

Creator of hit TV cartoons Family Guy and American Dad and acclaimed vocalist Seth MacFarlane will present music from his 2012 Grammy-nominated recording Music Is Better Than Words in his Highline Ballroom debut on December 21st at 8:00pm. The recording features lesser-known gems of the 40’s and 50’s like “It’s Easy To Remember,” “The Night They Invented Champagne,” “She’s Wonderful Too” and many more. At the Highline Ballroom, MacFarlane will be front a big band conducted by Emmy® Award-winning composer, producer, arranger and conductor Joel McNeely. MacFarlane has won numerous awards for his work in television, including multiple Primetime Emmy Awards and an Annie Award. He is currently working on his first feature-length film, TED, starring Mark Wahlberg.

*In addition to MacFarlane’s Highline Ballroom performance on Dec. 21st, he will appear at the Blue Note on December 23rd.

WHEN: December 21 – Doors at 6:00pm, Show at 8:00pm

WITH: Seth MacFarlane, vocals; Joel McNeely, conductor; Other musicians, TBA

COST: $55 in advance, $60 at doors

WHERE: The Highline Ballroom; 431 W 16th St, New York, NY 10011

TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION: http://www.highlineballroom.com/bio.php?id=2233

BIO: Seth MacFarlane, the Emmy-winning creator of Family Guy and American Dad, can now add a new accolade to his list of accomplishments: a Grammy nomination. With his debut album Music is Better Than Words (2011), MacFarlane brings his talents to the Great American Songbook, creating a disc that recently garnered a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

Born in Kent, Connecticut, MacFarlane attended the Rhode Island School of Design. After graduating, he got a job working for Hanna-Barbera Productions (now Cartoon Network Studios) when a professor sent his thesis film, Life of Larry (a precursor to Family Guy) to Hanna-Barbera. In 1996 MacFarlane created Larry and Steve, the follow-up to his thesis film. It caught the attention of the executives at Fox, who originally offered him a deal to create featurettes to run between sketches on Mad TV. The deal fell apart, but Fox, not wanting to lose MacFarlane, gave him $50,000 to produce a partial pilot for a comedy series. He hand-drew the 15-minute presentation of Family Guy over the course of six months.

Fox Network picked up Family Guy, and it premiered after the Super Bowl on January 31, 1999. The show was moved, cancelled, and picked up on numerous occasions, but in 2002, Fox Network cancelled the show for good at the end of its third season. However, the exceptional sales of the Family Guy DVDs - combined with the high ratings of the show’s reruns on Cartoon Network - soon convinced Fox to put it back into production for a fourth season in 2004. A 12-time Emmy Award nominee and three-time winner, Family Guy continues running today, along with American Dad, created by MacFarlane with Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman and premiered on Fox in 2005.

The Highline Ballroom performance will feature MacFarlane singing cuts from his album and other jazz standards, accompanied by a dynamite big band conducted by acclaimed composer and conductor Joel McNeely.