92Y to Celebrate Mike Stoller with Bettye LaVette, The Coasters & More, 12/9

On December 9, 2013 92Y celebrates songwriting legend Mike Stoller on the occasion of his 80th year with An 80th Birthday Celebration, a one-night-only Lyrics & Lyricists Special Event hosted by Paul Shaffer and directed and written by Randy Johnson (director/writer of A Night with Janis Joplin). Confirmed artists performing expected and unexpected interpretations from Stoller's genre-spanning career in blues, R&B, rock 'n' roll and jazz include legendary vocal group The Coasters, along with artists Karen Akers, Mary Bridget Davies, Corky Hale, Maria Elena Infantino, Sally Kellerman, Bettye Lavette, Melissa Manchester, Billy Stritch, Tommy Tune and Steve Tyrell. Backed by Tyrell's band, the artists perform some of the greatest songs written by Stoller with his longtime lyricist partner Jerry Leiber and others. Leiber will be the subject of a special tribute during the evening. Stoller is planning to be in attendance for the celebration.

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's iconic songs like "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Poison Ivy," Yakety Yak," "Kansas City," "Ruby Baby," "Love Potion #9" and "Stand By Me" (with Ben E. King), bridged the gap between blues, R&B and mainstream rock 'n' roll in the 1950s and early 1960s, and their successes as writers and producers continued even as tastes and styles in the fast-changing musical landscape had "today's hits" becoming "where are they now" in a matter of months.

Peggy Lee's sultry 1968 recording of their song "Is That All There Is?" earned her a Grammy award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and their joint production of the Stealer's Wheel 1972 hit "Stuck in the Middle With You" achieved iconic status in the 1990s as the background music to a key scene in Quentin Tarantino's film Reservoir Dogs.

The 1995 Broadway show Smokey Joe's Café, a musical revue based on their work, received seven Tony Award nominations and running for five years, became and remains the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history.

A life-long musical experimenter, Stoller even explored avant-garde music in the early-60s, studying with the twelve-tone composer Stefan Wolpe. Stoller's Quartet for flute, bass clarinet, harp and cello was performed for its first time at 92nd Street Y in 1962.

Stoller has another 92Y connection - Leiber and Stoller were the subjects of the February 29, 1976 Lyrics & Lyricists show "An Evening with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller" as part of the venerable series' sixth season. Performers that night included The Coasters, Adrienne Albert, Sandy Stewart and Tasha Thomas.

Host Paul Shaffer is a musician/actor/author/comedian/composer who has been David Letterman's musical director, band leader and sidekick for more than 30 years. Shaffer began his career as musical director of the Toronto production of Godspell and spent five years with the original "Saturday Night Live," where he played keyboards, composed special musical material and, in 1980, became a featured performer. He served as musical director for the Blues Brothers, recorded with such diverse artists as Diana Ross, Yoko Ono and Robert Plant's Honeydrippers, composed the Late Show theme, co-wrote the Number One '80s hit "It's Raining Men" and had a memorable role in This Is Spinal Tap as hapless local promo man Artie Fufkin. Shaffer has served as musical director/producer for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony since its inception in 1986, playing many Leiber and Stoller songs over the years, including at their 1987 induction.

Director and writer Randy Johnson conceived, directs and wrote the critically acclaimed Broadway musical A Night with Janis Joplin, currently playing at the Lyceum Theatre. His theater credits also include the West Coast premiere of The Normal Heart, and deep roots in music-related productions, including Always, Patsy Cline, The Wildest - The Music of Louis Prima and Keely Smith, Conway Twitty - The Man, The Music and the Legend and the historic Elvis the Concert, which reunited Elvis' original band, singers and musical director in a virtual interactive concert featuring Elvis.

Associate director and co-writer Tyler Rhodes is currently the Associate Director of the critically acclaimed A Night with Janis Joplin on Broadway. He served as both Associate and Assistant director for Broadway 1st National tours & regional Theater Productions including Guys & Dolls, Happy Days: The Musical, Caroline, or Change, Urinetown, Hairspray, Idaho!, The Fabulous Lipitones, Empire, & Hair.

Concert and cabaret star Karen Akers has appeared in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, Café Carlyle and Rainbow & Stars. She appeared on Broadway in the Tommy Tune-directed productions of Grand Hotel and in a Tony Award-nominated role in Nine. Her television appearances include "Cheers," "The Tonight Show," The Equalizer, "Hart to Hart, "The Merv Griffin Show" and the PBS specials "Ellington - The Music Lives On" and "Ira Gershwin At 100: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall," as well as two PBS specials of her own: "Presenting Karen Akers" and "Karen Akers: On Stage at Wolf Trap." Her film credits include the femme fatale in Mike Nichol's Heartburn and Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo, and Vibes.

Mary Bridget Davies is making her Broadway debut in the critically acclaimed Broadway musical A Night with Janis Joplin after touring the country with the show. Recognition includes Best Actress by the Cleveland Critic's Circle; a 2013 Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Resident Musical at Arena Stage; and a BroadwayWorld nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Other favorite credits include It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, Anything Goes (Reno Sweeney), the national tour of Love, Janis, and being a member of Something Dada Improvisational Comedy Co. Davies has received numerous awards for her voice and band. Most recently her new album was nominated for a 2013 Blues Music Award for Best New Artist Debut.

Jazz harpist/pianist/vocalist Corky Hale started taking piano lessons at age three and made her show business debut at seven. Hale has performed with Tony Bennett on "The Tonight Show" and at The White House, soloed with Barbra Streisand in Central Park and at the Hollywood Bowl, and performed with Björk on "MTV Unplugged". She was the piano accompanist for Billie Holiday and played harp for Liberace as a regular on his television show, at Madison Square Garden and on tour. She also played harp for Judy Collins, piano for Mel Tormé and Peggy Lee, and sang with the bands of Harry James, Ray Anthony and Jerry Gray.

Italian singer Maria Elena Infantino garnered acclaim for her one-woman show on the legendary French performer Edith Piaf, which premiered in Los Angeles in 2011 and recently concluded a European tour.

Oscar-nominated actress/singer Sally Kellerman is best known for her roles in such films as M*A*S*H, Brewster McCloud, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Back To School and Pret-a-Porter. Singing is her longtime passion, and in 2009 she released an album entitled Sally, the first since her 1969 debut album Rollin' with the Feelin'. Kellerman tours her cabaret act around the country, and performed a number of Leiber and Stoller songs at events honoring the pair in London.

A Grammy nominee in 2007 and 2010, Bettye Lavette marked her 50th year in show business in 2012. She is one of the few of her contemporaries who were recording during the birth of soul music in the 60s and is still creating vital music today. As an early-60s Atlantic Records artist she wanted to work with the label's best writer-producers - Leiber and Stoller - who had big hits with label-mates The Drifters and Ben E. King. After years of relative obscurity, LaVette roared back into the spotlight with an appearance at the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors and was invited to sing at Barack Obama's preinauguration festivities, performing "A Change Is Gonna Come" with Jon Bon Jovi.

Grammy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated artist Melissa Manchester is also a songwriter who once studied with Paul Simon and a founding member of Bette Midler's famous Harlettes. Her hit singles include "Midnight Blue," "Through the Eyes of Love" and "Don't Cry Out Loud" and her songs have been recorded by such artists as Barbra Streisand, Dusty Springfield, Alison Krauss, Roberta Flack, Barbara Cook and Mel Tormé. In 1980 she became the first artist in the history of the Academy Awards to have two nominated movie themes in a given year - "Through the Eyes of Love" and "The Promise" - and made Oscar history by performing both songs during the telecast.

As a performer, choreographer, and director, Tommy Tune is celebrating his golden decade on the great American stage. He has received nine Tony Awards, The National Medal of Arts, eight Drama Desk Awards, three Astaire Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and multiple lifetime achievement awards. Tune began his career as a dancer but stepped out of the chorus in the Broadway musical Seesaw, which won him his first Tony Award. His first Broadway directing and choreography credits were for the original production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and also include My One and Only, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, My One and Only, Grand Hotel, The Will Rogers Follies and Nine. Film credits include Hello Dolly, The Boy Friend, and Mimi Bluette...fiore del mio giardino. In 2009 the New York Landmarks Conservancy designated Mr. Tune as a Living Landmark.

Billy Stritch is one of the premier singer-pianists on the New York and national jazz and cabaret scene. He has appeared in many Lyrics & Lyricists shows, including the 2011 tour of New York nightclubs and the 2009 tribute to Mel Tormé, which he conceived and hosted. Billy's most recent Broadway credit was as musical supervisor and pianist for the Tony Award-winning musical event Liza's at the Palace. In addition to his 22-year collaboration with Liza Minnelli, Billy also accompanies and arranges for Linda Lavin, KLea Blackhurst and Marilyn Maye. His awards and honors include BMI Song of the Year; a Grammy Award nomination for "Does He Love You," recorded by Reba McEntire; four Backstage Bistro awards and six MAC Awards.

Producer/singer Steve Tyrell worked with Burt Bacharach and Hal David to produce such classics as "The Look of Love," "Alfie" and the Oscar-winning "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head." His performance of "The Way You Look Tonight" in Father of the Bride jump-started a singing career that has led to seven Top 5 albums on Billboard's Jazz chart and a long-standing gig at the Café Carlyle. His recording of Mike Stoller's "Charlotte" was released as a "musical Valentine" to the city hosting the 2012 Democratic National Convention.