92Y's Lyrics & Lyricists Program Presents MAKIN’ WHOOPEE, 1/7-9

92Y's Lyrics & Lyricists will present MAKIN' WHOOPEE: Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn and the Jazz Age.

The Artistic director is Robert Kimball and the host is Charles Osgood.

MAKIN' WHOOPEE features Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, Christine Andreas, Jason Graae, Howard McGillin, and William Bolcom & Joan Morris. Vince Giordano and Peter Yarin are the Co-Music Directors and Patricia Wilcox is the Stage Director.

Performances are:

Sat, January 7 at 8 pm. Tickets are 62 & $52.

Sun, January 8 at 2 pm. Tickets are $67 / $55.

Sun, January 8 at 7 pm. Tickets are $62 & $52.

Mon, January 9 at 2 pm. Tickets are $62 / $52.

Mon, January 9 at 8 pm. Ticket are $67 & $55.

Under-35 ticket price of $25 available for Saturday and Sunday evening shows

Songwriting duo Donaldson & Kahn were a hit-making powerhouse in the '20s and '30s, teaming up on "Yes Sir, That's My Baby," "Love Me or Leave Me," "Makin' Whoopee" and dozens more. Musical theater historian and returning guest artistic director Robert Kimball inaugurates the 2012 Lyrics & Lyricists™ season with Makin' Whoopee: Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn and the Jazz Age, honoring the men who gave the Roaring Twenties its soundtrack. Joining Kimball are host Charles Osgood, Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks (toting vintage band charts), and vocalists Christine Andreas, Jason Graae, Howard McGillin, and the team of William Bolcom & Joan Morris.

L&L shows are Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 2 and 7 pm, and Monday at 2 and 8 pm. Individual tickets range from $67 to $52. There is also a special under-35 ticket price of $25 for the Saturday and Sunday evening shows.

Noted historian of the American musical theater, Robert Kimball is artistic advisor to the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Trusts and the Cole Porter Musical and Literary Property Trusts. A longtime advisor to Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert® he is best known for editing sumptuous volumes of the complete lyrics of Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Frank Loesser and Johnny Mercer.

Charles Osgood is the award-winning host of TV's "CBS Sunday Morning" and radio's "The Osgood Files." Though a newsman, Osgood often plays piano and banjo on the air and is known for his lifetime love of music.

Director/choreographer Patricia Wilcox returns to L&L having directed last February's salute to Burton Lane. Wilcox has also directed musical productions for the Kennedy Center, Houston Symphony and Minnesota Pops, and choreographed numerous tours, commercials and TV shows, as well as numbers for Olympic Gold Medal ice skaters at the Vancouver and Turin Games.

Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks are renowned for bringing hot vintage jazz (featuring authentic '20s and '30s arrangements) to the New York scene, from the Rainbow Room to HBO's hit series Boardwalk Empire. The band can be heard on the Grammy-nominated soundtrack to the show, Boardwalk Empire: Volume 1.

Pianist/musical director Peter Yarin has performed with the Nighthawks for the past six years.

Christine Andreas received Tony nominations for her roles in Oklahoma! and On Your Toes, and recently appeared on Broadway in La Cage aux Folles. New York Nightlife and Bistro Award-winner

Jason Graae has appeared on Broadway in A Grand Night for Singing and Falsettos. He has recorded over 40 CDs, including his latest, Perfect Hermany: Jason Graae Sings Jerry Herman.

Howard McGillin is best known for his lengthy run as "The Phantom" on Broadway; he has also appeared in She Loves Me, Kiss of the Spider Woman and in Tony Award-nominated roles in Anything Goes and The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Performing duo William Bolcom & Joan Morris' repertoire runs the gamut of American music from ragtime to the end of the 20th century, and includes 24 recordings, including their Grammy nominated debut After the Ball. Bolcom is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer of music from opera to art songs.

Coming up in 2012:

February 11, 12, 13- SONGS OF AMERICA: FROM Stephen Foster TO Bob Dylan AND BEYOND
Ted Sperling, Artistic Director, Host
Jeffrey Klitz, Music Director, piano
Jamie LeoNHART, vocals
Kecia Lewis EVANS, vocals
Clarke Thorell, vocals
Additional artists TBA

The American Songbook has always sung America's praises. But it has also sung America's pain, and folly and foolishness. Ted Sperling explores the full spectrum of songs about America, from buoyant to bellicose, reaching back to Foster and forward to Dylan, giving new meaning to the "traditional American song."

March 24, 25, 26- IN PERFECT HARMONY: CELEBRATING THE VOCAL GROUP
Rob Fisher, Artistic Director, Host
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
Mark Hummel, Music Director & piano
Colleen McHugh, 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.

June 2, 3, 4, 2012- IT'S MAGIC: 90 YEARS OF SONGS FROM WARNER BROS.
Rex Reed, Artistic Director, Host
Mike Renzi, Music Director, piano
Charles Repole and Patricia Wilcox, Co-Stage Directors
Polly Bergen, vocals
Jason Graae, vocals
Sue Raney, vocals
Tom Wopat, vocals
Additional artists TBA

With The Jazz Singer and the words "You aint' heard nothin' yet" Warner Bros. invented the movie musical. Rex Reed celebrates the studio that for decades, churned out hits like 42nd Street, Yankee Doodle Dandy, A Star is Born and My Fair Lady.

Long one of 92nd Street Y's most popular programs, the American Songbook series Lyrics & Lyricists™ was launched in 1970 when longtime Broadway conductor Maurice Levine and lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg (The Wizard of Oz) took to the stage to talk about the then unusual topic of songwriting. Over the years the series has featured every great Broadway and Hollywood lyricist including Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Johnny Mercer, Stephen Sondheim, Dorothy Fields, and Alan Jay Lerner. Since 2004, L&L has featured original programs created by accomplished champions of the repertoire, including John Pizzarelli, Rob Fisher, Sheldon Harnick, Robert Kimball, Rex Reed, Billy Stritch and Ted Sperling. Each show is designed to celebrate the American Songbook through a mixture of narrative and entertainment with a particular focus on lyrics. For more information, please visit www.92Y.org/Lyrics.

The Jan 8 and Feb 12 afternoon performances are underwritten by The Henry Nias Foundation, courtesy of Dr. Stanley Edelman. The May 5-7 series is underwritten in memory of Harold W. and Ida L. Goldstein by the Estate of Sanford Goldstein. The June 2-4 series is underwritten by Gilda and Henry Block, and Kenneth Kolker. Additional support is provided by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation and Daney and Lee P. Klingenstein.

92nd Street Y is a world-class nonprofit community and cultural center that connects people at every stage of life to the worlds of education, the arts, health and wellness, and Jewish life. Through the breadth and depth of 92Y's extraordinary programs, we enrich lives, create community and elevate humanity. More than 300,000 people visit 92Y's New York City venues annually, and millions more join us through the Internet, satellite broadcasts and other digital media. A proudly Jewish organization since its founding in 1874, 92Y embraces its heritage and enthusiastically welcomes people of all backgrounds and perspectives. 92Y is an open door to extraordinary worlds.