DAVID LOUD: FACING THE MUSIC Comes to 92Y as Part of Lyrics & Lyricists

Lyrics and Lyricists 50th anniversary season opens with David Loud: Facing the Music on March 19, 20 and 21, celebrating the career of the renowned Broadway music director. Filled with astonishing stories, collected during his 34 years of working on Broadway, his perspective on musical theater, which includes both the view from the orchestra pit and from the stage, is wry, compassionate, and funny.

Included will be stories from his Broadway debut at the age of 19 as the onstage pianist in the original cast of Hal Prince's production of the Stephen Sondheim legendary flop/cult classic Merrily We Roll Along, plus behind-the-scenes anecdotes and unforgettable songs from his many shows including She Loves Me, Curtains and more. It's a joyful, big-hearted celebration of a Broadway life featuring vocalists Heidi Blickenstaff, Laura Darrell, David Garrison, Alex Joseph Grayson and Matthew Scott. The show is based on David's forthcoming memoir, Facing the Music, which Lynn Ahrens calls "beautifully written, filled with vivid details, braided with love and loss and wit and the perspective of someone with an utterly unique story to tell."

"I am thrilled that the 92nd Street Y has asked me to turn Facing the Music into a Lyrics and Lyricists evening," comments David Loud. "This show will be a look at Broadway musicals from a perspective that most people never get to experience: the conductor's podium. I've collected some amazing stories over the 30 years I conducted Broadway shows, and, with the help of some of Broadway's finest singers, I'm going to bring them to life for you."

In addition to his Broadway career, David is a longtime and beloved L&L artistic director, bringing shows celebrating Burton Lane, Frank Loesser, Cole Porter and the Hal Prince/Stephen Sondheim collaboration to 92Y's stage.

Lyrics & Lyricists 2022 Season

You Send Me: The Songs And Soul Of Sam Cooke

April 23, 24, 25
Conceived by and Starring Darius de Haas
Award-winning Broadway dynamo Darius de Haas (Rent, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Carousel, Shuffle Along, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ) creates and stars in a show spotlighting the life and songbook of the great Sam Cooke. Cooke's rise during his tragically short life took him from local gospel singer to international pop/soul icon to trailblazing entrepreneur to civil rights activist. De Haas recreates Cooke's enduring songs and tracks, from classics of romance ("You Send Me," "Wonderful World," "Cupid," "For Sentimental Reasons") to an anthem of revolution ("A Change is Gonna Come") and many others. An illuminating look at the legacy of a hugely influential artist and a man with the voice of an angel.

"Isn't It Bliss?" Sondheim On Love

June 18, 19, 20
Conceived, Written, Directed, Hosted, and Music Directed by Ted Sperling
Stephen Sondheim's astute, clever, emotionally intelligent exploration of the many facets of love is unrivaled in musical theater. Tony Award winner and Lyrics & Lyricists favorite Ted Sperling conceived and hosts this show looking at love through the Sondheim songbook. The incomparable songs address love in all its phases: its giddy heights ("What More Do I Need"), crushing heartache ("Not a Day Goes By"), manic panic ("Getting Married Today") and the emotional ambivalence Sondheim captured with perfect pitch ("Being Alive"). Hear them and more than a dozen others, including "Send in the Clowns," "Barcelona" and "Move On," in this one-of-a-kind celebration of the most innovative and influential composer-lyricist in Broadway history.