Hall and Lutvak Perform at Yale on July 31st

On THURSDAY, JULY 31st Carol Hall and Steven Lutvak, two members of the award-winning faculty at the Cabaret Conference at Yale University, will perform in concert at Yale University's NEW THEATRE (1156 Chapel Street – between York Street and Park Street.
 
The concert, which is entitled "They Write The Songs" will be presented for one night only.
 
Curtain is at 7:30pm.
 
Both Ms. Hall and Mr. Lutvak have been generously honored with critical acclaim for their individual and collaborative work as both songwriters and performers.  
 
Mr. Lutvak appears on Ms. Hall's most recent and highly acclaimed CD HALLWAYS, The Songs of Carol Hall that was released last March on the LML Music label where it is in its third printing.
 
In addition to her formidable talents, Ms. Hall will be bringing several Guest Stars to the stage; Sally Mayes, Laurel Massé, Sharon McNight and Rita Gardner.
 
The evening's program will include several songs from Ms. Hall's cannon of work including Hard Candy Christmas,  Tattooed Boy In Memphis,  Jenny Rebecca,  This Is My Birthday,  Doatsy Mae,  It's Only A Broken Heart,  My Circle Of Friends,  Lover of High Wire,  It's Alright To Cry and  I'll Imagine You a Song which she wrote with Mr. Lutvak.

The Sixth Annual Cabaret Conference At Yale University will be held July 25-August 3, 2008. It is an internationally focused, nine-day teaching program that offers an intensive look at the art of cabaret.   The Great American Songbook will be addressed in its entirety, from its origins in the late 19th century through the classic pop standards of the 1930s and 40s to today's contemporary cabaret, musical theater, jazz and pop music. The award-winning faculty will guide thirty-six students through classes and lectures covering cabaret performance technique, acting for singers, lyric interpretation, focus, concentration, act structure, act writing, material research, comedic development, musical director relations, maintenance of the vocal instrument, and image consultation.

The first person ever to record one of Carol Hall's songs was the young Barbra Streisand. Subsequently, her songs were performed by such extraordinary singers as Tony Bennett, Barbara Cook, Margaret Whiting, Julie Wilson, Chita Rivera, Michael Feinstein, Mabel Mercer, Amanda McBroom, Lari White, Olivia Newton-John, Maureen McGovern, Miriam Makeba, RuPaul, David Campbell, Frederica von Stade, Kermit the Frog and Big Bird. Among others. She's also one of the few songwriters to have a hit Broadway show. Her classic musical THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS entertained Broadway audiences for almost five years, received a Grammy nomination for its cast album, and became a popular film starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton. Dolly's recording of Carol's song "Hard Candy Christmas" won an ASCAP Most Performed Country Song Award, and the film generated an OSCAR nomination for Charles Durning, singing "The Sidestep" as the slippery Governor of Texas. 

A recent national tour of WHOREHOUSE starring the entertainment legend Ann-Margret, enjoyed a run for over a year and a half. Carol also does a lot of writing for children, (Her "It's All Right To Cry," and "Parents Are People" continue to be favorites of generations of children). Recently she created the score to the theatrical version of the popular children's series MAX AND RUBY. Four tours of the show are presently playing across the country, after a successful debut opening Off-Broadway in December 2007. But her recent delight has been the making of her CD "Hallways," which features many of her most loved and wonderful songs – both old and brand new — such as the hit "Hard Candy Christmas," as well as the timeless classic "Jenny Rebecca" — and a number of premier performances. As Carol says in the CD's booklet, "a song is not a song until somebody sings it…" And what an array of singers she has here! In addition to Carol, performing on the CD are Amanda McBroom, Johnny Rodgers, Scott Coulter, Tim DiPasqua, Tom Andersen, Lesley Gore, Susannah Blinkoff, Farah Alvin, Steven Lutvak, Laurel Massé, Bobby Gosh, Rick Jensen, Carol Woods and the Broadway Inspirational Voices. "Hallways" was also co-produced by Tex Arnold, who was its musical director, responsible for the exquisite arrangements. And it was spectacularly engineered by Bill Moss at the famous NOLA Recording Studios, NYC.

Steven Lutvak has had a remarkable two years.  He and his principal collaborator, Robert Freedman, won the Kleban Award, the premiere prize for lyric writing in Musical Theater; their musical KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS was presented as part of the Breaking Ground Series at the Huntington Theater in Boston; KIND HEARTS was invited to be the only musical developed at the Sundance Theater Lab; and Steven received a rave review in the New York Times for his cabaret act of his own songs.  MAD HOT BALLROOM, the film for which Steven wrote the title song, became the 9th most successful documentary of all time.  

The debut of Shoulder to Shoulder, a new song commissioned for the opening ceremonies of the Gay Games in Chicago, which was sung by Billy Porter, and a 250-voice choir.  His musical, CAMPAIGN OF THE CENTRY, was originally commissioned by the American Musical Theater of San Jose, and was more recently presented in New York as part of the New York Music Theater Festival, and, in a concert version, was the closing event of 2004's Chicago Humanities Festival, both starring Tony Award winner Michael Rupert.  Lutvak scored Off-Broadway's HANNAH SENESH, which was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, and was later produced at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Theatre Company, the Baltimore Center Stage, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, and most recently at Penguin Repertory Theatre. The production also toured throughout Canada and Israel.  The release of his solo CD, THE TIME IT TAKES was celebrated with a sold-out run at New York's hottest venue, Joe's Pub. Other awards include the first Johnny Mercer Foundation Emerging American Songwriter Award, two Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Grant and two Bistro Awards. Mr. Lutvak has received the MAC Award three times and has been the recipient of the ASCAP Award annually since 1984.

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Photo of Steven Lutvak by Ben Strothmann