Rob Fisher, Robert Kimball, et al. Set for 2012 Season of 92 Street Y's LYRICS & LYRICISTS

92nd Street Y announces the 2012 line-up for Lyrics & Lyricists^TM, 92Y's celebrated American Songbook series, with DEBORAH GRACE WINER at the helm for her fourth season as series artistic director. Guest artistic directors returning to lead the individual concerts are ROB FISHER, ROBERT KIMBALL, TED SPERLING, and REX REED. Noted stage director and lyricist (and L&L veteran) MARK WALDROP makes his debut this season as a guest artistic director.

Subscriptions for the season are on sale now. Individual tickets for all performances go on sale August 1. Please call 212-415-5500 or go to www.92Y.org/Lyrics for more information.

Following the series' recent trend toward highlighting thematic looks at the American Songbook, this season features three shows based on topical themes and two exploring the work of individual songwriters. Robert Kimball kicks off the season celebrating the Jazz Age powerhouse team of Donaldson & Kahn in a show featuring the acclaimed vintage big band, Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks. Ted Sperling explores the way our nation has looked at itself in song, in "Songs of America: From Stephen Foster to Bob Dylan and Beyond." Rob Fisher pays tribute to the hip harmonies of vocal groups from the Boswell Sisters to the Beach Boys and Mark Waldrop's L&L artistic director debut salutes Noël Coward and Cole Porter in "Mad Dogs & Educated Fleas: Noël & Cole, A Battle Of Wits." Rex Reed closes the season with "It's Magic: 90 Years of Songs from Warner Bros.," honoring the studio that invented the movie musical.

"As the preeminent American Songbook series in the country," says Deborah Grace Winer, "Lyrics & Lyricists continues its mission to present exciting, entertaining concerts by shaking up and shaking down this great musical repertory, finding fresh insights into why this classic body of work is so relevant to our 21st-century culture. We strive to do that with musical excellence and narrated insights by top-flight artists and curators, drawn from the best of Broadway, jazz and cabaret, who make L&L their artistic home."

L&L shows are Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 2 and 7 pm, and Monday at 2 and 8 pm. Subscriptions to the five-concert series running from January to May range from $292 to $225. Individual tickets go on sale in August and range from $67 to $52; 92nd Street Y will also offer an "under-35" ticket price for the Saturday and Sunday evening performances, with $25 individual tickets and $100 season subscriptions.

Lyrics & Lyricists is produced by 92nd Street Y under the leadership of Hanna Arie-Gaifman, Director of Music and Literary Programming.

Lyrics & Lyricists: 2012 Season

January 7, 8, 9
MAKIN' WHOOPEE: WALTER DONALDSON, GUS KAHN AND THE JAZZ AGE
ROBERT KIMBALL, Artistic Director
Donaldson & Kahn were a songwriting powerhouse in the ‘20s and ‘30s. When they paired up, the hits poured out: "Yes Sir, That's My Baby," "Love Me or Leave Me," "Makin' Whoopee" and dozens more. Robert Kimball honors the men who gave the Roaring Twenties its soundtrack with vintage big band Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks providing authentic sizzling-‘20s arrangements.

February 11, 12, 13
SONGS OF AMERICA: FROM STEPHEN FOSTER TO BOB DYLAN AND BEYOND
TED SPERLING, Artistic Director
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
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
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
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^TM 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 Andrea Marcovicci, 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 information and entertainment with a particular focus on lyrics. For more information, please visit www.92Y.org/Lyrics.

The performances of Mad Dogs and Educated Fleas are underwritten in memory of Harold W. and Ida L. Goldstein by the Estate of Sanford Goldstein. The performances of It's Magic are underwritten by Gilda and Henry Block, and Kenneth Kolker.

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, 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. For more information visit www.92Y.org.