Town Hall has announced more installments in its popular Broadway by the Year series.
The 2006 season will kick off with The Musicals of 1930 on Monday, March 6th at 8 pm; Girl Crazy, The New Yorkers, Strike Up the Band, Sweet and Low, and The International Revue will be among the featured shows. Songs from Bells Are Ringing, Candide, Li'l Abner, My Fair Lady, The Most Happy Fella, Mr. Wonderful, and more will be showcased in The Musicals of 1956 on Monday, April 3rd at 8 PM. The Musicals of 1968, presented on Monday, May 1st at 8 PM, will feature songs from Hair, Her First Roman, Zorba, Promises, Promises, Golden Rainbow, and more. The Musicals of 1978, with songs from Ballroom, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, On the Twentieth Century, Eubie!, Working, Timbuktu, and others, will be held on Monday, June 19th at 8 pm.
Written, created and hosted by Scott Siegel, the series has been called, "Witty, breezily paced...informative...valuable...the right perspective of light-hearted nostalgia," by The New York Times. The concerts traditionally feature starry casts performing a mix of well-loved, bell-ringing and downright obscure showtunes. "Years featured in the series have spanned the decades from the 1920s
thru the 1960s and have featured such stars as Nancy Anderson, Brent
Barrett, Bryan Batt, Liz Callaway, Darius de Haas, Mary Bond Davis,
Tovah Feldshuh, Davis Gaines, Annie Golden, Debbie Gravitte, Eddie
Korbich, Marc Kudisch, Liz Larsen, Heather MacRae, Sally Mayes, Amanda
McBroom, Sharon McNight, Julia Murney, Emily Skinner, Mary Testa, Chip
Zien and many more," state press notes.
The 2006 Town Hall season will also offer an eclectic bill of musical acts. "From yesteryear's doo-wop groups The
Drifters and R&B sensation Peaches & Herb to the renowned
Klezmatics, from the quintessential Ralph Stanley to the legacy of the
beloved Nina Simone, The Town Hall's 2006 season captures a rich
musical history."
Other theatre-related events will include American Favorites: An Evening of Bernstein and Gershwin, Sunday, March 26 at 4:00 pm. "The music and songs of Leonard Bernstein's tour de force West Side Story ("Tonight, Somewhere," "Maria," "One Hand-One Heart" and more), and George Gershwin's masterpieces An American In Paris and Rhapsody in Blue will be brought to life by One World Symphony under the direction of Sung Jin Hong," according to press notes.