Randy Newman Plays the State Theatre Tonight

With songs that run the gamut from heartbreaking to satirical and a host of unforgettable film scores, Randy Newman has used his many talents to create musical masterpieces widely recognized by generations of audiences. He brings his incomparable talents to the State Theatre for An Evening with Randy Newman tonight, November 21st.

Show time is 7:30 PM. Tickets are $90 (Gold Circle), $60 and $50 and can be purchased by visiting the State Theatre Box Office, 453 Northampton Street, Easton, by calling 1-800-999-STATE, 610-252-3132 or online at www.statetheatre.org. Sponsored by Easton Hospital and lehighvalleylive.com.

After starting his songwriting career as a teenager, Newman launched into recording as a singer and pianist in 1968 with his self-titled album Randy Newman. Throughout the 1970s he released several other acclaimed albums such as: 12 Songs, Sail Away, and Good Old Boys. In addition to his solo recordings and regular international touring, Newman began composing and scoring for films in the 1980s. The list of movies he has worked on since then includes The Natural, Awakenings, Ragtime, all three Toy Story pictures, Seabiscuit, James and the Giant Peach, A Bug's Life, and most recently, Disney/Pixar's Monsters University, the prequel to Monsters Inc., which he also scored.

While Newman's initial record sales were modest, his reputation among critics, fellow artists, and musicians was huge, and he enjoyed great success as a songwriter. Former Animals keyboardist Alan Price popularized his work in England and Harry Nilsson did the same in the US with his still much-admired Nilsson Sings Newman. Three Dog Night had a pop hit with "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)" and Joe Cocker scored with the hilariously naughty "You Can Leave Your Hat On."

Newman's own Top 40 success came with the most unlikely track, "Short People," from the 1977 Little Criminals. Other pop hits were in a similarly tongue-in-cheek vein: "It's Money That I Love" from 1979's Born Again and "I Love L.A." from 1983's Trouble In Paradise. Over the course of 40 years, Newman has released 10 albums of original studio material.

Randy Newman's many honors include six Grammys, three Emmys, and two Academy Awards, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

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