Rosemary Loar to Encore WHEN HARRY MET THE DUKE at the Met Room, 9/6

Encore Performance" When Harry Met The Duke-Rosemary Loar sings the music of Harold Arlen and Duke Ellington will take the stage in an encore performance on September 6 at 7pm at the Metropolitan Room, 34 W. 22nd Street. Tickets: www.metropolitanroom.com or (212) 206-0440.

Ms. Loar's extensive musical theater credits include six Broadway shows and four national tours including a star turn as Grizabella in Cats, a Phoebe Award for the role she created in the original musical, Fair and Tender Ladies, and a featured role in the Drama Desk nominated The Audience. Last Christmas she played Grandma Who in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas at Madison Square Garden. The Rosemary Loar of the theatrical stage loves stories, and she uses cabaret to take her listeners beyond the music to reveal the human stories that lie beneath.

Rosemary Loar presents an encore of her critically acclaimed cabaret creation: a show that showcases the genius of songwriting legends, Harold Arlen and Duke Elliington. An inventive force in the cabaret world for over 30 years, last year Rosemary Loar was honored with the 2012 MAC Hanson Award for continuing excellence.

Born six years apart, both Arlen and Ellington were the sons of musicians and both began playing with a band while still only teenagers. These two men changed the course of American popular music, with influence that reached into jazz, nightclubs, musical theatre and film, and are pivotal figures of The American Songbook. Coming from widely divergent backgrounds, each man composed with elegance and sophistication, yet incorporated a visceral sense that has its roots in America's blues tradition. Both men broke "the rules" of songwriting, not afraid to write challenging, unconventional melodies and unusual song structures. Ms. Loar says, "I am drawn to their music because they not only wrote with a deep sense of soul, but they never wrote down to their listeners. They were not afraid to challenge the ear."

Rosemary Loar charms her audiences, equal parts singer, musician, and comedienne. "Harry Met The Duke" comes on the heels of her extremely successful "Sting, Stang, Stung, Swinging the Music of Sting (and The Police)," about which David Finkle of the Village Voice said, "With her light-hearted and often amusing ways, she stings and swings and does other jazzy things with the man's outstanding repertoire. There's much to choose from and she's got the intelligence and wit to match his in an entirely different mood and mode."

Cast: Rosemary Loar-vocals; Frank Ponzio: Music Direction and Piano; Waldron Ricks: Trumpet. The Metropolitan Room at Gotham is located at 34 West 22nd Street (between 5th & 6th Avenues).

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