Michael Feinstein and Pasadena POPS Perform MGM Movie Classics at the Arboretum Tonight

Fresh off the heels with rave reviews for his conducting debut with the Pasadena POPS, Michael Feinstein returns to lead the orchestra in a performance celebrating the legendary films of MGM. Michael Feinstein's MGM Movie Classics tonight, July 13 features rare and stunning arrangements from the golden age of the silver screen, and the orchestra will be joined by guest vocalists Ron Raines, Christine Ebersole, the cast of Hollywood Revisited, and the Debbie Allen Dance Academy Tap Ensemble.

In Michael Feinstein's MGM Movie Classics, Feinstein draws from the vaults with unparalleled panache as he builds a performance brand of innovative entertainment celebrating the gems of the Great American Songbook. As the Los Angeles Times declared following Feinstein's debut as Pasadena's Principal Pops Conductor, "[W]hat really made this concert a success was Feinstein's imaginative, searching programming, far beyond the norm for your average so-called pops concert." This program features original scores direct from MGM's archives such as Singin' in the Rain, Harvey Girls, Gigi, Meet Me in Saint Louis, High Society, That's Entertainment plus extraordinary arrangements from Feinstein's collection, including "Barn Dance" from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, "Stranger in Paradise" from Kismet, "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz and countless other classics.

Powerhouse vocalists Christine Ebersole and Ron Raines, recent stars of Broadway's Grey Gardens and Follies respectively, will join Feinstein and the Pasadena POPS to recreate famous onscreen moments of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby, and more while joined by the Debbie Allen Dance Academy Tap Ensemble. To help recreate the glitz and glamour of Hollywood's golden age, the cast of Hollywood Revisited will showcase one-of-a-kind authentic dresses directly from films onstage alongside the orchestra.

Tickets to Michael Feinstein's MGM Classics tonight, July 13 plus all other concerts in the Pasadena POPS summer series start at $20 and are on sale now. The Los Angeles Arboretum opens at 5:30pm for picnic dining with the performance beginning at 7:30pm. For tickets or more information, contact the Pasadena POPS Box Office at 626.793.7172 or visit www.PasadenaSymphony-Pops.org.

IF YOU GO:

· What: Michael Feinstein's MGM Movie Classics with the Pasadena POPS

· Artists: Michael Feinstein, Principal Pops Conductor | Ron Raines, Guest Artist | Christine Ebersole, Guest Artist I Hollywood Revisited I Debbie Allen Dance Academy Tap Ensemble.

· When: Saturday, July 13 | Gates open at 5:30pm for picnicking, concert begins at 7:30pm

· Where: Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, 301 N Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA

· Cost: Tickets start at $20

· Parking: Complimentary parking is available at the adjacent Westfield Santa Anita shopping center with free nonstop shuttle service to/from the main gate. Pre-purchased parking at the Arboretum's main parking lot is available for pre-purchase only at PasdenaSymphony-Pops.org.

· Dining Options: Gourmet dining packages can be pre-ordered for onsite pick up from Julienne, Claud & Co., and Marston's online at PasadenaSymphony-Pops.org. Food trucks, cash bars, and ice cream is available for onsite purchases. Guests may also bring food and drinks from home.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

About Christine Ebersole

Two-time Tony Award winning actress, Christine Ebersole has captivated audiences on the Broadway stage, television series and specials, films, concert appearances, and recordings. Add to this her personal roles of wife, mother, daughter, and Spiritual Warrior, and you can fully understand what Mr. Holden means.

Christine was raised in Winnetka, Illinois, an upper-crust suburb on Chicago's North Shore, the youngest of four children. But Christine says she and her family were never quite in sync with the town's ideological exclusivity because they belonged not to the local country club but to the A.C.L.U. At New Trier High School, Christine played violin in the school orchestra and discovered her own voice in a summer drama class. After New Trier, she briefly attended MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL, before graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in 1975.

One of her first jobs was as an understudy in the Broadway musical On the Twentieth Century, followed by her turn as Ado Annie in Oklahoma. From there it was on to Ryan's Hope, One Life to Live, and Saturday Night Live before landing the high-profile role of Guinevere opposite Richard Burton in Camelot. Christine then shifted her focus from stage to screen and soon headed to Hollywood, appearing in many hit movies, including Amadeus, Tootsie, and Richie Rich. She added an extensive list of television credits as well, including The Cavanaughs, Valerie, and the title role in Rachel Gunn, R.N.

But somewhere south of 40, she realized she was auditioning for roles she used to be offered. When her agent told her she was "over the hill," Christine packed up her family and four-legged friends and fled back to Broadway, finding her home in Maplewood, New Jersey. Reflecting on that time, Christine says, "I moved from Hollywood to Maplewood. What a difference a leaf makes!" Everything changed. Her ensuing New York stage performances include her Tony Award-winning performance as Dorothy Brock in the smash hit revival, 42nd Street, Steel Magnolias, The Best Man, and Dinner at Eight for which she received both Tony and Outer Critics Circle nominations.

And then came her role of a lifetime. Christine received virtually every Off-Broadway award and her second Tony Award for Leading Actress in a Musical for her dual role as both Edith Bouvier Beale and "Little Edie" Beale in Grey Gardens. Acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, the show was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and its CD was nominated for a Grammy Award. Accepting her Tony Award, Christine said, "I left Hollywood when they told me I was over the hill and now I'm standing here with this most distinguished award for what I consider to be the role of a lifetime. I'm over the hill in the role of a lifetime! I consider this to be very encouraging."

And encouraging it was, as Christine's career continued to arc with her starring role in Blithe Spirit on Broadway with Angela Lansbury, her many guest appearances on innumerable popular television series, including her recurring role as Ms. "New Parts" Newberg in the hit cable show Royal Pains. Christine continues to appear in numerous concert halls and Cabaret venues throughout the country, including performances in City Center Encores!, at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, the Kennedy Center, Boston Symphony Hall, Feinstein's, and Café Carlyle. A recording artist as well, Christine has released several CDs, including the recently released Christine Ebersole Sings Noel Coward, which followed her appearance in Blithe Spirit on Broadway.

Christine lives in Maplewood, N.J. with her husband, musician and abstract artist William J. Moloney, their three teenage children, Elijah, Mae Mae, and Aron, her nonagenarian mother Marian, one cat, and three dogs. It's a home that - like Christine - contains multitudes.

About Ron Raines

Born and raised in Texas, Ron Raines attended Oklahoma City University and The Juilliard School. He has had a long and illustrious international career that spans the worlds of musical theater, opera, cabaret, classical music, and television. He most recently appeared as Ben in the critically acclaimed revival ofFollies at the Kennedy Center, Broadway, and Los Angeles, for which he received a Tony nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. He was a three-time Emmy and Soap Opera Digest Award nominee for his role as the villain Alan Spaulding on CBS's longest running daytime drama Guiding Light. He has starred on Broadway in shows such as Chicago and Show Boat, and originated the role of Nick Longworth in Teddy and Alice(with Len Cariou). He has delighted audiences around the world with his memorable starring roles in virtually every major American musical and operetta, including A Little Night Music, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, South Pacific, Annie, Kismet, Sayonara, Kiss Me Kate, The King and I, Naughty Marietta, The Merry Widow, Brigadoon, Rose Marie, Oklahoma!, Carousel, Side by Side by Sondheim, Guys and Dolls, and Man of La Mancha at the Covent Garden Festival. He has soloed with over 50 major American and international orchestras, including the Boston Pops, the Philly Pops, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony, and the Israeli Philharmonic, and has performed at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, Tanglewood, the London Palladium, Rainbow and Stars, and the Royal Festival Hall. He has appeared on four PBS "Great Performances," and has made two solo recordings on Jay Records and numerous cast albums. He lives in New York City with his wife and daughter.

About Michael Feinstein

Michael Feinstein, the multi-platinum-selling, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated entertainer dubbed "The Ambassador of The Great American Songbook," is considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards. His 200-plus shows a year have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House and the Hollywood Bowl as well as the White House and Buckingham Palace.

More than simply a performer, Feinstein has received national recognition for his commitment to celebrating America's popular song and preserving its legacy for the next generation. In 2007, he founded the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative, dedicated to celebrating the art form and preserving it through educational programs, Master Classes, and the annual High School Vocal Academy and Competition, which awards scholarships and prizes to students across the country. Michael serves on the Library of Congress' National Recording Preservation Board, an organization dedicated to ensuring the survival, conservation and increased public availability of America's sound recording heritage.

Feinstein's earned his fifth Grammy Award nomination in 2009 for The Sinatra Project, his Concord Records CD celebrating the music of "Ol' Blue Eyes."The Sinatra Project, Volume II: The Good Life was released last year. His Emmy nominated TV special, Michael Feinstein - The Sinatra Legacy, which was taped live at the Palladium in Carmel, IN, is currently airing across the country. His PBS series Michael Feinstein's American Songbook was the recipient of the ASCAP Deems-Taylor Television Broadcast Award. The first two seasons are now available on DVD and the third season will air in 2013. For his nationally syndicated public radio program Song Travels, Michael interviews and performs alongside music luminaries such as Bette Midler, Neil Sedaka, Liza Minnelli, Moby, Rickie Lee Jones, David Hyde Pierce and more.

His new book The Gershwins and Me, which is combined with a new CD of Gershwin standards performed with Cyrus Chestnut at the piano, was published by Simon & Schuster in October 2012. Recently, he released the CDs The Power Of Two - collaborating with "Glee" and "30 Rock" star Cheyenne Jackson - and Cheek To Cheek, recorded with Broadway legend Barbara Cook. His newest recording is We Dreamed These Days, featuring the Carmel Symphony Orchestra; Feinstein co-wrote the title song with Dr. Maya Angelou.

Feinstein serves as Artistic Director of the Palladium Center for the Performing Arts, a $170 million, three-theatre venue in Carmel, Indiana, which opened in January 2011. The theater is home to an annual international Great American Arts festival, diverse live programming and a museum for his rare memorabilia and manuscripts. Starting in 2010, he became the director of the Jazz and Popular Song Series at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Feinstein is working with MGM to turn The Thomas Crown Affair into a Broadway musical. He also has designed a new piano for Steinway called "The First Ladies," inspired by the White House piano and signed by several former First Ladies. It was first played to commemorate the Ronald Regan centennial on February 6, 2011.

In 2005, Feinstein recorded Hopeless Romantics, a songbook of Harry Warren classics recorded with legendary jazz pianist George Shearing. The previous year, he completed a national tour with songwriting icon Jimmy Webb based on their album Only One Life - The Songs of Jimmy Webb. The disc was named one of "10 Best CDs of the Year" by USA Today.

In 2003, Feinstein received his fourth Grammy nomination for his release Michael Feinstein with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, his first recording with a symphony orchestra. The year before, Rhino/Elektra Music released The Michael Feinstein Anthology, a two-disc compilation spanning the years 1987 to 1996 and featuring old favorites and previously unreleased tracks.

Michael's own record label, Feinery, a Concord Records subsidiary, released The Livingston & Evans Songbook, featuring Feinstein and special guest Melissa Manchester. Feinery also records favorite current artists and restores recordings and musical broadcasts from the golden age of popular song.

His Manhattan nightclub, Feinstein's at Loews Regency, has presented the top talents of pop and jazz, including Rosemary Clooney, Glen Campbell, Barbara Cook, Diahann Carroll, Jane Krakowski, Lea Michele, Cyndi Lauper, Jason Mraz and Alan Cumming. Feinstein appears there for a sold-out holiday engagement every year.

His many other credits include scoring the original music for the film Get Bruce and performing on the hits television series "Better With You," "Caroline in the City," "Melrose Place," "Coach," "Cybill" and "7th Heaven."

The roots of all this work began in Columbus, Ohio, where Feinstein started playing piano by ear as a 5-year-old. After graduating from high school, he worked in local piano bars for two years, moving to Los Angeles when he was 20. The widow of legendary concert pianist-actor Oscar Levant introduced him to Ira Gershwin in July 1977. Feinstein became Gershwin's assistant for six years, which earned him access to numerous unpublished Gershwin songs, many of which he has since performed and recorded.

Gershwin's influence provided a solid base upon which Feinstein evolved into a captivating performer, composer and arranger of his own original music. He also has become an unparalleled interpreter of music legends such as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Duke Ellington and Harry Warren. Feinstein has received three honorary doctorates.

Through his live performances, recordings, film and television appearances, and his songwriting (in collaboration with Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Lindy Robbins and Carole Bayer Sager), Feinstein is an all-star force in American music.

ABOUT THE PASADENA SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION

The Pasadena Symphony Association was founded in 1928 by Conductor Reginald Bland. Originally named the Pasadena Civic Orchestra, its first members were mostly volunteer musicians, many of whom were students of Bland. The annual operating budget was $3,500, which was funded entirely by the City of Pasadena.

The Pasadena Symphony and POPS is an ensemble of Southern California's most talented, sought after musicians. With extensive credits in the film, television, recording and orchestral industry, the artists of Pasadena Symphony and POPS are the most heard in the world.

In the fall of 2007, the Pasadena Symphony incorporated the Pasadena POPS into its Association under the new name Pasadena Symphony and POPS. This merger created an expanded Classics and POPS series providing the community with a full spectrum of live symphonic concerts year-round.

The Pasadena Symphony provides a musical experience like no other at the Ambassador Auditorium - known as the Carnegie Hall of the West. Internationally recognized, Grammy-nominated conductor David Lockington, serves as the Pasadena Symphony Association's Music Director with performance-practice specialist Nicholas McGegan serving as Principal Guest Conductor. The Pasadena POPS welcomes the multi-platinum-selling, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated entertainer dubbed "The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook," Michael Feinstein as its Principal Pops Conductor, to succeed Marvin Hamlisch in the newly created Marvin Hamlisch Chair. The Pasadena POPS' summer home is the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden.

A hallmark of its robust education programs, the Pasadena Symphony Association has served the youth of the region since 1972 through the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra and Pasaena Young Musicians Orchestra comprised of over 250 gifted middle school students from more than 50 schools all over the Southland. The PYSO often performs on popular television show GLEE.

The PSA provides people from all walks of life with powerful access points to the world of symphonic music.

To post a comment, you must register and login.