Bay Area Cabaret Pays Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch Tonight

Bay Area Cabaret will conclude its 2012-2013 season by honoring the memory and legendary career of composer Marvin Hamlisch. Selections from his work (A Chorus Line, The Way We Were, They're Playing Our Song) will be performed by special guests including Broadway stars Lisa Vroman (The Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd) and Karen Mason (Mamma Mia!, Sunset Boulevard), Grammy Award winner Billy Stritch, 2012 Bay Area Teen Idol winner Bobby Conte Thornton, Academy Award-winning songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and other guest artists to be announced. Having performed with Bay Area Cabaret for the grand re-opening of the Venetian Room in 2010, Mr. Hamlisch will always hold a special place in Bay Area Cabaret's history. This tribute to his legacy will take place on the late composer's 69th birthday, tonight, June 2, 2013, at 8pm in the historic Venetian Room of the Fairmont San Francisco (950 Mason Street). Tickets ($75 - $100) are available at www.bayareacabaret.org or by phone at City Box Office (415) 392-4400.

Marvin Hamlisch is widely regarded to have shaped the landscape of 20th century musical theatre. Shortly after his tragically unexpected death in August 2012, he was declared by the Associated Press as the composer of "some of the best-loved and most enduring songs and scores in movie history." Following his death, the marquee lights of 40 Broadway theaters were dimmed, in honor of the composer's significant contributions to musical theatre. Hamlisch won virtually every major performance award that exists: three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony, and three Golden Globe awards. For Broadway, he wrote the music for both for the Pulitzer Prize-winning show A Chorus Line, and the Neil Simon musical comedy They're Playing Our Song, based on the real-life relationship between Hamlisch and lyricist Carole Bayer Sager. He was the composer of more than forty motion picture scores, including his Oscar-winning score and song for The Way We Were, his adaptation of Scott Joplin's music for The Sting, and his Golden Globe nominated score for The Informant. Hamlisch was the second individual to ever win three Oscars in one night, and is one of only two artists to have won Emmy, Grammy, Academy, and Tony Awards, and the Pulitzer Prize (the other being Richard Rodgers).

Among the stars lined up to honor Mr. Hamlisch is versatile singer Lisa Vroman who is well known to San Franciscans for her critically acclaimed performance as Christine Daee in The Phantom of the Opera, about which the San Francisco Chronicle raved, "Vroman sings Christine in a gloriously crystalline soprano," calling her performance "Natural, elegant, and passionate." Ms. Vroman also co-starred with Patti LuPone, George Hearn, Neil Patrick Harris and the San Francisco Symphony in the PBS concert production of Sweeney Todd. Her Broadway debut came in the 1990 production of Aspects of Love, and she was the first actress ever to play both Fantine and Cosette in Les Miserables.

Karen Mason has starred in numerous Broadway and off-Broadway productions and has appeared in many television programs. Some of her most memorable performances include Tanya in Mamma Mia! (Drama Desk nomination), Velma von Tussle in Hairspray and as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, which she performed to critical acclaim and standing ovations on Broadway and in Los Angeles for three years. As a solo artist, Ms. Mason has performed cabaret shows across the country, recorded six studio albums, and is a ten-time Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs (MAC) Award winner, earning the organization's Major Female Vocalist of the Year award six years in a row.

Grammy Award winner Billy Stritch has made major contributions to the Great American Songbook as a composer and an arranger, working with some of the biggest names in musical theatre including Liza Minnelli, Christine Ebersole, and Marvin Hamlisch. A gifted vocalist and jazz pianist in his own right, Stritch has stunned live audiences, displaying extraordinary range and sophistication in his performances, while still maintaining his easy sense of humor and showmanship. His original works span the spectrum of musical genres from jazz to country, and include the 1994 Grammy Award-winning single, "Does He Love You," performed by Reba McEntire and Linda Davis.

Even before winning the 2011 Bay Area Teen Idol competition, the young and talented Bobby Conte Thornton had established himself as a rising star with his critically-acclaimed performance as Alan Strang in Boxcar Theatre's 2010 production of Equus, for which Examiner.com raved, "Mr. Thornton's emotional range is enormous ... a performance worth the price of admission." A 2011 graduate of The Urban High School of San Francisco, Thornton's regional credits include Les Miserables (Enjolras) at the St. Louis MUNY (Summer 2013), The Light In The Piazza (Fabrizio) at Farmers Alley Theatre and 8 The Play (Spencer) at A.C.T. with Dustin Lance Black. Bobby has appeared in concert settings with Bay Area Cabaret, opening for Tony Award winner Laura Benanti, the Metropolitan Room in New York City, Bear Valley Music Festival and Carnegie Hall. Bobby is pursuing a BFA in musical theatre at the University of Michigan and this fall, he will begin studying at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in London. Also appearing are accomplished Bay Area natives and ACT YC alumni Hannah Sears (Yale 2016), Julia Cassandra Smith (Univ. of Texas 2016) and Emily Morris (Urban School 2013).

Three-time Academy Award winners Alan and Marilyn Bergman are regarded as two of the world's most distinguished lyricists, and have been adding their work to the Great American Songbook for more than fifty years. They have written for Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Sting. Some of their songs include "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life", "Windmills Of Your Mind", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", and "How Do You Keep The Music Playing" as well as TV theme songs for Maude, Good Times and Alice. Along with countless nominations, they have also won several Grammy, Emmy, and Golden Globe Awards as well as the National Academy of Songwriters Lifetime Achievement Award and have been inducted into the Songwriters' Hall Of Fame. Close personal friends of Marvin Hamlisch, they collaborated on several works, including the Academy Award-winning song "The Way We Were." On his relationship with Hamlisch, Mr. Bergman stated, "He was more than our collaborator. He was our beloved friend. He was family. The world will miss his music, his humor, his genius. We will miss him every day for the rest of our lives."

Bay Area Cabaret was founded nine years ago by fifth generation San Francisco native Marilyn Levinson as a not-for profit organization. Through its concert series and wide-ranging outreach activities, BAC aims to expand the definition of cabaret and broaden the audience for intimate entertainment, offering Great American Songbook entries from Harold Arlen and Stephen Sondheim to Jonathan Larson and Stevie Wonder. Past seasons have featured Sutton Foster, Barbara Cook, Marvin Hamlisch, Christine Ebersole, Chita Rivera, jazz vocalists John Pizzarelli, Stacey Kent and Jane Monheit, Rent stars Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, and the high school vocal competition Bay Area Teen Idol.

For Bay Area Cabaret patrons, The Fairmont San Francisco offers a delicious buffet dinner in the Laurel Court Restaurant & Bar for $40 (plus tax and tip), plus four hours of free parking for all who dine in the Laurel Court. For more information, visit www.bayareacabaret.org.

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