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Beginning with The Jazz Singer in 1927, music has been an integral part of the motion picture films. While stimulating emotion, broadening the plot, creating drama and intrigue, the correct song at an opportune moment projects incredible power. Musical films have bequeathed us many of the finest songs of all time. Enjoy them with memorable [...]

The Cotton Club, favored by the city’s elite, was dubbed “the Aristocrat of Harlem.” Its patrons included British royalty and celebrities like George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Paul Whiteman and Marlene Dietrich. Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway conducted their innovative jazz bands and great black entertainers like Ethel Waters, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Lena Horne and Josephine [...]

On Sept. 9, 1956, more than 60 million people witnessed a young entertainer with gyrating hips and a honey-coated baritone voice croon his way into national consciousness on The Ed Sullivan Show. His rubbery legs spread wide apart, head thrown carelessly back and mouth twitching, it was apparent that this man was different. With an [...]

Light on his feet, Fred Astaire revolutionized the movie musical with his elegant and seemingly effortless dance style. He may have made dancing look easy, but he was a well-known perfectionist, and his work was the product of endless hours of practice. Astaire started performing as a child, partnering up with his older sister Adele. [...]

Jazz has been, from its very beginnings at the turn of the 20th century, a constantly evolving, expanding, changing music, passing through several distinctive phases of development. Spend a Saturday morning with George Scharr and Robert Wyatt exploring its history and sampling its history. Life music will flavor the story.

Join pianist and Gershwin authority Robert Wyatt, co-editor of Oxford University Press’ The George Gershwin Reader, in this lively program exploring George Gershwin’s life and legacy.  The evening includes live performances of the solo version of Rhapsody in Blue, early and unpublished music, the piano improvisations and other Gershwin hits.  Rare film footage obtained from [...]

Jazz has been, from its very beginnings at the turn of the 20th century, a constantly evolving, expanding, changing music, passing through several distinctive phases of development. Spend a Saturday morning with George Scharr and Robert Wyatt exploring its history and sampling its history. Life music will flavor the story.

Join pianist and Gershwin authority Robert Wyatt, co-editor of Oxford University Press’ The George Gershwin Reader, in this lively program exploring George Gershwin’s life and legacy.  The evening includes live performances of the solo version of Rhapsody in Blue, early and unpublished music, the piano improvisations and other Gershwin hits.  Rare film footage obtained from [...]

In temperament and background, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe were wildly dissimilar, but the two accommodated their often tempestuous relationship to generate brilliantly crafted musicals such as Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady, Gigi, and Camelot. Learn the origins of enduring songs like Almost Like Being in Love, The Night They Invented Champagne, [...]

Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence was one of Great Britain's brightest theatrical stars during the first half of the 20th century. A lifelong friend and colleague of Noel Coward, Lawrence 's forte was sophisticated musical comedy, where she exuded a lively, charismatic stage presence that easily overcame her shortcomings as a singer. She was sometimes criticized [...]

Light on his feet, Fred Astaire revolutionized the movie musical with his elegant and seemingly effortless dance style. He may have made dancing look easy, but he was a well-known perfectionist, and his work was the product of endless hours of practice. Astaire started performing as a child, partnering up with his older sister Adele. [...]

The original Broadway production of The Sound of Music, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, opened in 1959 and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, out of nine nominations. The first London production opened at the Palace Theatre in 1961. The show has enjoyed numerous productions and revivals since then. It was adapted as [...]