The musical theatre of the Victorian era radiated the brilliance of librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan and to the works they jointly created. Between 1871 and 1896 they collaborated on fourteen comic operas of which H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known. Along with Gilbert’s [...]

The musical theatre of the Victorian era radiated the brilliance of librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan and to the works they jointly created. Between 1871 and 1896 they collaborated on fourteen comic operas of which H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known. Along with Gilbert’s [...]

The musical theatre of the Victorian era radiated the brilliance of librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan and to the works they jointly created. Between 1871 and 1896 they collaborated on fourteen comic operas of which H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known. Along with Gilbert’s [...]

Baritone Frank Sinatra was indisputably the 20th century's greatest singer of popular song. Though influenced by Bing Crosby's crooning, and by learning from trombonist Tommy Dorsey's breath control and blues singer Billie Holiday's rhythmic swing, Frank Sinatra mainstreamed the concept of singing colloquially, treating lyrics as personal statements and handling melodies with the ease of [...]

Sinatra’s career took flight from the Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliff, NJ, when trumpeter Harry James rescued him from the ranks of singing waiters in 1939. Yet not until Tommy Dorsey coaxed him into his band later that year did Sinatra begin to soar as the idol of the bobby-soxers. Within three years, he led [...]

The musical theatre of the Victorian era radiated the brilliance of librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan and to the works they jointly created. Between 1871 and 1896 they collaborated on fourteen comic operas of which H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known. Along with Gilbert’s [...]

Sinatra’s career took flight from the Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliff, NJ, when trumpeter Harry James rescued him from the ranks of singing waiters in 1939. Yet not until Tommy Dorsey coaxed him into his band later that year did Sinatra begin to soar as the idol of the bobby-soxers. Within three years, he led [...]