A HUNDRED YEARS OF BREAK-THROUGH SONGS BY WOMEN

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17756281.post-1135846496745694572005-12-29T00:53:00.000-08:002005-12-29T00:54:56.756-08:00A HUNDRED YEARS OF BREAK-THROUGH SONGS BY WOMENNEW OFF-BROADWAY REVUE "HER SONG" WORLD PREMIERES AT TRIAD BEGINNING JANUARY 14 A HUNDRED YEARS OF BREAK-THROUGH SONGS BY WOMEN OUTSTANDING CAST OF LEADING LADIES INCLUDES B.J. CROSBY, NINA HENNESSY, TERRI KLAUSNER AND DEBORAH TRANELLI (December 16, 2005) "Her Song," a new musical revue celebrating the musical milestones of some of the most influential women songwriters of the past century, begins performances at The Triad Theatre, 158 West 72nd Street, on Saturday January 14 at 7pm. Co-conceived and co-written by Brenda and Barry Levitt, "Her Song" is directed by Barry Levitt, the longtime former music and artistic director of the 92nd Street Y's prestigious "Lyrics and Lyricists" concert series. The world premiere Off-Broadway engagement of "Her Song" (which is open-ended, with an opening date to be announced) is produced by Barbara M. Fisher, Ed & Dot Slade, and Michael Tanchum. Performances are Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets are $40 and are on sale now through TheaterMania.com at (212) 352-3101 or online at www.theatermania.com (There is a 2 drink minimum.) Running time is 90 minutes. The cast-of-four stars a power-pack of leading ladies -- B.J. Crosby, Nina Hennessy, Terri Klausner and Deborah Tranelli. Under the music direction of Barry Levitt, "Her Song" pours out a cornucopia of hits, novelty songs and obscure curiosities by a wide variety of some of the finest female tunesmiths America has ever produced. This panoramic compendium of songs by women, stretching as far back as Nora Bayes (who wrote the lyrics to "Shine On Harvest Moon" for the Ziegfeld Follies of 1908) all the way to Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" and beyond, traces the accomplishments of multiple generations of women songwriters. Taken as a whole, the impact of these women writers, who write or wrote for the stage, film and popular recordings, is still vastly underrated. While some toiled for others, and many performed their own creations, the range of musical and generational styles and sensibilities is stunning and illuminating. Among the songwriters and singer-songwriters represented are Dorothy Fields, Carolyn Leigh, Peggy Lee, Billie Holliday, Edith Piaf, Carole King, Stevie Nicks, Carly Simon, Donna Summer, Marilyn Bergman, Betty Comden and Cynthia Weil. Among the songs interpreted in "Her Song" are such timely touchstones as "The Way We Were" (Bergman), "Natural Woman" (King), "God Bless the Child" (Holiday), "A Good Day" (Lee) "The Way You Look Tonight" (Fields), "La Vie en Rose" (Edith Piaf) and "America the Beautiful" penned by a so-called one-hit wonder Katharine Lee Bates. The Tony-nominated B.J. Crosby starred on Broadway in the Grammy-winning "Smokey Joe's Café," as well as in "One Mo' Time," Harlem Song," "Chicago" and "The Life." Nina Hennessy was featured on Broadway in "Cats," "Les Miserables," "Dream Girls," and "Annie" among others. Terri Klausner performed the starring role in "Evita" on tour and Broadway and was featured in "A Chorus Line" and "Sophisticated Ladies." Deborah Tranelli was Phyllis for eleven seasons on Dallas, and starred Off-Broadway in "Tallulah's Party" as well as in touring/regional productions of "Company," "Kismet" and "Man of La Mancha." Barry Levitt, the producing artistic director of "Lyrics and Lyricists" from 1997 to 2003, is the highly acclaimed Broadway music director, arranger and conductor whose list of credits include "Little Shop of Horrors," "Swinging on a Star," "Catskills on Broadway," "Rockefeller Center Christmas on Ice," "Taking my Turn" on Great Performances on PBS, and as guest conductor of The Boston Pops, The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, The Detroit Pops and The St. Louis Pops.Fred Garvinnoreply@blogger.com